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.
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.
Windstream's fixed wireless connectivity is available in Philadelphia, to provide a high-speed access alternative to businesses, the telco said in a news release Wednesday. It said Windstream’s fixed wireless service for carrier-grade ethernet and Internet-over-ethernet connectivity is delivered by digital microwave technology, and is currently offered in Chicago, New York, northern New Jersey, Milwaukee and Boston.
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.
PCIA is supportive of the reply comments filed by CTIA and the joint reply comments filed by the Arkansas Cable Telecommunications Association, which reflect a growing need for the state to modernize pole attachment rules, PCIA said in reply comments in Public Service Commission docket 15-019-R. PCIA also wants the PSC to adopt the FCC's fully compensatory cable rate formula to determine pole attachment rates in Arkansas. The association recommended that the state commission prevent pole owners from collecting undefined “administrative costs” from attaching entities.
Sonim Technologies received two contracts through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), a news release from the company said. Sonim was chosen to provide FirstNet Band 14-enabled devices, accessories and applications to public safety organizations statewide in New Jersey and New Mexico, the release said.
Seattle selected Rave Mobile Safety's Alert Emergency Notification System as its emergency mass notification system, said a news release from the company. AlertSeattle lets residents and city employees receive important emergency and community updates, by email, text, voice call, and on social media, the firm said. The tight integration between AlertSeattle and King County's Smart911 system allows residents to opt to provide critical information they wish to make available to responders in the event of a 911 call, it said.
The Wayne County, New York, 911 Communications Center selected Intergraph for dispatch, records management, mobility and integration services, the company said in a news release Monday.
Twelve public safety answering points (PSAPs) in the nine-county Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area regional 911 system supported by the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board selected Airbus DS Communications to upgrade their technology to the latest Vesta 911 system, said a news release from Airbus. Allina EMS, Carver County, Dakota County, City of Edina, Hennepin County, City of Minneapolis, Ramsey County and Scott County are among the PSAPs taking the first steps to build a regional next-generation 911 system, it said.
The Community Technology Advisory Board for Seattle endorses the proposed modernization of the Lifeline program with conditions, said a letter from the board in response to the FCC public notice: Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization, in docket 11-42. Despite agreeing with the addition of the coverage of broadband under the program, the board believes there should be one Lifeline broadband subsidy and one Lifeline phone subsidy per household, not one or the other, it said. It also recommended that voicemail, call waiting, national long distance, at least 250 text messages each month, 500 minutes of calling, and low-cost data plans be included in all Lifeline plans.