Montana will be the first state to take applications for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) said Monday. The applications portal will open Tuesday at 10 a.m. MST and close on Oct. 15. “This generational investment for Montana’s communities can’t wait any longer,” Gianforte said. NTIA allocated $629 million to Montana through BEAD.
Illinois will allow counties to lease or license fiber and other broadband infrastructure for delivery of high-speed internet. Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed SB-3173 on Friday. Counties may do so under the new law only “on a nondiscriminatory, nonexclusive, and competitively neutral basis” and must comply with all other state and federal laws and regulations, says SB-3173. No state legislators voted against the bill earlier this year (see 2404120059).
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked New York to respond by Sept. 16 to ISP groups' application that would stay the state’s broadband affordability law, a text entry in docket 24A138 said Monday. Last week, New York agreed not to enforce the law while the high court considers a petition from ISP groups for a writ of certiorari (see 2408080022). The ISP groups were expected to file that petition Monday, but it didn’t appear on the court’s website before our deadline. If the court grants cert, additionally granting the stay application would stop New York from enforcing the law while justices weigh the case.
The Utah Public Service Commission delayed a hearing on AT&T’s $2.26 million overpayment to the state USF that was scheduled for Tuesday. The PSC granted AT&T’s request to postpone until Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. The carrier said last month that it was nearing a settlement with the Utah Division of Public Utilities and Utah Rural Telecom Association (see 2407110030).
California will award almost $91 million more in its fifth round of broadband grants, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced Thursday. The commission recommended approval for projects in Marin, Mendocino, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Sutter counties, benefiting an estimated 32,000 Californians. This brings the total amount in grants CPUC has recommended to $435 million for projects in 22 counties, out of an available $2 billion from the Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program (see 2407110057).
States may not be able to use money from NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program to fund areas where an entity has defaulted on rural digital opportunities fund (RDOF) commitments, three state broadband directors said during a panel Wednesday at Mountain Connect in Denver. Should a company default on RDOF after NTIA has approved a jurisdiction’s dataset of available locations resulting from that state's or territory’s challenge process, “our hands are … tied” and BEAD can't fund that area, Sarah Baska, Georgia broadband director, said. “If we have remaining funds after we go through all the awards, we were told we cannot use those funds to … go back and rebid those areas.” Remaining money can be used only for nondeployment expenses, Baska added. Virginia interprets NTIA’s policy the same way, according to Chandler Vaughan, associate director of that state’s broadband office. “If we certify our challenge results with NTIA on Sept. 1 and there is an RDOF default on Sept. 2, we cannot get to that location under the BEAD program. No exceptions.” Arkansas State Broadband Office Director Glen Howie said NTIA should be aware of this concern. “Once our map is locked, our map is locked” and the state can’t do anything about defaults that occur afterward, he said. “It’s critically important that the federal government” understands that if there are defaults on any broadband program, “they have to be on the hook to find a new awardee,” said Howie. “That’s the only way that this thing will work.” At Mountain Connect this week, state broadband directors reported progress meeting BEAD requirements as they prepare to distribute $42.5 billion across the U.S. next year (see 2408070029 and 2408060048).
Maryland digital ad tax litigation moved back to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a Tuesday order, the 4th Circuit required an opening brief by Sept. 15 from appellants U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association. Maryland should respond by Oct. 15, the court said. The industry groups are appealing a July decision of the U.S. District Court for Maryland, which issued its final judgment Thursday. The case went back and forth between the two courts previously, with the district court last month dismissing the remaining count of plaintiffs’ complaint (see 2407050012).
NTIA gave Wyoming approval to collect more than $347 million in broadband equity, access and deployment funds Thursday. The agency approved volume 2 of the state’s initial proposal, granting it access to Federal Internet for All funds. NTIA has approved BEAD initial plans for 30 states plus three territories and the District of Columbia. Twenty states and two territories have volume 2 initial proposals pending approval. NTIA expects it will review most of these by September (see 2408010053).
New York state will halt enforcing its affordable broadband law while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a petition from ISP groups for a writ of certiorari, the industry groups wrote to the court Thursday. CTIA, NTCA, USTelecom, ACA Connects, the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association and the New York State Telecommunications Association said they plan to file that petition Monday in case 24A138. Last week, the ISP groups filed an application for emergency stay of the state law at SCOTUS. In Thursday’s letter, the groups said they no longer need a ruling on that application by Aug. 15, but they can’t withdraw the request entirely because New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) hasn’t agreed to stay enforcement if the court grants cert, “absent a ruling from the Court compelling it not to enforce that law.” ISPs waited for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the FCC’s order reclassifying broadband as Title II before appealing the 2nd Circuit’s ruling that upheld New York’s law based on a Title I regime (see 2408010065 and 2406170042). The 2nd Circuit ruled in April that federal law doesn’t preempt the 2021 New York law requiring $15 monthly plans with 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds for qualifying low-income households (see 2404260051). In the Aug. 2 application for stay, the ISP groups said their forthcoming cert petition “will seek review of a divided panel decision that presents fundamental questions about whether the Communications Act of 1934 preempts States from regulating rates for broadband internet access service and other interstate information services.”
The California Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday handed down a $200,000 fine against T-Mobile’s MetroPCS for universal service violations. Administrative Law Judge Robert Mason in June recommended the amount, which translates to $100,000 per violation (see 2406250054). The CPUC’s enforcement division had sought a $10 million fine, finding that the carrier insufficiently responded to a Sept. 27, 2021, data request (see 2209230032). The proceeding is now closed, the order said.