California

San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont (CA) all received a federal grant for $32 million to expand their internet access. The grant is hoping to serve people who lack fast internet service, and create more options for accessing the web. The grant comes from a program by the California Public Utilities Commission to expand broadband infrastructure across the state for underserved communities.

Californians will work to make broadband maps as accurate as possible via a challenge process running from July 8 through Aug. 5. The final maps will determine if the most in need will get internet infrastructure into their homes. But advocates say the internet access maps are highly inaccurate. Only local and tribal governments, internet service providers, and advocacy groups can demand changes to the map.

California’s Broadband Office is just what you’d expect:  large, spread out, and a little hard to navigate. It’s not, technically, even one office. In actuality, the California Public Utilities Commission's  Communications Division handles the complicated task of allocating broadband grants to serve those in need. The CPUC’s Communications Division oversees the state’s telecommunications issues in six branches. Within broadband there are approximately 75 employees with a subsection of 25 dedicated to Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD).

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has rejected a bid by AT&T to no longer be the “carrier of last resort” for phone service in California. The ruling is a win for people who still use landlines. Being a carrier of last resort requires the company to provide basic telephone service. That often means installing and maintaining old fashioned copper landlines for those who have nothing else, and the state’s biggest carrier of last resort is AT&T.

The Los Angeles school board set in motion a plan to ban cellphones all day on campus, saying the devices distract students from learning, lead to anxiety, and allow cyberbullying.

Gov Gavin Newsom (D-CA) vowed to severely restrict the use of smartphones during the school day, a dramatic move by the nation’s largest state amid dire warnings from the Biden administration that social media harms children. Newsom’s decision comes a day after Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned the threat social media poses to kids is so acute that Congress should compel apps to include warning labels similar to cigarettes and alcohol. Newsom said he would work with his Democratic-dominated Legislature to pass the restrictions during the current session that ends in August.

Remote work was uncommon prior to the pandemic. But since then, the share of Californians who work from home has increased dramatically, from 6% in 2018–19 to 19% in 2021–22. Most workers consider remote work to be a desirable job benefit and more people would like to work from home than currently do so, according to Public Policy Institute of California surveys.

In 2021, California did something truly remarkable and forward looking by approving historic legislation that allocated a record $6 billion to bring equitable and affordable high-speed broadband service to all its citizens. The multiyear investment aimed to close the digital divide by building the largest “middle-mile” and “last-mile” high-speed broadband internet project in the nation. However, with the state facing a record $44.9 billion budget deficit this year, Gov Gavin Newsom (D-CA) plans to cut $2 billion for the program he previously championed. California lawmakers must not backtra

More than 23 million households will lose affordable internet access as part of a pandemic-era federal program that provided low-income households with a credit of between $30 and $75 toward their monthly service bill.

Telephone companies may want to ditch copper and focus on the next best thing (i.e., fiber). But states aren’t about to let them off the hook. According to New Street Research, ILECs seeking to end their carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations are getting pushback from states because consumers might not have another option for internet access—including wireless. A COLR is a telecommunications service provider that’s required to serve upon request all customers within its designated service areas.