Frontier’s purchase of AT&T’s wireline assets in Connecticut would lead to “numerous public interest benefits” and “increased competition,” Frontier told FCC Wireline Bureau, International Bureau and Office of General Counsel officials Thursday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1ctBD1p). Frontier has no local exchange, broadband or video operations in Connecticut, but after the transaction it “will compete with the wireless, enterprise and CLEC operations that AT&T will retain in the state,” the telco said in an attached presentation. State customers will benefit from deepened community involvement and increased employment, Frontier said. Frontier will also “be a stronger carrier nationwide,” as the transaction will improve its “overall financial flexibility and stability,” and will ensure that Frontier has the ability to increase broadband investment and penetration over the long term, it said.

Correction: The name of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission chairwoman is Beverly Jones Heydinger (CD Feb 11 p9).

California State Sen. Mark Leno (D) introduced legislation Friday that would require all smartphones and tablets sold in the state after Jan. 1, 2015, to include a “kill switch” that would make a smartphone inoperable if not in its rightful owner’s possession. Leno said in a news release that he was introducing the bill in response to what he called an “all-time high” of smartphone-related robberies in California. More than 50 percent of all robberies in San Francisco involve smartphone theft, while one-third of all robberies nationwide involve smartphone theft, Leno’s office said. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón praised the bill, saying in a statement that “the wireless industry must take action to end the victimization of its customers.” The bill would require wireless carriers and retailers to sell mobile devices with the kill switch enabled, but would allow a consumer to opt out of the technology after purchasing the device. Wireless carriers would be prohibited from “using wireless contracts to encourage consumers to disable the kill switch,” Leno’s office said. The California State Senate is set to consider SB 962 in late spring (http://bit.ly/1jkSRpD).

Frontier Communications filed applications with the FCC and Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Friday to acquire AT&T’s wireline, broadband and video operations in Connecticut. Frontier also filed an application with the Justice Department under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act on Monday, seeking approval for the acquisitions, said a news release Monday from Frontier (http://bit.ly/1g27oBm). Frontier agreed in December to pay $2 billion in the deal. Consumer advocates have said they would seek to ensure consumers have high quality of service (CD Jan 2 p1).

Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmeita urged FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to develop incentive auction rules “designed to prevent aggregation and promote competition.” Without reasonable auction controls, “Louisiana customers ultimately may see a duopoly of national wireless providers,” wrote Skrmeita Dec. 6 in a letter posted Monday to docket 12-269 (http://bit.ly/1bnAus7). Skrmeita said the nation’s two largest providers now control 78 percent of the low-frequency spectrum. “The FCC should take steps in the upcoming auction to limit further aggregation,” he wrote. The Incentive Auction Task Force said last week that a report and order establishing the auction’s framework will be presented to the FCC this spring (CD Jan 31 p8).

Strong opposition from municipalities helped postpone a Kansas bill that would bar municipalities from creating their own networks (CD Feb 4 p12), said Larry Gates, utilities director for the city of Chanute. “There were a lot of emails, a lot of press, a lot of stuff on Facebook and Twitter, a huge campaign from all sizes of municipalities,” said Gates, a strong critic of SB-304, in an interview Monday. Backers of the bill denied the impetus was Google’s move to build local networks in the state, but Gates doesn’t buy it. “It was all about Google,” he said. Google had no immediate comment.

Alaska Communications said it’s buying full control of Alaska-based IT services firm TekMate; it had bought 49 percent of the company in 2010. The telco did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Alaska Communications said the buy will help it offer “seamless integrated systems and personalized technology solutions.” TekMate’s 60 employees will join Alaska Communications’ managed services group (http://bit.ly/1dn4WlV).

Puerto Rico Telephone Co.’s application to discontinue interconnected VoIP services in Puerto Rico wasn’t automatically granted by the FCC, said the Wireline Bureau in a public notice Thursday (http://bit.ly/LiRcSm). The commission had received 10 comments in opposition to the proposed discontinuance, including one from the Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico. “Because the comments filed by customers and the Puerto Rico Board require further analysis to determine whether the Applicant’s proposed discontinuance would serve the public interest, PRTC is notified by this public notice that its application to discontinue its PhoneMax service will not be granted automatically,” said the bureau. The docket is WC 13-298.

NARUC will consider five telecom resolutions at its winter meeting in Washington, it confirmed this week, releasing a document with all the drafts (http://t.co/xPNT99ZbXi). One proposed resolution, sponsored by outgoing Telecom Committee Chairman John Burke, a member of the Vermont Public Service Board, would ask the FCC to revamp the contribution side of USF. Another draft resolution proposes to improve rural broadband deployment by allowing utilities and critical infrastructure industries to tap Connect America Fund money in unserved and underserved areas where no incumbent provider is given support. Another possible resolution would back location accuracy standards for wireless 911 calls, both indoor and outdoor. One proposed resolution would encourage the National Association of Public Affairs Networks “to establish public affairs networks in every State” -- non-profit television networks akin to C-SPAN, focused on public access and government transparency -- and have each PUC coordinate with the FCC and state executive branches and legislatures, among other stakeholders, to improve digital communications networks. The final draft resolution would ask the FCC to ensure a consumer protection standard before approving any IP transition trials. If approved, it would ask the FCC to make sure “residential and small business customers in affected areas avoid any (i) degradation in the capability, quality and reliability of voice services; (ii) reduction in the availability of voice service options/providers; or (iii) increase in rates for equivalent voice services (such as federal and State Lifeline services).” None of the drafts is NARUC policy until the NARUC board approves them, and the drafts can be substantially modified or rejected outright when considered by the NARUC telecom subcommittee, which consists of state commission staff members, or the telecom committee, consisting of state regulatory commissioners. The meeting will be Feb. 9-12.

A bicameral, bipartisan agriculture bill would create a pilot for gigabit networks. Lawmakers in the House and Senate unveiled several hundreds of pages worth of a conference report on what’s known as the “Farm Bill” Monday night (http://1.usa.gov/M9TrYK). The Agriculture Act includes a section on access to broadband telecom in rural areas, specifying how loans will be distributed and that the government is “to prioritize loans and loan guarantees to all or part of rural communities that do not have residential broadband service that meets the minimum acceptable level of broadband service,” said the conference report starting at Section 6104 on page 533. It specifies that the minimum acceptable broadband speeds for rural areas are 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. The Farm Bill also mentions that the Department of Agriculture would create what’s known as the Rural Gigabit Network Pilot Program, with its own loan allowances. Any entities interested in gigabit network loans must show the government they have the ability to provide such fast broadband service, apply and then build out the fast network within three years, with $10 million authorized for each of the fiscal years 2014 through 2018, according to the bill conference report. When describing broadband loans more generally, it includes a notice requirement that the secretary of agriculture must “promptly provide a fully searchable database on the website of the Rural Utilities Service” that contains information on loan applicants and the regions they propose to serve. Anyone receiving assistance would have to “submit a semiannual report for 3 years after the completion of the project,” it added. The bill proposes specific unserved levels that the government should be focusing on. The measure would also compel the secretary of agriculture to do a study within 180 days of the bill’s enactment in conjunction with the secretary of commerce and the chairman of the FCC of how data collected through the Agriculture broadband programs, specifically looking at “address-level data,” could be shared to help support the National Broadband Plan. Within 60 days of completing the report, the Agriculture Department would have to report these findings to congressional committees. The House may consider the bill as early as Wednesday.