The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and its partners called on Comcast Thursday to pledge to meet requirements in the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) proposed decision on the Comcast/Time Warner Cable (TWC) deal that would require Comcast to reach 45 percent of all eligible low-income residents in its post-merger territory in the state with its low-cost Internet Essentials broadband program. The CPUC wants to require Comcast to spend $275 per household on outreach, digital literacy training and assistance in enrolling in Internet Essentials. Comcast has said those requirements are unrealistic, while CETF said it believes those requirements are doable. “CETF and our partners call on Comcast to join an effective public-private partnership to close the Digital Divide in California, and we stand ready to work with Comcast and all interested community-based organizations,” CETF President Sunne McPeak said in a statement. “There is no substitute for the innovation and efficiency of the private sector when engaged as sincere partners motivated to achieve explicit goals. Effective public-private partnerships can significantly leverage public benefit resources for a higher return on investment to taxpayers and ratepayers.” A Comcast spokeswoman said the company "is proud of our network of thousands" of community participants in building the Internet Essentials program. "We welcome CETF's continued participation in our program, but if they prefer a different program, they are certainly free to create their own program independent of Internet Essentials and join our fight to connect low income Californians to the Internet," the Comcast spokeswoamn said. The CPUC is currently set to vote on the proposed Comcast/TWC decision March 26.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) “plans to sign” HB-389, which would ban drivers in the state from writing, sending or reading messages on a mobile device while behind the wheel, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. The state Senate voted 49-3 Monday to approve the bill, which would institute a $25 fine for offenses committed through July 1, 2016. The fine would rise to $100 per offense after that date. The state has a ban on texting for drivers under the age of 18 but is otherwise one of six states that don't have blanket bans on the practice.

Three additional neighborhoods in Ridgeland, Mississippi, exceeded C Spire registration requirements for deploying residential gigabit service, the company said Friday. The city’s Montrachet, Muirwood and Camden Park neighborhoods now qualify for gigabit service, joining the already qualified Bridgewater, Old Agency East, Highland Colony North, Birdlanes and Ann Smith neighborhoods, C Spire said. The company first activated gigabit service in Ridgeland in November (see 1411130046).

The Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation said Sunday it supports a legislative push by state House Assistant Majority Leader Kevin Brooks and state Sen. Janice Bowling to ease restrictions in the state’s municipal broadband law by allowing municipalities operating an electric utility to provide utility services, including broadband, outside their electric system service area. The group said its members are located primarily in rural areas of Tennessee that have sparse broadband connectivity. Brooks said he and Bowling, both Republicans, are hoping the FCC Feb. 26 vote to grant a pre-emption petition from the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga will help the chances of their bills -- HB-1303 and SB-1134 -- during the current legislative session (see 1502270048). The legislature is slated to adjourn April 17.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s office confirmed he hadn’t signed HB-152 by our deadline Friday but said he intends to do so. The bill, which would significantly reduce the Kentucky Public Service Commission’s authority to regulate wireline service and would end its oversight of consumers’ broadband and wireless complaints, passed the state Senate 30-3 March 2. The House approved the bill Feb. 24 on a 71-25 vote (see 1502250022). Beshear, a Democrat, already had indicated he'll sign the bill, which also would allow major telcos to end traditional wireline service in jurisdictions with more than 15,000 households provided the FCC clears the conversion to an all-wireless or VoIP replacement. The PSC would retain full jurisdiction over wholesale issues, carrier-to-carrier issues and anti-competitive telecom practices.

Media Alliance urged opponents of the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable (TWC) deal to speak against the merger during the California Public Utilities Commission’s March 12 meeting. The meeting is the last open CPUC session before the commission’s planned March 26 vote on its review of the deal. Media Alliance Executive Director Tracy Rosenberg was one of several public interest advocates who urged the CPUC to reject the deal during an all-party meeting Feb. 25 (see 1502260060). Several community representatives spoke in favor of Comcast/TWC during a public comment period before parties in the review presented their arguments, which Media Alliance said Tuesday was a Comcast-orchestrated demonstration. “We must turn around the parade of Comcast-funded cheerleaders and make sure the Commission hears from real people not on Comcast's payroll,” Media Alliance said.

The Johnston County, North Carolina, 911 Emergency Communications department said it successfully tested an Intrado-developed LTE backup 911 call routing option to connect callers with the county’s public safety answering points (PSAPs). The 911 call routing alternative provides additional reliability to Johnston County’s 911 system, including its recently deployed Next-Generation 911 network capabilities, the department said Wednesday. “The traditional weak link in terrestrial networks is the 'last mile' between the telephone company and our PSAPs,” said department Director Jason Barbour in a news release. “This solution gives us yet another path to receive those calls in the unlikely event that both our primary and backup routes are unavailable.”

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau said it selected the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults to operate the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) for Hawaii. The NDBEDP provides up to $10 million in annual funding for the distribution of communications equipment to deaf-blind individuals who are considered low income, the FCC said Tuesday. The HKNC replaces Island Skill Gathering as Hawaii’s designated NDBEDP program operator, the FCC said. The commission mandated in 2011 that one entity per state could receive support through NDBEDP. The HKNC will “work in partnership with local agencies to meet the needs of the deaf-blind population throughout Hawaii,” the FCC said. The center operates NDBEDP programs in Iowa and New York, along with 14 other states’ programs in partnership with the Perkins School for the Blind, the FCC said.

The New York City Department of Education began allowing students Monday to carry cellphones and other mobile devices into city public schools. The move came after a rulemaking by the Department of Education’s Panel for Educational Policy last week that allowed cellphone use in city schools in accordance with rules set by individual schools. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, announced an end to the city’s ban on in-school cellphone use in early January (see 1501070037).

Telecom-related complaints were among the top consumer issues that attorneys general in Illinois and Michigan dealt with in 2014, offices for the AGs said separately Monday. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office said it received 2,162 telecom-related complaints during 2014, its third-most-frequent issue during the year. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office said it received almost 1,000 telecom-related complaints during 2014, again making telecom its third-most-frequent issue. Both offices said telecom-related issues included robocalls, telemarketing and cable/satellite services. Madigan, a Democrat, identified data breaches as a rising threat in Illinois, with her office receiving 2,617 complaints about such breaches and other identity theft problems during 2014. Madigan is pushing legislation from state Sen. Daniel Biss and state Rep. Ann Williams, both Democrats, that's designed to strengthen Illinois’ existing Personal Information Protection Act. Schuette, a Republican, said ransomware and mobile payment systems scams are developing into emerging threats in Michigan.