Seattle supports proposed reforms to the FCC Lifeline program, including the changes to the structure, modernization of the program and the improvements to access to broadband for low-income residents in the city, said a filing in docket 15-71. At least two connections should be allowed per household to ensure adequate service and mobility, the city said. The minimum standards for broadband should be based on the FCC's definition of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, the city said. The FCC also should ensure that providers report regularly on the levels of adoption at the city level to enable local jurisdictions to assist the commission in overseeing the program's implementation, Seattle said.

Minnesota customers of TerraCom's Lifeline services may be eligible for a year of free credit monitoring due to a data breach at the company, said a Tuesday news release from the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. An investigation after a 2013 data breach found that TerraCom failed to protect consumers' personal information, the release said. The FCC did a similar investigation, finding that TerraCom's vendor stored customers' personal information on unprotected servers that were accessible over the Internet, the release said. The FCC reached a $3.5 million settlement with TerraCom and a related company in July (see 1507090035).

California made $50 million available for schools to enhance broadband connectivity, said a Monday news release from the California Department of Education. This is the second round of Broadband Infrastructure and Improvement Grants, with the first round providing 227 schools with nearly $27 million for network enhancement in January, said another release from the department. Schools and districts can start applying now for the second round of grants through the K-12 High Speed Network, it said.

Fifteen library jurisdictions -- 110 libraries -- joined the High-Speed Broadband in California Public Libraries project in the second year of the initiative, said the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California. CENIC is a nonprofit that operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity, 3,800-mile fiber network designed to support more than 20 million users. The projectbegan in December. In the first year, 75 library jurisdictions and their 447 individual libraries joined the project, CENIC said. These libraries are now connected to CalREN and most libraries have 1 gigabit of connectivity, CENIC said.

Information from the FCC Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) is important for the California Public Utilities Commission to be able to access during and after natural disasters, said a CPUC ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 15-80. Having access to wireline and wireless outage data during emergencies in rural areas especially is critical for residents and emergency responders, the CPUC said. It emphasized the importance of granting California and other states direct access to state-specific outage data in NORS because of the immediate need for states to address public safety and other concerns that arise during and after outages.

Birch Communications expanded its BirchNet Broadband Internet footprint by more than 60 percent, adding services to 14 states across and adjacent to the northern tier, Rockies and Pacific Northwest, said a Monday news release from the company. It said BirchNet Broadband is now available in 36 states.

FirstNet reached out to the 56 state and territory single points of contact (SPOCs) in July, said a blog post from the organization Thursday. The calls were to remind the SPOCs of the importance of data collection for informing FirstNet’s acquisition of a comprehensive network solution and state plans development, understand everyone’s current data collection status, and determine if any more support may be needed from FirstNet, the post said. Most SPOCs said they plan to provide data by the Sept. 30 deadline, FirstNet said. Most also reported a high level of outreach and consultation with metropolitan and rural areas within their states and territories, with some making direct calls or holding in-person meetings with agencies at all levels of government on the data collection process, it said. Tribal engagement has also been going well, with the biggest successes seeming to be in states that work through their governor’s office, it said.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) created the Kentucky Communications Network Authority (KCNA) and its governing board to manage the KentuckyWired open-access broadband network, said a news release from his office. Over the next two to three years, more than 3,000 miles of fiber infrastructure will be built for the project, which aims to bring high-speed Internet to every corner of the state, it said Tuesday. The project will cost about $324 million. The members of the authority will manage the Next Generation Kentucky Information Highway line-item capital project and the Next Generation Kentucky Information Highway Fund, both authorized by House Bill 235 in the 2014 General Assembly, said Beshear's office. KCNA's governing board will be made up of the secretary of the governor’s executive cabinet, the state budget director, the executive director of the public service commission, the chief information officer and the CEO of the Center for Rural Development, it said.

The comment period for a study of telecom in New York state was extended to Oct. 23, said a notice issued Wednesday in case 14-C-0370. There were several written requests to extend the deadline for comments that would be prepared by industry experts and academics who were likely to submit substantive comments and may have been away on break or vacation because of the season, the notice said. Frontier Communications also sought an extension to allow a more thorough review of the comments made at the recent public hearings and to review comments that are due next month in related FCC matters, the notice said.

FairPoint Communications reached a settlement agreement with the Vermont Department of Public Service that would resolve the state's service quality investigation pending since December (see 1503040062), said a company news release. The settlement calls for FairPoint to pay a significant number of retroactive customer bill credits for out-of-service repair delays and to provide better guidance to phone customers who are eligible for such credits in the future, it said. The agreement supports a new proceeding at the Vermont Public Service Board on the scope of regulatory obligations applicable to FairPoint in light of significant changes in the competitive telecom landscape in the past several years, the release said. The agreement requires approval by the Vermont Public Service Board. The PSB will consider the settlement agreement during scheduled hearings in September.