T-Mobile has peeled Mississippi from states’ lawsuit against the carrier buying Sprint. Attorney General Jim Hood (D) said he reached agreement with T-Mobile to make Mississippi-specific commitments. T-Mobile agreed to deploy 5G to at least 62 percent of the state’s general and rural populations, with speeds of 100 Mbps or more, said Hood’s office. “The parties also made limited price commitments and … vowed to decrease prices as supply increased, particularly as DISH enters the mobile market.” Hood “confirmed that there would be no retail job loss and that new stores would be opened in rural areas,” his office said. T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted applause. Last month, Illinois joined what's now 16 AGs suing the carriers at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (see 1909030060), while Arkansas joined 11 other states supporting the deal (see 1909100052). Florida settled claims earlier this month (see 1910020025). "With every passing day, we continue to build a strong case that this mega-merger is bad for innovation, bad for workers, and bad for consumers," responded a spokesperson for New York AG Letitia James (D), leading the lawsuit. "And we look forward to presenting these arguments in court."
New York asked the FCC to delay the Oct. 23 hard launch of the national verifier in that state. “It would very likely cause otherwise eligible low-income consumers to be denied Lifeline benefits during this transitional period,” the Public Service Commission petitioned Monday in docket 11-42. “Real hardship could be imposed on low-income New Yorkers.” A big problem is Universal Service Administrative Co. can’t yet access state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid databases, the PSC said. The FCC’s recent announcement of national Medicaid database (see 1909180026) access is “laudable,” but “we estimate that this new verification process has the potential to assist with the automated verification of up to at most 60 percent of the Lifeline eligible population,” the PSC said. New York agencies are “working diligently with USAC” to set up an application programming interface connection for verifying state SNAP recipients, but the “process of establishing a data agreement and API connection with New York is both technically and legally complicated,” the PSC said. The commission cited NARUC’s July resolution recommending suspension of the hard rollout (see 1907240043). The FCC declined comment.
The U.S. should make a national market for digital goods and services, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said Monday, releasing a report. “Achieving a digital single market will either require states to cooperate more on creating uniform laws or Congress to take a more active role in passing laws that preempt conflicting rules,” ITIF said. States and localities blocked digital commerce with restrictive licensing, conflicting rules and policies that benefit local incumbents over new entrants, ITIF said. It’s been a problem for data privacy, net neutrality and other areas, it said. “National rules promote efficiency and innovation, while ensuring uniform protections for all consumers,” said Senior Policy Analyst Alan McQuinn, the report’s author.
The Supreme Court plans to decide Friday whether to hear an appeal of the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals' decision that VoIP is an information service exempt from state regulation. The high court said Monday it distributed briefs in the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission appeal (docket 18-1386) for Friday's conference. It previously was to consider the appeal Oct. 1 (see 1907180004). Charter Communications, which sued the PUC over the state's VoIP regulation, opposed the state's petition for writ of certiorari (see 1907050030).
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission plans to vote Oct. 17 on the state’s settlement with Frontier Communications to resolve a service-quality probe in docket 18-122 (see 1906260009), said an agenda for the 9:30 a.m. CDT meeting posted Friday. The Aug. 2 proposed settlement includes a process by which Frontier will offer customer remedies for past problems, what it will do to improve future service quality, customer service and billing practices, and ongoing service-quality performance metrics. Also Friday, the West Virginia Public Service Commission required Frontier in docket 18-0291-T-P to update staff on a focused management audit (see 1907260045), including by submitting a revised contract with the auditor. The final report is due Feb. 14, with Frontier required to respond by March 16.
Connecticut state Sen. Derek Slap (D) plans a net neutrality bill with other state lawmakers, now that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit opened the door for state rules, he said Thursday. Connecticut Republicans killed a 2018 bill, introduced by Slap’s committee when he was a state representative, to fine companies that reduce internet speeds or block certain websites. “Businesses and consumers need to compete on a level playing field, not one that has been artificially manipulated by an" ISP, the legislator said.
The FCC intends to establish a Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the U.S. by Dec. 19, with authorization to operate for two years, says a notice for Friday's Federal Register. The agency took nominations in June and July (see 1906170024). A task force goal is reliable broadband capabilities on 95 percent of U.S. agricultural land by 2025 and to "promote effective policy and regulatory solutions that encourage the adoption of broadband internet access service on farms and ranches and promote precision agriculture." The group must submit a report to the FCC chairman within one year of the official charter. ISPs said expanding rural broadband coverage and promoting adoption of precision agriculture will require coordinated efforts (see 1908150057).
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission seeks comments on state USF, including data on implementing a broadband program and expanding rural fast-web services, said a Wednesday order in docket 19-00046-UT. The commission also sought recommendations for changes to the fund's structure, size or purpose. Comments are due Oct. 31, replies Nov. 14.
Advertisers like Nevada’s privacy law better than the California Consumer Privacy Act but remain concerned about having different state laws and want Congress to act, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said Wednesday. “We appreciate that Nevada’s law improves on a number of the faults of CCPA, including clearer and better defined obligations for businesses,” said Executive Vice President-Public Policy Dave Grimaldi. “We remain concerned about the growing patchwork of state privacy laws that create consumer confusion and present significant challenges for businesses trying to comply.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an anti-robocalls bill, his office said Wednesday. SB-208 sets a Jan. 1, 2021, deadline for providers to implement signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) and secure telephony identity revisited (Stir) protocols.