Bluebird Network and Uniti Leasing reached a settlement with the city of Joplin, Missouri, over a right-of-way dispute, said a notice Thursday in FCC Wireline Bureau docket 20-46. A petition over ROW disagreements with three other Missouri cities (see 2002200020) remains, the companies said.
Maryland’s proposed digital tax passed the legislature 88-47 as the Maryland House concurred with the Senate-amended HB-732, originally just a tobacco tax bill. Advertisers and others say a lawsuit over the measure is possible, if enacted (see 2003170057). The bill would impose taxes on annual gross revenue from digital ad services, ranging from 2.5% to 10%, for companies exceeding $100 million annual revenue. On the floor Wednesday, Del. Daniel Cox (R) asked if the proposed digital tax violates federal law. That would be up to the courts, but Maryland’s attorney general was consulted, replied bill sponsor Del. Eric Luedtke (D). Cox asked how it would be taxed in Maryland alone. The state comptroller will determine that, said Luedtke. Lawmakers want the tax to help fund state education, but the plan “is more likely to result in legal bills than increased funding for education,” the Free State Foundation blogged Friday. The bill goes to Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who has said he’s generally against raising taxes.
Comments are due April 16 on a national verifier program on Lifeline eligibility using matching data from Colorado, Mississippi, New Mexico and Utah on Medicaid and other state programs. The Universal Service Administrative Co. computer matching program for those states will relaunch April 19 and end Oct. 18, 2021, unless the FCC receives written comments "that require a contrary determination," says Tuesday's Federal Register.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation condemned a net neutrality bill by New York Senate Energy and Telecom Committee Chairman Kevin Parker (D). It pales compared with language in the state budget, said EFF Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon in a Friday interview. Parker introduced SB-8020 Tuesday (see 2003110017). Falcon blogged Thursday that the bill “ignores critical net neutrality issues such as zero rating” and “would legalize paid prioritization” by ISPs. Due to Parker’s rank, SB-8020 bill seems to be the leading alternative to passing net neutrality through the proposed budget by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), Falcon told us. EFF is working with Cuomo to strengthen budget language that’s not yet as strong as California’s law but prefers it to Parker’s bill. “Industry wants to get this out of the budget process” because it wants to avoid a bipartisan vote; legislators must vote on the budget but nothing forces them to vote on a stand-alone bill, the EFF official said. One thing EFF is working on with Cuomo’s office is to make sure rules stop anti-competitive conduct against internet companies; currently, only end users would be protected, he said. NCTA and USTelecom declined comment. Parker didn’t comment.
The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable and state attorney general rely on arguments that were raised before, "and ... explicitly rejected," in the FCC Charter Communications order, Cox Communications said in a docket 20-10 reply Thursday. MDTC and AG oppositions to the Cox petition (see here and here) argued the Holland, Massachusetts, market isn't subject to effective competition, since the AT&T TV Now vMVPD service doesn't satisfy the local exchange carrier test and since AT&T TV Now isn't a comparable cable service because it lacks local broadcast channels.
The latest form 477 data on fixed broadband and mobile voice and broadband deployment through June 30 was released, the FCC Wireline and Wireless bureaus and Office of Economics and Analytics said Thursday. Mobile deployment data includes revisions filers made through Dec. 1, fixed broadband data through Feb. 25.
A Rhode Island net neutrality bill cleared the Senate Commerce Committee. A 2019 bill like this year’s S-2103 passed the Senate but stalled in the House (see 1905030038). The House Corporations Committee held a hearing but didn’t vote Tuesday on the House version, H-7553. Also Tuesday, New York Senate Energy and Telecom Committee Chairman Kevin Parker (D) introduced SB-8020 to limit state contracts to ISPs that follow net neutrality and establish a $250 million fund for municipal broadband. Net neutrality is part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) proposed budget. In New Hampshire, the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee scheduled a March 25 hearing on the Senate-passed SB-554 to establish a net neutrality study committee. Net neutrality bills may be nearing key votes in Maryland and Connecticut (see 2003060037).
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed two bills on electric cooperative broadband Tuesday. HB-4266 limits liability and damages in trespass, unjust enrichment or other actions arising from an electric cooperative installing broadband on a property where it has an easement. HB-5266 requires electric co-ops give nondiscriminatory access to poles with reasonable rates, terms and conditions to video and telecom providers.
A bill directing the New York Public Service Commission review broadband cleared the Energy and Telecom Committee at a Tuesday meeting livestreamed from Albany. The panel voted by voice for S-5696A, plus S-6833 to establish a suicide prevention hotline. The broadband bill by Sen. Jen Metzger (D) would direct the PSC to study availability, affordability and reliability of broadband, and “assess the efficacy and make recommendations regarding levels of competition among providers, as well as any regulatory and statutory barriers.” It would ask the agency to make recommendations about technology, identify noncompliance with local franchise agreements and legal settlements related to the internet, and find areas where poor web access hurts communities. S-5696A goes next to the Senate floor.
West Virginia legislators gave electric utilities the green light to plan middle-mile broadband deployments. The House voted 99-0 Saturday to concur with the Senate-amended HB-4619. The Senate voted 34-0 Friday to pass the bill that would authorize the Public Service Commission to approve utility broadband plans and provide expedited cost recovery. The bill goes next to Gov. Jim Justice (R) for signature. His office didn’t comment Monday.