The California Public Utilities Commission released a resolution to adopt a $43.3 million expense budget for fiscal year 2016-17 for the state high-cost fund during its Oct. 1 meeting, said resolution T-17491. Comment will be accepted on this budget proposal until Sept. 21, and should be focused on factual, legal and/or technical errors in the draft resolution, said a public notice. The budget includes $1.45 million for state operations; $41.8 million for local assistance; $41,000 for fiscal; and $237 for the state controller's office.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster's office filed a lawsuit against Florida-based MSB Consultants and its president, Michael Bendett, for violations of Missouri’s No-Call law, said a news release from the Koster's office. The lawsuit alleges MSB Consultants illegally made automated telephone calls to Missouri residents who were on the state’s No-Call list, the release said. MSB Consultants called Missouri consumers with a recorded message, attempting to sell them health insurance. The Attorney General’s Office received 20 complaints about the company from consumers who are on the No-Call list but still received the unwanted calls, the release said. The suit follows a recent FCC order, supported by Koster (see 1507220054), that allows phone companies to utilize call-blocking technologies to better protect their customers from robocalls and scams.

Switched copper voice service and switched fiber voice service provide the same local exchange services, even though they don't operate in an identical matter, said the D.C. Public Service Commission Tuesday in an opinion and order in the investigation into the continued use of Verizon's copper infrastructure to provide services (case No. 1102). But residential and business customers will lose certain features associated with LECs if they choose FiOS digital voice service, the order said. Because fiber facilities are more resistant to environmental factors, the facilities may be less prone to service outages, the order said.

Midwest Connections and Midwest Energy Cooperative launched gigabit speed Internet in southwest Michigan, said a news release from Midwest Energy Cooperative. Midwest Connections is an unregulated service of Midwest Energy Cooperative, a regional electric distribution system with about 36,000 customers across southern Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio. Together they make up TeamFiber, which launched fiber Internet in small markets in parts of rural southwest Michigan in 2014 and then committed to a five-year build-out of its entire southwest Michigan service territory, the release said.

CenturyLink got a contract from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to provide managed IP-based voice services to the agency's more than 400 statewide locations, said a CenturyLink news release Monday. CenturyLink said it will manage the agency's existing phone infrastructure, which includes IP-based and analog phone systems, and analog users eventually will transfer to a cloud-based VoIP and unified communications platform.

Wireless services company 5 Bars agreed to develop Sacramento's fast broadband wireless master plan, said a Monday news release from the distributed antenna system and Wi-Fi company. When that network is fully implemented, it will provide the ability for all citizens to publicly access high-speed wireless Internet in key areas, 5 Bars said.

The Missouri Public Service Commission expressed concern over the growing burden of the federal USF contribution level, in comments on the FCC NPRM in dockets including 10-90. The state commission recommended the FCC reconsider the income-based eligibility criteria and let states have the discretion to maintain or discontinue the requirements. On FCC consideration of streamlining the eligible telecom carrier designation process, the Missouri commission recommends the process stay the same because of fraud. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin said the carrier access of Lifeline eligibility requests (CALER) portal, which lets the PSC staff and phone company representatives determine Lifeline program eligibility status electronically, has major limitations that need to be fixed to help with eligibility verification issues in the state. First, verification is possible when the only Wisconsin Department of Health Services database is online and it's reliably online only during normal business hours, the comments said. Second, the CALER interface doesn't allow providers to verify eligibility based on income level or qualification for the Wisconsin Homestead Tax Credit, the PSC said. The deadline for comments was Monday.

The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel asked the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for a second time to do an investigation of Verizon's continued use of copper and to issue an order prohibiting any disconnections pending the outcome of this investigation and review, said a request filed Thursday in docket TO15060749. Rate counsel filed a petition June 29 asking the board to investigate Verizon’s practices for the migration from copper landlines to fiber, after consumer complaints. The counsel was concerned that Verizon wasn't following FCC regulations on the transition steps and that Verizon was giving customers short notice that they must change from using their copper landlines to fiber and wasn't providingall details/consequences associated with the transition, said a spokeswoman from the rate counsel. Since the June 29 petition, the rate counsel has logged inquiries from concerned customers and state and local elected officials on behalf of their constituents located in the counties of Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic and Warren, the filing said.

CEA CEO Gary Shapiro and Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International CEO Brian Wynne released a joint statement Thursday opposing passage of California SB-142, which they said would restrict the flight of unmanned aerial systems, including drones. Shapiro and Wynne said the bill is an “unnecessary, innovation-stifling and job-killing proposal.” Privacy issues should be addressed, they said. But SB-142 would “open the door to a new class of frivolous lawsuits in California and create inconsistencies with federal law,” they said.

CenturyLink laid off about 150 employees in Colorado -- 2.5 percent of the workforce -- as part of a larger, countrywide reduction, emailed a spokesman Thursday. The total employee impact, across the entire company, is about 1,000 positions, he said. The layoff in Colorado is the largest reduction per state because Colorado has the largest total of CenturyLink employees in one state, he said. The reduction in staff affects represented and nonrepresented employees in a variety of job positions and departments, the spokesman said.