Calif. Public Advocate Seeks Wireless, Broadband Standards
Landline service quality standards should extend to broadband, VoIP and wireless, California’s Public Advocates Office said Wednesday. The PAO filed a petition asking the state Public Utilities Commission to open a rulemaking to treat all four communication types as essential…
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services. The independent office within the CPUC also said the agency should change its current policy of letting carriers invest in their own networks the amount of proposed fines in lieu of paying those penalties. PAO cited “broad authority” for extending service quality standards under the California Constitution, PUC rules and state police power. Net neutrality decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. District Court for Eastern California said the FCC 2018 order didn't preempt state action on broadband services, the office added. VoIP and wireless service providers are “telephone corporations” over which the commission has authority, the office said. “Congress left to the states the ability to regulate the terms and conditions of wireless service in order to protect customers.” A state law that banned the commission from regulating VoIP and IP-enabled services sunset Jan. 1, 2020 (see 1909120072), it said. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen last week supported launching a rulemaking to review the penalty policy (see 2109230067). The PAO said the existing structure doesn't ensure compliance by the state's biggest telcos AT&T and Frontier Communications and isn’t “measurably improving service quality.” AT&T, the California Cable and Telecommunications Association, USTelecom and CTIA didn’t comment. Frontier and the Voice on the Net Coalition declined to comment.