The California Public Utilities Commission again delayed voting on allowing people without social security numbers to apply for state LifeLine support (docket R.20-02-008). Staff pushed the item to the Oct. 17 meeting, said a hold list released Tuesday. The CPUC postponed the vote twice before; it was originally on the Aug. 22 meeting’s agenda. The last revised draft responded to various privacy concerns (see 2409120047). The CPUC still plans to vote Thursday on federally funded last-mile broadband grants and adopting rules for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment program.

Two consumer privacy organizations assembled a model privacy bill for states that includes a private right of action, making it unlike legislation in nearly all the 20 states that have comprehensive privacy laws. Basing their model bill on the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, Consumer Reports and the Electronic Privacy Information Center said the aim of the model bill is to fill “loopholes” in that measure. Industry likes -- and many state legislators are familiar with -- the Connecticut law, CR and EPIC said Tuesday. Notably, though the model bill has a private right of action, it's narrow and wouldn’t allow lawsuits against small businesses. Under the model bill, consumers could seek relief, including at least $5,000 in damages per violation, from larger companies. Moreover, the model bill provides enforcement by a state attorney general, district attorney or city corporation counsel, and the AG would have rulemaking authority. Most states with privacy bills allow AG enforcement only. The model bill calls for a 60-day right to cure for a limited time. Also, unlike the Connecticut law, the model bill requires data minimization, which limits the amount of data businesses collect from the start. In addition, the CR and EPIC model adds protections for children and sensitive data and clarifies advertising rules contained in the Connecticut bill. When considering specific industries like healthcare that federal privacy covers, the model bill makes exemptions based on the type of data, unlike the Connecticut law, which does so based on the type of entity. As in the Connecticut law, the CR/EPIC model supports browser-based, global opt-out mechanisms. “The State Data Privacy Act was developed in an effort to more meaningfully protect user privacy than we’ve seen in many state laws, while also retaining a format more familiar to state policymakers,” said Matt Schwartz, CR policy analyst. EPIC Deputy Director Catriona Fitzgerald added, “This proposal sets out rules allowing companies to collect and use data in ways consumers expect while putting a stop to the data abuses that happen outside of their view.” Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Public Interest Research Group support the model bill, CR and EPIC said. Fitzgerald emailed us Wednesday, "Our next step is to work to get folks [committed] to introduce it."

Cost remains an obstacle for 1.7 million New York state households to get broadband, said a New York Department of Public Service staff report Tuesday. And the end of the federal affordable connectivity program and litigation over the FCC’s reclassification of broadband and New York’s Affordable Broadband Act (see 2409160031) have complicated efforts to connect them, staff said. “To alleviate that uncertainty,” the department included in the report a list of low-cost plans available from ISPs.

A Cox complaint about the state’s handling of NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program is “misleading and unsupported by facts,” the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation said Tuesday. In a lawsuit Monday at Rhode Island Superior Court in Providence, Cox said that Commerce’s flawed mapping and challenge process will lead to the state overbuilding wealthy communities with its $108.7 million BEAD allocation. Cox's complaint seeks declaratory judgment and an injunction to stop the state “from using flawed internet speed data that the Commerce Corporation refuses to make public to build taxpayer-subsidized and duplicative high-speed broadband internet in affluent areas of Rhode Island like the Breakers Mansion in Newport and affluent areas of Westerly.” The FCC’s broadband map shows 99.3% of Rhode Island residents have high-speed internet, Cox said. But Rhode Island Commerce reclassified 30,000 homes as underserved, including several mansions, which can receive at least 1 Gbps download and 35 Mbps upload speeds from Cox, the cable ISP said: Additionally, Rhode Island “devised a process to challenge its flawed data … that exists nowhere else in the 18 states where Cox offers service and that is impossible for Cox to meet.” Rhode Island Commerce noted that NTIA reviewed and approved its initial BEAD plan, which was “a proposal built on fairness, transparency, and a commitment to maximizing the impact of this historic federal investment.” However, Cox, the state’s biggest ISP, “declined to engage in the robust, months-long public planning process on how the Corporation would deploy Rhode Island’s BEAD funds.” The lawsuit “is an attempt to prevent the investment of $108.7 million dollars in broadband infrastructure in Rhode Island, likely because ... [Cox] realizes that some, or even all, of that money may be awarded through a competitive process to other internet service providers,” added Commerce. It said Rhode Island has unserved or underserved areas even in wealthier areas. “Whether an area is affluent or not has no bearing on the type of broadband service that is -- or is not -- available in that area.”

California schools must develop a policy limiting smartphones on campuses by July 1, 2026, under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The governor signed AB-3216 about one month after the legislature passed the measure (see 2408300039). “We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues -- but we have the power to intervene,” Newsom said. “This new law will help students focus on academics, social development, and the world in front of them, not their screens, when they’re in school.” Several states are considering ways to limit smartphone usage by students (see 2407190012).

Frontier Communications would no longer receive Arizona Universal Service Fund (AUSF) subsidies under a proposed settlement in a ratemaking docket at the Arizona Corporation Commission. Frontier and ACC staff filed the pact Friday in docket T-03214A-23-0250. Frontier is the only company in the state receiving this high-cost support. If the proposal is approved, Frontier will forgo collecting any further AUSF funding as well as about $104,000 it's currently owed. In addition, the agreement would adjust Frontier basic service rates that were last revised in 1989. It would designate certain basic telecom services as competitive and deregulate other tariffed intrastate telecom services. Frontier would offer the basic services through a price-cap rate structure. The agreement said "appropriate ACC oversight of Frontier's regulated services” will continue. In March, Arizona commissioners refused hiking monthly AUSF surcharges because they said they wanted to address the issue in the Frontier ratemaking docket.

New York state recovered $750,000 in stolen wages from Best Wireless, a former certified Verizon retailer that had 29 stores and about 450 employees in New York City and elsewhere in the state, Attorney General Letitia James (D) said Friday. Her office reached the agreement with Best Wireless after an investigation found that the retailer “engaged in numerous labor violations over several years,” said the James office. “The company illegally deducted wages for lost, stolen, and missing merchandise, refused to pay overtime or provide breaks, and charged employees for their uniforms and background checks.” Verizon has terminated its relationship with Best Wireless, which no longer operates as an authorized Verizon retailer, the AG office noted.

A federal judge declared a mistrial in the case of former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza at U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois. The former telecom executive had pleaded not guilty in October 2022 to bribery and racketeering charges, including allegations that he authorized nine $2,500 monthly payments, totaling $22,500, to a close ally of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D). Madigan in return successfully pushed through legislation backed by La Schiazza making it easier for AT&T to terminate its costly carrier of last resort obligation to continue providing landline services to Illinois residents, said the indictment. The trial began earlier this month. But in a Thursday order, Judge Robert Gettleman said the “jury reported they have reached an impasse and cannot reach a unanimous verdict.” Discharging the jury, Gettleman set a court hearing for Tuesday.

Maine opened its prequalification process for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the Maine Connectivity Authority said Wednesday. It will remain open through Oct. 18, the MCA said. In this first phase of Maine’s subgrantee selection process, “MCA will evaluate a prospective applicant’s technical, financial, operational and managerial capacity,” it said. NTIA allocated nearly $272 million to Maine for BEAD. North Carolina started prequalifying ISPs earlier this week (see 2409160033).

Android and iPhone users can now add California driver’s licenses or state IDs to their Google or Apple digital wallets under a pilot program, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Thursday. California added support for Apple users Thursday after last month announcing it for Google users. The pilot is limited to 1.5 million participants.