NTIA hopes it will wrap up approvals of states' and territories’ initial plans for the broadband, equity access and deployment (BEAD) program by month’s end, Administrator Alan Davidson said Friday. At a virtual press conference, Davidson joined White House and California officials in announcing approval of volume two of California’s initial plan. The action greenlights California access to its $1.8 billion BEAD allocation, NTIA said. Just five states still need volume-two approval, an NTIA dashboard showed Friday. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Ohio and Texas. Timing of the remaining approvals depends “a little bit on the remaining states that are out there,” said Davidson. “We’re really … at the endpoint now and this is all very much still exactly on track and on time.” Davidson praised California for showing a commitment to investing in resiliency in its BEAD plan. Also, he said California has done well to weave together various federal and state funds in its effort to connect everyone. Meanwhile, National Economic Council Deputy Director Jon Donenberg praised the California plan’s emphasis on affordability. California Public Utilities Commission President Alice Reynolds said the BEAD funding is “vital” for bridging the digital divide. “We will maximize these funds,” said Reynolds. "Projects will be deployed in a timely fashion."

West Virginia cable companies and utilities must use email and text messages when notifying customers about planned and unplanned outages, the West Virginia Public Service Commission said Friday. Also, the PSC asked the companies to seek updated contact information from customers. The directive follows a PSC investigation into outage notifications (see 2407310043).

Don’t make wireless carriers become carriers of last resort (COLR), CTIA said in comments posted Thursday at the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC received comments this week about updating COLR obligations (see 2410020037). Directing wireless companies to involuntarily be COLRs “would be inconsistent with the competitive marketplace in which wireless providers operate,” said the wireless industry association. The “classical elements of COLR policy are ill-adapted to, or … prohibited in, the wireless marketplace,” added CTIA: Under federal law, no state may regulate wireless rates or market entry.

Tech industry groups urged South Dakota lawmakers to hit the brakes on a possible age-verification bill. The legislature’s Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Regulation of Internet Access is weighing proposals (one, two and three) requiring age verification of children when accessing apps from app stores. “If enacted, such proposals would almost assuredly violate South Dakotans’ First Amendment rights, weaken their privacy, and fail to keep kids safe online,” NetChoice wrote Wednesday. Industry is litigating age-verification measures in several other states. “Implementing such a measure in South Dakota would likely meet the same fight and lead to costly legal challenges without providing any real benefits to the state's residents,” NetChoice added. Requiring companies to verify ages and parental consent “raise[s] significant privacy concerns,” the Computer & Communications Industry Association wrote to the study committee earlier this week. “The proposed act suggests imposing a government-mandated requirement that conflicts with data minimization principles ingrained in standard federal and international privacy and data protection compliance practices,” said CCIA. The association added, “Age verification solely at the device operating system or application store level overlooks access to websites via desktop or other devices.”

The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed an 811 measure that would reauthorize the state’s call-before-you-dig law. Senators voted 48-0 for SB-1237 on Tuesday. The House Consumer Protection Committee sent a similar measure (HB-2189) to the floor on Monday (see 2409300010). The House voted narrowly to amend the bill and recommitted it to the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Appropriations panel cleared HB-2189 and the House voted 120-82 to pass the bill.

Kansas plans that it will open applications Oct. 21 for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said Monday. It will close the window for seeking funding on Dec. 5, Kelly's office said. NTIA allocated $451.7 million to Kansas.

Lumen’s CenturyLink asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to reconsider an order finding that the telecom company violated Minnesota service quality rules. Earlier this year, the Minnesota PUC decided that the company must quickly rehabilitate its network statewide (see 2406200036). The company on Friday filed a petition for rehearing, reconsideration and clarification (docket C-20-432). Lumen said the order contained legal errors and the record did not support many of its findings. However, the carrier said it “appreciates” service quality concerns about plain old telephone services and proposed an improvement plan. Adopting the plan, rather than leaving in place the order, “would allow all parties and the Commission to move forward to ensure the provision of safe and adequate telephone service in Minnesota, while also furthering the State’s ambitious broadband service goals.”

A Pennsylvania bill reauthorizing the state’s call-before-you-dig law will go to the House floor. The House Consumer Protection Committee quickly and unanimously cleared the measure (HB-2189) without amendments during a livestreamed hearing Monday. Chairman Robert Matzie (D) indicated that the bill would likely be amended on the floor. At a hearing on HB-2189 earlier in September, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Stephen DeFrank said the expected influx of broadband work is a key reason for reauthorizing the law requiring excavators to call 811 before digging (see 2409170004).

The California Public Utilities Commission seeks comments by Oct. 29 on a staff proposal recommending a permanent intrastate rate cap for debit, prepaid and collect calls for incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS), said a ruling by Administrative Law Judge Robert Haga in docket R.20-10-002. The proposal would also make permanent the current cap on ancillary fees. In addition, staff recommended a process for periodic adjustments and a way for providers to seek changes “specific to their circumstances.” Replies will be due Nov. 19.

Comments will be due Oct. 10 on how California will treat VoIP providers going forward, the California Public Utilities Commission said. Replies will be due Oct. 15. Administrative Law Judge Camille Watts-Zagha extended the deadlines by one week in a Friday ruling (docket R.22-08-008). The CPUC’s proposed decision would say that interconnected VoIP providers are telephone corporations subject to the same laws and rules as other wireline and wireless telcos (see 2409130046).