Hundreds of Verizon wireline and wireless workers and elected officials -- including New York state Assemblymen Peter Abbate (D) and William Colton (D) and New York City Councilmen Daneek Miller (D) and Mark Treyger (D) -- are expected to rally outside a Verizon Wireless store in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, Thursday, said a news release from Communications Workers of America. Participants are asking the company to bring back Bianca Cunningham, a CWA union leader they said was being fired for "standing up for her rights, and [trying to] negotiate a fair contract," the union said. Verizon Wireless told Cunningham she will be terminated, and the company is targeting other union activists, CWA said. The union filed suit in a federal court against Verizon for unfairly firing Cunningham and expects to prevail, it said. A Verizon spokesman said the company doesn't comment on personnel matters. Contract negotiations between the company and CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are ongoing, he said. "Rather than stage meaningless protests and rallies, we believe the unions would be far better off focusing on the issues that still need to be resolved."

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will open an investigation into last week's outage of CenturyLink's toll-free services in the state (see 1509040044), said a UTC news release. The outage reportedly affected services nationwide. Toll-free services, which include 800, 866, 877 and 888 numbers, failed in Washington around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, it said. The UTC said it will investigate the cause of the outage, the company's preparedness and response, restoration efforts, and notification and communication with regulatory and emergency agencies.

The National Association of State 911 Administrators released a white paper on four possible approaches states could take to ensure sustainable funding for next-generation 911. The white paper addresses the problem of declining revenue and suggests using either the current funding model with moderate changes, sales tax, insurance or the state USF as a means to fix that. A companion white paper will be released in early 2016, it said.

NGN Connect's fiber network is providing 100 Mbps symmetrical connections to seven libraries within the Northeast Georgia Regional Library system, said a news release from NGN. NGN is a member-owned cooperative operating over 1,600 miles of fiber infrastructure in north Georgia. NGN is also providing the libraries with hosted Wi-Fi service and a VoIP phone system at each location, it said. The network is live in Northeast Georgia Regional Library locations in Clarkesville, Cleveland, Cornelia, Rabun, Stephens and the system’s central library office, it said.

Salisbury, North Carolina, is the first 10 GB city by Calix and Fibrant, with 10 Gbps service being offered at Catawba College, said a news release from Calix Thursday. Calix supplies telecom equipment to service providers. Fibrant is an all-fiber municipal broadband network owned and operated by the city of Salisbury.

Service was restored after a 911 outage that affected only landline calls in Tama County, Iowa, said a spokeswoman for the county's Emergency Management Agency. The outage was caused by an electrical surge the agency said was likely from a thunderstorm late Friday, Aug. 28. The problem wasn't brought to the agency's attention until Sunday, Aug. 30, when the county lost all three 911 trunks in the early morning and the outage began, the spokeswoman said. The outage couldn't be corrected until the replacement parts were delivered Tuesday and the outage lasted about 36 hours, she said. Neighboring counties answered landline calls that were rerouted during the outage, the spokeswoman said.

An examination of AT&T's and Verizon's networks, ordered in proceeding 13-02-023, remains necessary, said a decision from the California Public Utilities Commission this week. The study is needed because the performance of both companies has consistently failed to meet existing service quality metrics, the CPUC said. The essential economic and safety functions performed by and through the network infrastructure and facilities of these companies are no less critical than they were when the evaluation was ordered more than two years ago, it said. The decision directs staff to begin the study within six months. Despite its belief the evaluation isn't warranted, AT&T will work with the CPUC to complete it, a company spokeswoman said. Verizon had no immediate comment.

Internet Order and its CEO, Daniel Roitman, were ordered to repay consumers more than $1 million for unfair and deceptive practices, said a news release from Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's (D) office. The Philadelphia-based online company was accused of using deceptive “negative option” marketing to lure consumers into buying language instruction courses in violation of the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and the state Consumer Protection Act, it said. The lawsuit alleged consumers who bought the introductory set for $9.95 were unknowingly and automatically enrolled in a “negative option” purchase plan that obligated them to receive up to four advanced-level additional courses at a cost of $256 each for a total of as much as $1,024. To avoid charges, consumers were required to ship the advanced-level courses back to the company at their own expense within 30 days. If they failed to do so, they were automatically charged $256 on the credit card they used to buy the introductory “Quick and Simple Course.” The suit also alleged consumers who refused to pay were hounded with letters and threatened with collection agency action. Internet Order must pay the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Washington $288,000 of any future profit from Pimsleur Language Learning sales made between July 2016 and June 2019, Ferguson's office said. Internet Order has always aimed to be fair, honest and transparent in its marketing efforts to its consumers, said Roy Hibberd, Internet Order general counsel. The "negative option" marketing model the company uses is a lawful model as recognized by the FTC, he said. The company has taken corrective action to its online marketing and how it deals with customers, Hibberd said. The company's language learning method was never in question, he said: "The issue had to do with the extent of disclosure of our pricing model and we entered the settlement on that basis."

The Atlantic City Police Department, in conjunction with the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, deployed secure and portable technology during two concerts, allowing reliable, uninterrupted transmission of video, voice and radio communications without reliance on commercial broadband providers, said a news release Wednesday from Mutualink. Heavy usage during large events tends to result in poor data transmissions and dropped and incomplete calls, which has been a challenge for first responders, the vendor said. But JerseyNet, a FirstNet early builder project and the only statewide NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunity Program in the U.S., was able to successfully operate emergency communications during those events, it said. JerseyNet focuses on deployable assets equipped with microwave backhaul and Mutualink interoperable communications technology, JerseyNet said. During the concerts in Atlantic City, the police department’s Mobile Communications Unit and several trailer-mounted surveillance cameras were connected to JerseyNet, allowing unobstructed sharing of data between the field resources and the police command. This data was shared within the command structure and across the network with other supporting agencies, including the New Jersey State Police and emergency medical service providers, who were able to view the information and video on fixed workstations and portable smart devices using Mutualink.

The Communications Workers of America asked phone regulators in six states and Washington, D.C., to open investigations into the deterioration of Verizon’s copper landline networks, a Wednesday CWA news release said. In July, Verizon said in a letter to the FCC that it had spent $200 million over the past seven years to maintain its copper landline network in 11 states and D.C., the union said. The $200 million investment is less than 1 percent of the amount phone and DSL customers pay Verizon for service, CWA said, and is 0.39 percent of the $50.7 billion Verizon spent on its wireline network from 2008 to 2014. CWA’s letters also mention Verizon’s peer-to-peer online forums and recent FCC filings by Verizon customers alleging the company is neglecting copper facilities and lines, CWA said. The union and telco are in a labor contract dispute (see 1507310059). CWA leadership’s claims are "absurd" and nothing more than a "tired tactic" from the union playbook to avoid serious negotiations on a fair contract for their members, a Verizon spokesman said. Verizon’s commitment to invest heavily in its wireline network is well documented and unquestioned, the spokesman said: "No company has invested more in broadband; last year alone we invested almost $6 billion in our wireline networks."