States face a time crunch preparing to spend billions of federal dollars on broadband, said state and federal panelists at NARUC’s winter conference Monday. A possible change in broadband responsibilities is causing uncertainty in Nebraska about who will administer funds from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
NARUC draft resolutions on FCC spectrum auction authority and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) got support from some industry and other groups ahead of this week’s state utilities regulators’ meeting in Washington, D.C. In an interview last week, Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Tim Schram (R) said it’s critical to use auction revenue to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, which repays federally funded carriers required to “rip and replace” equipment from Chinese vendors that may pose a security risk.
Maryland legislators are weighing a bill modeled on Florida and Oklahoma telemarketing laws, which go beyond the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). At a livestreamed hearing Thursday, Del. Vaughn Stewart (D) joked that he “plagiarized” his HB-37 from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The proposed Maryland mini-TCPA would require express written consent from consumers for robocalls and autodialing, with exemptions for nonprofits, political campaigns, business-to-business calls and isolated, nonroutine calls. The bill would ban calls between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. and calling more than three times in 24 hours. And it would prohibit caller ID spoofing and using voice alteration technology for fraud or deception. Stewart said he’s open to amending the bill to exempt informational calls that companies make to their own customers. Proposed limits on autodialers are “admittedly more strict” than the federal TCPA, said the delegate, but they mirror Florida and Oklahoma laws. Del. Christopher Adams (R) asked if there weren’t already industry solutions to robocalls. Stewart said they’re not foolproof and his bill would complement those efforts. Del. Steven Arentz (R) raised concerns the measure may be “almost impossible to enforce.” The bill won’t “be a panacea,” but it will reduce spam calls and text, said Stewart: Florida spam calls declined after the state enacted its law. CTIA opposes HB-37, which could have “unintended consequences” preventing calls people want to receive, said lobbyist Rob Garagiola of Compass Advocacy. Industry is putting much effort into technology that stops spam call and texts, he said. AARP Maryland’s Karen Morgan supported the bill: “We’re drowning in robocalls.” The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony on its version of the same bill (SB-90) last week.
The Florida Public Service Commission unanimously adopted Lifeline rule changes required by a 2022 state law, agreeing to a Jan. 27 staff recommendation at a livestreamed meeting Wednesday. Under the updated regulations, which are meant to harmonize Florida and federal rules, an eligible telecom carrier (ETC) must notify the subscriber about impending Lifeline service termination if it has reason to believe the subscriber no longer qualifies, said the recommendation in docket 2023011-TP. Also, the subscriber must provide proof of continued eligibility upon request of the ETC, FCC or its designee. The Florida PSC order also cleans up obsolete provisions on income eligibility that weren’t consistent with FCC requirements.
A private right of action is key to a strong biometric privacy bill in Maryland, said state Sen. Brian Feldman (D) at a Senate Finance Committee meeting livestreamed Wednesday. One problem with allowing only attorney general enforcement is the office's limited resources, said the SB-169 sponsor. "Businesses will simply ignore the law” if individuals can’t sue, said Electronic Privacy Information Center counsel Jake Wiener. Bring back the stronger PRA from last year’s Senate bill, he said. The enforcement provision is more limited in this year’s edition, agreed Feldman: It's based on last year’s House-passed bill, but the committee is welcome to amend. The Computer and Communications Industry Association wants only AG enforcement, with a 30-day right to cure alleged violations. “By creating a new private right of action, the measure would open the doors of Maryland’s courthouses to plaintiffs advancing frivolous claims with little evidence of actual injury,” said CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender in written testimony. SB-169, which requires opt-in consent and applies only to private entities, puts "basic guardrails" to protect increasingly used biometric information like fingerprints and facial recognition scans, said Feldman. “There are essentially no rules” now on how long businesses can retain data and what they can do with it, he said. Assistant AG Hanna Abrams supported the bill, noting there are currently no restrictions on how companies use data. But CCIA said the bill goes “far beyond protecting” consumers’ biometric data, “which could result in degraded consumer services and experience.” Including a definition and compliance obligations for personal information extends the bill’s scope beyond biometrics, it said. “Requiring specific user consent for any data collection or processing would be inconsistent with consumer expectations, introduce unnecessary friction … and likely overwhelm consumers.” Extend the proposed Oct. 1 effective date, added CCIA, noting California, Colorado and Virginia privacy laws delayed enforcement by two years. Other opponents included TechNet and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.
