The Texas Public Utility Commission should deregulate a Brightspeed exchange in Port Aransas, Texas, recommended PUC staff on Tuesday. The company has two voice competitors in the market of fewer than 100,000 people, staff reasoned in docket 56999. Brightspeed also seeks deregulation in two other Texas exchanges (see 2408280019).

Hawaii is asking that residents become “digital detectives” and conduct internet speed tests on their PCs, through a government website, from Oct. 22 to Nov. 4, said Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D). The state will use the results to create a statewide map “that will help to prioritize resources and improve connectivity for underserved areas,” Luke said Tuesday. The Hawaii Department of Education and public charter middle schools will offer prizes to encourage student participation. Residents may report the results of ISP or third party speed tests, like speedtest.net, the state said.

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in an order Wednesday denied a Communications Workers of America petition challenging two pole-attachment orders from 2022. CWA claimed in an April 29 petition that PURA decisions from 2022 on one-touch, make ready and a single visit transfer (SVT) process for double poles, plus a policy working group’s actions, “improperly mandated that Frontier and other Connecticut telecommunications companies ‘use third-party non-union contractors for bargaining unit work, without notice to or negotiation with CWA Local 1298.’” However, CWA’s petition isn’t “the proper vehicle for challenging an administrative decision,” said PURA. “Given that declaratory rulings may not be used to obtain indirectly that which is not available directly, the Authority declines to issue a declaratory ruling as to the validity of the OTMR and SVT Decisions. Even if the decisions could be appealed, added PURA, CWA failed to meet the statutory deadline to challenge them. In addition, CWA failed to show that the policy working group’s actions “constitute unlawful interference by the Authority with CWA’s contract with Frontier,” the authority said. “Contrary to CWA’s assertions, contractors were not forced upon attachers.” PURA Chair Marissa Gillett and Commissioners Jack Betkoski and David Arconti signed the order (case 24-05-11). CWA may have "no choice but to sue PURA," emailed Camilo Duran, a Yale Law School student interning with the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic. The clinic represents CWA Local 1298. Mandating third-party contractors "interferes with CWA's hard-fought collective bargaining agreement with Frontier, and is a threat to high-paying, stable union jobs in Connecticut," said Duran: Claiming that the requirement "is immune from review is an affront to democratic accountability and essential workers across the state."

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed legislation that creates a criminal offense for unlawfully possessing a telecom device in state prison, the governor’s office said Tuesday. The state law covers devices including cellphones, handheld radios, pagers and laptops, as well as components of such devices. However, it allows the South Carolina Department of Corrections director to authorize an inmate to have a device. “The use of contraband cell phones and other communication devices to orchestrate crime both inside and outside of prison has been a serious threat that has had devastating consequences for innocent people across our state," said McMaster.

DOJ urged a federal court not to acquit former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza. Last month, La Schiazza asked the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois to toss bribery and racketeering charges against him after a trial ended in a hung jury (see 2409300022). “In his effort to satisfy his nearly insurmountable burden, defendant ignores, mischaracterizes, and unfairly slants the abundant incriminating evidence that would easily allow a reasonable jury to conclude that the government established the essential elements of each charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt,” DOJ wrote Monday in case 22-CR-520. It added that the court may not independently weigh trial evidence and decide the government failed to meet its burden. “The law requires the Court to view the totality of the trial evidence in the light most favorable to the government, not the defendant, draw all reasonable inferences in the government’s favor, and grant his motion only if it finds the record was so devoid of evidence that a reasonable jury could not have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” To show a violation of the Travel Act, the government need not “prove a corrupt state of mind, much less prove the completion of the underlying bribery offense,” DOJ added. La Schiazza was accused two years ago of authorizing monthly payments totaling $22,500 to a close ally of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D). Madigan then pushed through legislation that La Schiazza backed, making it easier for AT&T to terminate its costly carrier of last resort obligation. That obligation required the company to continue providing landline services to Illinois residents, according to an indictment.

North Carolina needs more help from cellphone and internet companies in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Attorney General Josh Stein (D) said Monday. Stein, who is running for governor, asked companies to provide unlimited, high-speed service to people in western North Carolina at no cost for at least two billing cycles. Additionally, Stein asked companies to reimburse customers for charges when they couldn’t use their phones. “I appreciate that many cell and internet providers have been hard at work to restore services in the mountains, and many communities are back online,” said Stein. “But the people of western North Carolina need more help.” Cable companies Comcast and Charter Communications gave free access to Wi-Fi access points during the hurricane, while T-Mobile provided unlimited talk, text and data in many affected areas (see 2409270058).

Verizon formally asked the California Public Utilities Commission to approve its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications. California and many other states will review the deal, which was announced last month (see 2409050010). The companies also filed an application at the FCC last week (see 2410160049). “Verizon possesses the financial standing and expertise necessary to optimize Frontier’s networks,” the companies said in their Friday application at the CPUC. “By leveraging its significant financial strength, capital resources, and unparalleled technology, tools, and training, Verizon will build on Frontier’s post-bankruptcy efforts since April 2021 to deliver better service, increase value, and offer more choice to current Frontier customers.” The transaction’s benefits “will be achieved with no offsetting public interest harm, as Verizon and Frontier do not materially compete and have no plans to do so,” they added.

New Jersey started its challenge process for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the state's Board of Public Utilities said Monday. The Office of Broadband Connectivity opened a portal where ISPs, nonprofits and local and tribal governments may challenge whether specific locations are unserved or underserved with high-speed internet, the board said. Eligible challengers must register on the portal before Nov. 4, which is the first day when challenges will be accepted. The broadband office will accept challenges for 30 days, followed by ISP rebuttals for another 30 days. After that, the OBC will have 30 days to make final determinations. Board President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said residents should participate by asking a nonprofit or local government to submit challenges for them.

Citing "unanticipated and exorbitant inflationary effects of network construction," Cable One is dropping out of the rural deployment opportunity fund program in Idaho, while Fidelity Cablevision is doing the same in Missouri, according to nearly identical docket 20-34 letters Friday. Cable One -- authorized to receive $3,225,684 in RDOF support over 10 years for 863 locations in Idaho -- said it has made "significant investment" in the state, but "the planned RDOF deployment in Idaho is no longer viable due to unforeseeable costs that have increased dramatically since the conclusion of the RDOF auction." Fidelity -- authorized to receive a total of $37,979 in RDOF support over 10 years for 39 locations in Missouri -- used identical language about its planned Missouri deployment. Both said the requested blanket amnesty relief that the FCC declined would have solved those inflationary pressures. In July, the FCC Wireline Bureau said no one had shown a need for widespread relief from RDOF and Connect America Fund Phase II default penalties, and thus it wasn't providing a blanket amnesty.

California, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and Washington collected and distributed more than $110 million in 988 fees in 2023 for 988 Lifeline purposes, according to the FCC's latest annual 988 fee accountability report to Congress. The reports are required under the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act. Published in Friday's Daily Digest, the report said collection and distribution of 988 fees will be more prevalent in coming years. Delaware, Minnesota and Oregon reported establishing a funding mechanism but did not collect or impose 988 fees, while Maryland and Vermont recently passed legislation establishing fee-based funding mechanisms to support 988.