AT&T sought South Carolina Public Service Commission approval to merge affiliate AT&T Corp. into the newly formed AT&T Enterprises by May 1. “This merger will be transparent to current AT&T Corp. customers, who will continue receiving: the same services; under the same rates, terms, and conditions; and backed by the same technical, financial, and managerial resources,” AT&T said in the petition posted Thursday by the PSC (docket 2024-56-C).

The Virginia House Commerce Committee cleared a pole-attachments bill (HB-800) in a 22-0 vote Thursday. Under a committee substitute, the bill would regulate how public utilities handle attachment requests. A pole owner would have to determine within 15 business days if an application is complete. If the owner decides it’s incomplete, the attacher could resubmit the application and receive a response within seven business days. Within 75 days of receiving a complete request, the utility would have to decide whether to grant or deny the application and survey affected poles. HB-800 would bar a public utility from making a telecom or cable provider pay the cost of replacing a red-tagged pole, meaning a pole that is “designated for replacement for any reason unrelated to a lack of capacity to accommodate a new attacher's request for attachment or … would have needed to be replaced at the time of replacement even if the new attachment was not made.” Telecom and cable providers would have to pay “the incremental cost of a taller or stronger pole that is necessitated solely by the new” telecom or cable facilities. Also, HB-800 would require the Virginia State Corporation Commission to resolve pole-access disputes, including allocation of rearrangement costs, within 90 days, and to resolve other pole attachment issues within 120 days.

A Virginia Senate panel cleared kids’ privacy and social media bills Wednesday. The General Laws and Technology Committee voted 14-0 for SB-359, prohibiting social media operators from providing an “addictive feed” to users younger than 18 without verifiable parental consent. The bill defines an addictive feed as “a website, online service, or online or mobile application, or a portion thereof, in which multiple pieces of media generated or shared by users of a website, online service, or online or mobile application, either concurrently or sequentially, are recommended, selected, or prioritized for display to a user based, in whole or in part, on information associated with the user or the user's device.” The committee voted 15-0 for SB-361, which would add children-specific protections to the state’s comprehensive consumer privacy law. It would prohibit data controllers from selling a child’s data or using it for targeted advertising or profiling. The House approved the similar HB-707 on Tuesday (see 2402070063).

The South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-2 Thursday to clear a bill increasing a state 911 fee on monthly phone bills to $2, from $1.25. The committee's approval of HB-1092 followed House passage last week (see 2402010025). CTIA opposed the bill in a Jan. 23 letter to the House Taxation Committee. “This 60 percent increase would result in South Dakota consumers paying about $8 million more in taxes, with about $6 million of the increase borne by wireless consumers,” the mobile industry association wrote.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission unanimously supported revising various telecom rules at a Thursday meeting. In three separate 3-0 votes, the commission supported staff’s proposed changes to Chapter 55 rules for telecom services (docket RM2023-000017), Chapter 56 rules for interexchange telecom service resellers (RM2023-000018) and Chapter 57 rules for operator service providers telecom services (RM2023-000019). During the meeting, the commission slightly modified the Chapter 55 proposal to remove a sentence related to submitting changes to a company’s principal business address. The removed sentence read, "The submission shall be accompanied by an attestation that the tariff and/or Terms of Service are identical, except for the address change to the existing tariffs and/or Terms of Service."

The Florida House Commerce Committee unanimously supported a bill Thursday to extend dollar broadband attachments through 2028. The Ways and Means Committee previously cleared HB-1147, which would extend a promotional rate that the state began offering in 2021 (see 2401310072). It lets ISPs pay $1 a year per wireline attachment per pole to bring broadband to unserved or underserved areas in municipal electric utility service territories. The promo will expire July 1 unless extended. The bill could next get a House floor vote. The Senate could soon vote on a similar bill (SB-1218) that cleared the Rules Committee by a 19-0 vote Thursday.

California could be first in the nation to codify the FCC’s definition of digital discrimination into state law. Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D) introduced AB-2239 on Wednesday, the California Alliance for Digital Equity said Thursday. “This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to adopt subsequent legislation that codifies a definition of ‘digital discrimination of access’ in state law that conforms to the definition adopted by the Federal Communications Commission,” said a legislative digest on the measure. In a November order (see 2311150040), the FCC defined “digital discrimination of access” as “policies or practices, not justified by genuine issues of technical or economic feasibility, that (1) differentially impact consumers' access to broadband internet access service based on their income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin or (2) are intended to have such differential impact.” Defining digital discrimination could help move a proceeding on digital redlining at the California Public Utilities Commission, said Shayna Englin, California Community Foundation director-digital equity initiative, in an interview. The proceeding stalled amid argument about the definition, said Englin. CPUC digital redlining rules would guide the agency in the years ahead as it distributes $8 billion state and federal broadband funding, she said. Englin predicted a fight between digital equity advocates and the telecom industry, which is expected to oppose AB-2239. The California Broadband and Video Association is reviewing the legislation, said a spokesperson for the state cable group. USTelecom declined to comment. The Los Angeles City Council passed a similar law at the local level last month.

The Virginia Senate passed a junk-fees bill Tuesday that the wireless industry raised concerns about last month. Also on that day the Senate approved an AI bill and the House passed a kids privacy bill. State senators voted 28-11 for SB-388, which would prohibit businesses from displaying prices that don’t include mandatory added fees other than taxes. CTIA opposed including the wireless industry in the bill. The FCC’s 2023 broadband labeling rules already protect consumers from surprise or unfair fees, the association said in a Jan. 24 letter. Wireless providers also follow the FCC’s truth-in-billing requirements, CTIA said. “Any new law should expressly exempt services already regulated by the FCC.” The Virginia Senate voted 39-0 for SB-487, which would set guardrails on public bodies’ use of AI. The House voted 98-0 for HB-707, which would add children-specific protections to the state’s comprehensive consumer privacy law. It would prohibit data controllers from selling a child’s personal data or using it for targeted advertising or profiling (see 2401310071).

Utah state senators supported requiring content filters to be activated for minors using tablets and smartphones. The Senate voted 25-3 to approve SB-104 and send it to the House on Wednesday.

A Hawaii digital equity bill cleared the Senate Energy Committee by a 5-0 vote Tuesday. The panel approved SB-3048 to seek out remaining obstacles to digital equity and establish a grant program. The bill next needs the Judiciary and Ways and Means committees’ approval. A House version cleared that chamber’s Technology Committee last week (see 2402050024).