Speed mandates for an FCC 5G Fund must be high enough to ensure the public sees meaningful increases in service, Next Century Cities said in a filing posted Monday in docket 20-32. “One proposal would require fundees to provide minimum speeds of 35 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, a low standard for what is branded as a revolutionary technology,” the group said: “The slight increase to the download speed minimum falls short of the proposed high throughput, low latency benefits the FCC has touted regarding 5G.”
The Illinois broadband office urged the FCC due to COVID-19 to expand broadband where it’s unavailable or unaffordable. Immediately fund off-campus connectivity and wireless hot spots, urged the office’s director Matt Schmit in a letter posted Monday in docket 17-287. Increase the $9.25 monthly Lifeline discount, he said. The FCC declined comment.
Congress should see California Consumer Privacy Act enforcement starting last week as a sign to make a national data privacy standard, GOP leaders of the Commerce Committee and Consumer Protection subcommittee said Wednesday. “No foreign country, no one state, no one ballot initiative should determine the protections that all Americans should have,” said Greg Walden, Ore., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Wash. “Our current system only benefits those entities and trial lawyers monetizing the compliance costs for small and medium size businesses just trying to stay afloat. We can build off the California experiment and enact a strong national privacy standard that better protects our constituents while not stifling the innovative services keeping us connected.” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) is expected to act soon to enforce egregious violations of CCPA (see 2007010027).
The FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment and the FCC Media Bureau set a virtual workshop Aug. 3 on “the role of U.S. libraries as community hubs to drive digital adoption and literacy”, said a public notice Wednesday (see 2004280070). The workshop will focus on supporting digital skills education in underserved communities and digital inclusion, the PN said. “The workshop will also address the impact of COVID-19 on advancing digital inclusion, as well as the impact of various local, state, and federal interventions in the last few months.”
New Jersey legislators supported extending an emergency telehealth law and executive order until 90 days after the end of the COVID-19 crisis. The Assembly voted 73-0 Monday to send S-2467 to Gov. Phil Murphy (D), whose office declined comment Tuesday. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an executive order Monday trimming a previous telehealth EO because the legislature had codified some parts of it.
A fight is brewing in the Assembly over areas eligible for broadband grants under the California Advanced Services Fund. Monday, the chamber erased the complete contents of AB-570 about local government bonds and inserted CASF language that conflicts with the Senate-passed SB-1130 (see 2006260069). The Senate bill would raise the minimum standard for a served area to 25 Mbps symmetrical, but the Assembly bill maintains current 6/1 Mbps minimum. It would change the law by allowing funding for high-poverty areas where at least half residents are designated low income by the U.S. Census American Community Survey. In eligible areas, it would fund speeds at 25/3 Mbps -- up from 10/1 Mbps now. The revised AB-570 amounts to a Frontier Communications “bailout,” because it would mean areas now served by Frontier DSL would remain ineligible for funding, Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon told us Tuesday. EFF supports the fiber-focused SB-1130, he said. By preferring low-cost providers that can provide 25/3 Mbps, the proposed law could lead to even more DSL rollout, he said. Falcon expects a hearing on both bills in late July in the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee. SB-1130 opponent the California Cable and Telecommunications Association is reviewing AB-570, said CCTA President Carolyn McIntyre. Frontier declined comment.
The Mississippi legislature cleared $150 million for rural broadband, responding to COVID-19, with the Senate voting 52-0 Monday to concur with House amendments to SB-3046. The House voted 109-0 Sunday for the bill supported by Mississippi Public Service Commissioner and NARUC President Brandon Presley (see 2006260059). “In the past three days, the state flag has been changed and $150,000,000 in broadband funding has been approved,” the Democratic commissioner tweeted. “Not a bad few days for Mississippi’s future.” Gov. Tate Reeves (R) still must sign the bill; he didn’t comment Tuesday.
The Louisiana House voted 97-0 Monday to concur with the Senate on HB-69 to give Rural Digital Opportunity Fund winners sales-and-use tax rebates on fiber facilities. The bill goes to the governor, who was sent an electric co-op bill (SB-10) Monday, passed Thursday (see 2006260059).
Charter received waiver removing 2,127 census blocks from the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction eligibility list. "Charter has deployed or will soon deploy service to these blocks under a settlement agreement with the State of New York" related to the cable operator's past takeover of Time Warner Cable, said a staff order in Monday's Daily Digest.
AT&T denied it's resisting a proposed rural broadband grant program responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississippi. The House received SB-3046 Thursday after senators voted 49-2 the previous day. Tweeting Friday, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley claimed AT&T and the cable industry are lobbying the House on the bill “to kill rural broadband.” The NARUC president added, “We cannot allow them to rule the roost on this issue any longer.” AT&T has “no opposition to the grant program established by the Senate,” though it hasn’t seen details of what the House is considering, the carrier’s spokesperson emailed. “In general, we see the value of programs -- like the FCC’s Connect America Fund and others -- that help spur increased investment by the private sector in underserved, rural communities.” The Mississippi Cable Telecommunications Association didn’t comment, and Presley didn’t comment further. The House voted 114-4 Thursday for HB-1786 providing $200 million for a distance-learning grant program for electronic devices. It goes to the Senate. In Louisiana, lawmakers’ second try at an electric cooperative broadband bill looks likely to be enacted after state senators voted 35-0 Thursday to concur with amendments by the House. That chamber voted unanimously for SB-10 Wednesday (see 2006240065). Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said he supported the cooperative-backed SB-10 when he vetoed SB-406, an earlier bill that co-ops opposed because it restricted them to unserved areas. Edwards “will review the final version of the bill when we receive it and make a decision,” emailed a spokesperson.