California Bill Makes Push to Regulate Broadband as Public Utility

A California lawmaker is pushing a measure that that would classify broadband as a public utility under state law, reviving a longstanding dispute on whether internet service providers should come under more oversight at the state level.

Assemblymember Jim Wood (D) is sponsoring the measure (AB 1714) that would put broadband service under the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Commission. It’s potentially the first such bill since a prohibition in state law on regulating Voice over Internet Protocol—technology allowing phone calls over broadband—expired in 2020, observers said.

Industry groups unsuccessfully fought to extend the VoIP prohibition, which ...