California Bill Would Stop Data Throttling During Emergencies

In the summer of 2018, Verizon Wireless triggered a major controversy in the public safety community when it temporarily reduced Internet service to firefighters in Santa Clara (CA) greatly diminishing their ability to provide emergency services while fighting the Mendocino Complex fire — one of the largest in state history. Now a new state bill seeks to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. Assembly Bill 1699 would ban mobile Internet service providers from throttling service to first responders during incidents in which a “state of emergency” has been declared. The legislation forbids companies from “impairing or degrading” service in cities and counties when such a situation arises. Introduced in February, the bill is being sponsored by Assemblyman Marc Levine, who has argued that “first responders need every tool available to keep...communities safe.”