NATOA “strongly supports” expanding access to the Connect America Fund, it said in a letter to the FCC Thursday (http://bit.ly/1hsSB3R). “Repurposing a portion of the CAF to new entities -- particularly non-traditional providers of communications services -- will significantly aid in the provision of broadband to the residential, business, and community anchor institution sectors,” the group said. “Non-traditional providers such as municipalities, counties, tribes, public electric utilities and cooperatives, and non-profit providers (such as research and education networks) have demonstrated a track record in recent years of providing reliable and affordable broadband service in unserved and underserved markets. Making the CAF available to fund these network projects will result in more entrants into the broadband provider market in regions of need, more pilot projects for innovative service models, more gigabit capacity networks, and more public-private partnerships with the goal of expanding the broadband user base."

C Spire said it’s making it easier and more convenient for residents of various Mississippi cities to sign up for the company’s 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-home service. On Monday, the company opened specialized kiosks in 13 retail stores to sell the service.

Some residents of Provo, Utah, were able to sign up for Google Fiber as of Wednesday, according to a Google Fiber blog post (http://bit.ly/1aLGASK). Only residents who live in the area of the former iProvo network can sign up, it said. “We can’t install fiber to everyone in Provo all at once, so we're going to work in waves, starting with the North Park area next month and finishing in the Foothills area hopefully by the end of this year."

Fibertech Networks will build a new fiber network in Detroit and surrounding suburbs, it said in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/KDEInN). The network will encompass more than 750 route miles, the company said.

The city of Charlotte, N.C., will use Motorola Solutions' Migration Assurance Program, the company said in a news release Thursday. Charlotte will use the program “to keep their ASTRO P25 network software and hardware refreshed as well as implement technology enhancements over the coming years, helping to ensure their first responders are always equipped with the best technology needed to meet public safety communications demands,” it said (http://bit.ly/1dxBzRZ). Charlotte Shared Services Director Chuck Robinson praised the program’s flexibility, affordability and efficiency, in a statement.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission asked the FCC for a permanent waiver of rules requiring Idaho to provide a copy of Lifeline subscribers’ certification forms to the eligible telecom carrier, in a petition Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1cqeqw9). “Special circumstances in Idaho warrant a deviation from the rules,” the PUC said. The state contracts with the Community Action Partnership of Idaho to administer its state and the national Lifeline programs, it said. Because of the way the group gathers and stores information on the state’s subscribers, it would require extensive manual labor to comply with the FCC rules, the PUC said, noting Idaho already has “sufficient safeguards in place to protect against waste, fraud and abuse."

Ping4 partnered with the Florida Division of Emergency Management on a pilot program providing mobile emergency alerts to citizens and visitors in Brevard County, Fla. Ping4’s platform “allows for custom alert polygons to be created and stored providing specifically targeted alerts,” said the company in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1aiNm5v). The app, Ping4alerts, is a free iOS and Android app “that uses the latest location-based technology to deliver a push notification to mobile devices within a geographically-defined area,” it said. Users aren’t required to provide Ping4 with personally identifiable information, it said.

New York state schools will need higher-speed broadband, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Wednesday in his State of the State address, outlining an initiative to improve school district technology. Cuomo, a Democrat, judged “the best long-term economic development strategy” to be education. “We are in the midst of an education reinvention. ... We must transform our classrooms from the classrooms of yesterday to the classrooms of tomorrow.” He outlined a plan in which each district must submit a technology plan to the state and can receive funds, pending approval of a bond referendum. Cuomo released a long document pegged to his speech describing this $2-billion “Smart Schools” bond referendum (http://bit.ly/1ii7yGs). “If approved by the voters, the ‘Smart Schools’ bond referendum will enable schools to go wireless; educate students using interactive tablets instead of outdated textbooks and worksheets; make it possible for teachers to connect with one another to share strategies and lesson plans; offer high-level courses such as Advanced Placement through blended online/classroom learning; replace chalkboards with 79 new interactive whiteboards; and provide access to other technology to improve student achievement,” the governor’s office said in the document. It described how funds from this initiative would be allocated to every district. “At some schools, there are children on the Internet. At some schools, they don’t even have a basketball net,” Cuomo said during the speech. “Let’s have the smartest classrooms in the nation."

NARUC said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., will address its Feb. 9-12 winter meeting in Washington. He will speak as part of an 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, general session, joining, as expected, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark. Alexander in recent months has opposed the use of cellphones to talk on planes. The NARUC session also lists Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as a speaker.

A $2 million broadband stimulus grant helped the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority deliver wireless to an underserved area, NTIA said in a Tuesday blog post (http://1.usa.gov/1ejLPLs). The authority, funded through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, helped the Navajo Nation territory in the southwest U.S. “And now the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority is signing up its first customers for a new 4G LTE wireless broadband network funded largely by the federal government,” NTIA said. “Covering 15,000 square miles, the new network consists of 59 wireless towers, 43 base stations, 60 microwave links, 550 miles of fiber and 20 miles of fiber or microwave connections into buildings.” The authority worked with wireless company Commnet, NTIA said.