Florida awarded $247 million in broadband grants for 63 projects in 43 counties, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Friday. The broadband infrastructure program support is expected to connect more than 59,000 unserved and underserved homes, farms, businesses and anchor institutions, the governor’s office said.

Lumen’s CenturyLink may have to pay $923,000 for illegally disconnecting phone lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said Thursday. The company has 20 days to ask state commissioners to review an administrative law judge’s initial order, the UTC said. The telco involuntarily disconnected or suspended 923 telephone accounts during an emergency proclamation by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) from March 2020 to October 2021, said the UTC. Lumen argued it shouldn’t be penalized because the disconnections were inadvertent and affected a small percentage of its customers. "As a large portion of the disconnection process is automated and involves different billing systems," Washington state's "extended COVID-19 moratorium posed a challenge," a Lumen spokesperson said. "As a result, a small portion of our customers were disconnected in error." The spokesperson noted Lumen quickly joined the FCC's Keep Americans Connected pledge and extended pandemic policies beyond required dates.

North Carolina awarded $80 million in broadband grants from the state’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) program, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said Thursday. The grants are expected to connect nearly 26,000 households and almost 1,000 businesses in 33 counties. With the latest awards, North Carolina has awarded all of the $350 million it received for the GREAT program from the American Rescue Plan Act, the governor’s office said. Applicants had to agree to provide minimum 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload speeds, scalable to 100/100 Mbps by Dec. 31, 2026. Charter Communications won awards for eight county projects, Brightspeed for four projects and AT&T for two.

State commissioners proposed NARUC telecom resolutions seeking permanent annual funding for the affordable connectivity program (ACP) and recommending no government subsidies to communications companies using network equipment that might pose a national security risk. The state regulator association may consider the draft resolutions at its July 16-19 meeting in Austin. Telecom Committee ex-Chair Karen Charles Peterson of Massachusetts proposed the ACP resolution and another draft that would urge expanding Lifeline Awareness Week to include broadband access. ACP funds are expected to dry up by Q2 2024, said the first resolution. “Establishing a new federal assistance program was a complex process at the federal, state, territory, tribal and local level,” and potentially losing a permanent low-income broadband program "with government oversight is troubling because universal high speed internet access is essential for a well-functioning economy.” New Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram (R) of Nebraska proposed the national security resolution. Despite "efforts to rip out and replace equipment and services from" the FCC's covered list "to safeguard our communications networks," a March 1 FCC public notice found about 79 providers still have covered equipment. That poses "an unacceptable risk to national security,” the draft said. The resolution would encourage the FCC to work with state commissions and broadband offices to identify risky equipment and hold back funding. “NARUC recommends that no federal, state, or local governmental body provide universal service support, broadband deployment support, or any other form of grant funding to any communications company which utilizes equipment identified on the FCC’s Covered List anywhere in its network.”

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska approved a telecom industry pact on intrastate access charges Friday. The Alaska Exchange Carrier Association, AT&T and GCI filed a petition in January asking the RCA to accept their stipulation on rates for July 1 through June 30, and then July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025 (see 2301100049). The parties agreed all the rates except originating non-toll-free local switching and information surcharge rate elements will remain the same as 2022 stipulated rates, said the RCA order in docket U-23-001. “We find that the public interest does not require continuation of this proceeding."

The New Jersey Assembly voted 78-0 Friday to pass a bill that would hold social media platforms liable when they engage in activity that causes users under the age of 18 to “become addicted” to their services (see 2303200046). A-5069 will go to the Senate, which has a similar bill (S-3608).

California commissioners should "move forward with steps to regulate VoIP providers and provide specific recommendations for an appropriate regulatory framework,” said Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT), The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Communications Workers of America (CWA). The California Public Utilities Commission received reply comments Friday in docket R.22-08-008. "Industry parties continue to fixate on preemption," as they have for the past nine months of the proceeding, the consumer and workers' groups complained. That CforAT, TURN and CWA "ignore the preemption issue entirely" means industry's "preemption arguments stand unrebutted," replied AT&T. The California Broadband and Video Association warned the CPUC that market "entry requirements and other utility-style regulations for interconnected VoIP service are not only unnecessary but would exceed the Commission’s authority and conflict with [FCC] and federal court precedent.” Regulating business VoIP providers "is unnecessary and unsupported by the evidentiary record or actual marketplace experiences,” the Cloud Communications Alliance replied. But Small Business Utility Advocates said the CPUC has legal authority and should regulate VoIP.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska can’t guarantee it will quickly decide on an AT&T application to discontinue intrastate interexchange long-distance service in 15 communities, the commission said in a Thursday order. AT&T requested expedited consideration with a final decision by Aug. 1 so Alaska’s decision “coincides with the approximate decision date of its” similar request at the FCC, the commission said. The agency said it will try to meet that date but could commit only to an order by Dec. 4, “unless the time is extended.”

Maryland's Montgomery County alerted residents about 911 problems Friday. “Montgomery County Emergency Communications (911) is experiencing a Verizon wireless issue,” said a wireless alert from the county at around 9:30 a.m. “In case of an emergency, callers are asked to call their district stations. Verizon is aware and attempting to fix the problem.” A Verizon spokesperson said Friday morning that 911 calls were “going through for customers throughout the greater [District of Columbia] area and surrounding counties,” but there was “a remaining issue where caller ID and location information is not automatically transmitting to dispatchers in Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and St. Mary's Counties.” Verizon “engineers are working tirelessly to get the issue resolved but customers can continue to use 911 in case of emergency,” the spokesperson said.

Texas showed appreciation for the federal government allocating it the most money of any state through NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. Texas is receiving by far the largest BEAD award, with more than $3.3 billion announced Monday (see 2306260007). “Historically, Texas has typically been a donor state, meaning our tax dollars would go to Washington and then get sent out to fund projects in other states,” Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R) said Thursday. “It’s good to see our hard-earned tax dollars coming back to Texas, and you can be certain that each of those dollars will be spent wisely.” The comptroller is “encouraged that NTIA recognizes the challenges we face in Texas,” Hegar said. “And I hope as NTIA evaluates our proposal in the coming months, that it gives Texas the freedom and latitude to bridge the digital divide without needless restrictions.” BEAD funding may be "a rare opportunity for bipartisanship and cooperation as a Democratic administration works to implement a program targeted largely at areas that voted the other way," Cloudflare Director-Network Strategy Mike Conlow blogged Wednesday. About two-thirds of unserved and underserved households eligible for funding are likely Republican, he said.