Gov. Gavin Newsom is up against a deadline to decide whether California will accept $1.42 billion in federal broadband money that comes with a condition critics say would keep the state from enforcing its own internet and phone rules, including protections written after Santa Clara County firefighters had their data slowed during a 2018 wildfire.
KQED reported that the deadline falls Monday, Nov. 2; other accounts have put it at Nov. 1. According to KQED, California is the last state that has not accepted its award.
What is at stake
The money comes from the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, a pot of more than $42 billion Congress created in 2021 to bring service to homes and businesses with poor internet. California's share would help extend service to about 270,000 homes and businesses, many in rural areas, KQED reported. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the state's plan for the money in September.
Last year, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration added a requirement known as Condition 50. It says states that take the money must agree not to enforce any state law or rule that "directly or indirectly" regulates broadband service, including net neutrality, open access or utility-style rules.
The federal government's position is that state-level broadband rules can raise costs, create regulatory uncertainty and discourage investment in networks built with federal money, according to the trade publication Inside Towers.
The case against signing
Eight law professors, including Stanford's Barbara van Schewick, have urged Newsom not to sign while Condition 50 is attached and to challenge it in court instead. The Utility Reform Network and other consumer groups have made the same request, saying the condition would last 14 years.