A Virginia broadband bill that focuses on access in rural and farm areas cleared the House Communications Committee at a livestreamed hearing Monday. State reps voted 20-1 to refer HB-382 to the Appropriations Committee. The legislation from Del. Michael Feggans (D) would require a state department to develop an application detailing information on connectivity in rural farmlands. Officials representing All Points Broadband, the Virginia Agribusiness Council and electric cooperatives supported the bill during the hearing.

Nebraska must close the “spigot” and stop using state USF to support old telecom networks that provide internet speeds slower than 100 Mbps symmetrical, said Sen. Bruce Bostelman (R) at the legislature’s Telecommunications Committee hearing Monday. Bostelman’s LB-1031 would end Nebraska USF support for maintaining slower networks starting July 1, 2025. In 2021, Nebraska made 100 Mbps symmetrical the standard for new projects but continued allowing funding for operating existing networks with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, said Bostelman: Three years later, there’s no reason to give telcos more time to replace copper networks with fiber. LB-1031 would slow Consolidated Communications' broadband deployment by funding only areas with 100% fiber, said Brian Thompson, vice president-external relations. The panel continued to hear testimony on LB-1031 after our deadline. Earlier in the hearing, Nebraska Broadband Director Patrick Haggerty told state lawmakers that his office hopes to hear “at least a verbal approval” from NTIA this week on volume one of its initial proposal for the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. The state broadband office resubmitted volume 1 Friday with changes recommended by NTIA, said Haggerty: Nebraska can begin its challenge process once NTIA clears that volume.

New York state plans broadband expansion through a municipal infrastructure program with $228.2 million in federal funding from the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Monday. The state already connected more than 3,000 homes upstate under the program through pilot projects with the New York Power Authority, Hochul said.

It’s time that Maine rate centers combine, Consolidated Communications said in comments Friday at the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The PUC received comments in docket 2023-00009 about next steps on a proposal that would save the state’s 207 area code from number exhaustion by combining Consolidated's multiple rate centers into one (see 2309220060). Stop treating Consolidated like "a petitioner trying to seek relief,” the company said as other parties requested additional information about the plan. Consolidated said it "has been treated as though it bears the burden of proving that the proposal to help preserve the area code is in the public good, while the truth is the Commission has already made that determination." Other parties seek more detail despite offering no "concrete reason why it is problematic," said the telco: Consolidated lacks additional information and “cannot continue to spend time and resources on a project that was initiated to assist the Commission and the state and that is not a corporate priority.” Comcast sought an updated timeline with more detail on "required steps during the final implementation stage.” The PUC should seek input from the North American numbering plan administrator, it added. The Telecommunications Association of Maine requested direct talks between its members and Consolidated "to discuss the implementation, changes and concerns associated with the contemplated rate center consolidation.” Maine’s Office of the Public Advocate asked the PUC to make Consolidated file “a quantitative description of costs including possible operational efficiencies and long-term operational cost savings, and how Consolidated would plan to recover the costs for the work."

The Wisconsin Assembly voted 96-1 to approve a next-generation 911 bill Thursday. AB-356 would provide grants that support NG-911 costs. A committee cleared the bill earlier in the week (see 2401170068). The Senate is its next destination.

Passing a data broker registration bill would help Washington state better understand the industry's scope, Rep. Shelley Kloba (D) said Friday as the state’s House Consumer Protection Committee heard testimony on Kloba’s HB-2277 during a livestreamed hearing. The bill would require data brokers to register with the state. Submitted information would appear on a public website. Brokers are selling data that people generate during daily activities online, through connected devices and while driving cars, said Kloba: It often happens without a person’s permission. The committee also mulled multiple AI bills, including HB-1934, which would establish an AI task force and HB-1951, which attempts to prevent algorithmic discrimination. "Sometimes we have to put guardrails around things to protect people's civil liberties and to keep people safe,” said HB-1934 sponsor Rep. Travis Couture (R). Rep. Clyde Shavers (D) said his HB-1951 is an “incremental first step to make sure that the use of artificial intelligence helps, not harms us."

West Virginia could fund relay services for 20 years even if it reduced the monthly telecom relay service (TRS) fee on customer bills to zero, West Virginia Public Service Commission staff said Thursday. Staff recommended reducing the charge of 5 cents in docket 23-0756-T-P. “Monthly minutes of use of TRS has steadily declined in West Virginia, and although the amount collected monthly to fund TRTS has also decreased, the proceeds continue to exceed the amount needed to maintain TRS at its current level,” said staff: “This imbalance causes a continued increase in the TRS Escrow Account balance,” which hit nearly $1.6 million last July 31.

T-Mobile completed $200 million worth of network upgrades in West Virginia after buying Sprint in 2020 and Shentel Wireless in 2021, T-Mobile and Gov. Jim Justice (R) said Friday. “Part of T-Mobile’s promise when we merged with Sprint was to build a more connected country leveraging 5G,” said Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile technology president. “Our work in West Virginia with Governor Justice is a testament to what’s possible when time, resources and teamwork are invested in the places previously underserved."

South Carolina's Senate supported clarifying that satellite TV and streaming video fall outside cable franchise fees. The Senate on Thursday sent the House an amended H-3782 after approving it 43-0 Wednesday. The House passed the bill in March but now must concur with Senate changes.

NetChoice slammed a proposed TikTok ban in Virginia immediately after Del. Jay Leftwich (R) introduced the measure Friday. HB-1468 would require TikTok to verify users’ ages and prohibit minors from visiting its social media platform. Under the bill, Virginia's attorney general could seek a $7,500 civil penalty for each violation, plus $7,500 per day that the violation continues. "This proposal is unconstitutional as we’ve already seen in other states that have tried this,” such as Montana, said NetChoice General Counsel Carl Szabo. He added, “Virginia representatives must reject this approach that, if passed, would ban Virginians from getting access to news, harm Virginia businesses and creators, require more data collection, and disconnect Virginians from online speech.”