Connecticut commissioners voted 3-0 to establish an application and approval process for conduit excavations in highways, streets or other public rights of way (ROW) by telecom and broadband internet access service providers. Telecom companies raised some concerns last month with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) draft proposal (see 2301250053 and 2301100075). Providers will have to notify other providers and offer the opportunity to share excavations and conduits, said Steve Capozzi, PURA Reliability, Security and Resilience Unit supervisor, at Wednesday’s livestreamed PURA meeting: “The principle of this process is to minimize the need for future excavations of the same location.”
A Florida bill requiring social media literacy training in public schools cleared the Senate Education Committee in a bipartisan 11-0 vote Tuesday. The state should educate kids on “the addictive nature of social media,” said SB-52 sponsor Sen. Daniel Burgess (R) at the livestreamed meeting. A substitute amendment adopted Tuesday refines the bill to ensure kids’ social media use is focused on career development and sharing information with families and friends, said Burgess: It won’t prevent class-specific uses of social media, such as a career-building class that teaches how to use LinkedIn. Co-sponsor Sen. Rosalind Osgood (D) said the bill is much needed. When she was on a school board, Osgood saw “all the trauma that young people endure because of social media,” she said. "We can't just leave our children alone with their phones.” She later added, “We have to train [children] just like before we give them a car. ... We missed that step with social media.” Sen. Erin Grall (R) said the final bill should ensure social media curriculum keeps up to date and that only age-appropriate content is shared to kids of different ages “so we're not introducing traumatic topics prematurely.” Saying he remains open to suggestions, Burgess agreed reviews should be mandatory to keep educational content current. The bill will help students make “correct use of social media,” and understand its downsides, said Sen. Shev Jones (D), noting he would like to co-sponsor the measure.
Nebraska senators debated shifting broadband responsibilities to the state’s department of transportation (DOT) from the Public Service Commission. Some senators at Tuesday's livestreamed hearing questioned the need to change who handles mapping and distributing federal support from NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. Nebraska PSC Chairman Dan Watermeier (R), officially testifying as neutral on the bill, cautioned that the BEAD program has strict deadlines the state must move quickly to meet. Any proposed transition may require NTIA approval, he said.
An Oregon bill to regulate data brokers advanced through the House Business and Labor Committee in a 10-1 vote Monday. Also at the livestreamed hearing, state telecom groups opposed an anti-robocalls bill. The committee voted unanimously to amend the data broker bill (HB-2052) to clarify that an exemption for state and local governments includes public corporations. The amendment also made other technical fixes including to tweak the definition of “licensed” to align with Vermont’s data broker law. Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis voted no on the amended bill. The Republican said she opposed exempting government. Oregon DOJ Legislative Director Kimberly McCullough said she doesn’t think the government engages in data brokering. Another reason for the exemption is structural, said McCullough: It’s usually better to write separate laws for public and private sectors than to try to address them together. “If the government’s not involved in sharing that kind of data, then I’m not sure why they would be exempted in the first place,” responded Boshart Davis. Because the bill has fiscal impact, HB-2052 must go next to the Ways and Means Committee before getting a full House vote. The committee heard testimony but didn’t vote on the robocalls bill (HB-2759), which sponsor and committee Chairman Paul Holvey (D) said would give the Oregon attorney general the authority to hold accountable gateway telecom providers that pass along telemarketing calls from overseas. The bill also includes a private right of action. Oregon DOJ supports the bill, which aligns state law more closely with federal statute, said Deputy Legislative Director Kate Denison. Gateways providers are "actively choosing to ignore suspicious activity because carrying more calls equals more profit," she said. HB-2759 also got support from Oregon Consumer Justice and Oregon Public Interest Research Group. The Oregon Telecommunications Association (OTA) and Oregon Cable Telecommunications Association opposed the bill. OTA members aren’t telemarketing companies and don’t know who the telemarketers are, said Executive Vice President Brant Wolf. "This bill will hold us responsible for something we really can't avoid doing,” he said. "If a number is dialed, we have to complete the call.”
The California Privacy Protection Agency voted 4-0 to approve California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) rules Friday. Also at the virtual meeting, the agency agreed to seek comments on a proposed rulemaking on risk assessments, cybersecurity audits and automated decision-making. The privacy agency’s executive director said in December the CPRA rules could take effect in April or later (see 2212160040). The statute took effect Jan. 1.