Charter Communications' planned buy of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable would help the newly formed New Charter in promoting diversity, said an ex parte filing from the California Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP in FCC docket 15-149. New Charter would be able to emphasize progressive inclusion practices and ensure access to independently owned and minority-focused programming, the letter said. The deals would also promote better relations within many minority groups, it said.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision and remanded Sprint's appeal of the U.S. District Court in Des Moines' ruling that dismissed its complaints against the Iowa Utility Board, said a decision issued Friday. Sprint argued that fees it was required to pay Windstream for unpaid state access charges for VoIP calls fell under information calls, so they weren't subject to regulations. The IUB said the calls fell under telecom services and were, in fact, subject to state regulations. The companies had no immediate comment Friday.

TDS Telecom joined Adtran's Enabling Communities, Connecting Lives program, a news release from Adtran said Thursday. TDS provides high-speed Internet, phone and TV entertainment services in more than 150 rural, suburban and metropolitan areas, Adtran said. The company is using Adtran's gigabit services platform for its TDS Fiberville Fiber-to-the-Home service within selected New Hampshire communities, Adtran said. The Enabling Communities, Connecting Lives program shows how innovative technologies are being used in cities, towns and communities across the country to support economic growth and urban development, it said. It said earlier this week it had activated broadband services to 200 communities (see 1508120033).

The number of information technology job postings by Illinois employers jumped nearly 90 percent in Q2 over the year-ago period, said a news release Wednesday from CompTIA. Illinois employers posted 53,388 IT job openings, vs. 28,312 in Q2 2014, said the group. The large majority of jobs posted were in the Chicago metropolitan area, it said. Illinois ranks eighth among states in overall tech employment; fourth in the number of tech establishments; and fourth in the number of Q2 IT job postings, CompTIA said.

Adtran has enabled Gigabit broadband services to more than 200 communities as part of its Enabling Communities, Connecting Lives program, it said in a Tuesday news release. Adtran said it is helping service providers, cable operators, municipalities and rural carriers deploy broadband service that can be a game-changer for community revitalization.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati consolidated the municipal broadband cases of Tennessee v. FCC and North Carolina v. FCC in case No. 15-3291/15-3555 (see 1508030050).

Verizon Wireless signed on to participate in phases 4 and 5 of the build-out of the Transit Wireless network that will provide cellular and Wi-Fi service to the subway in New York City, said a Tuesday news release from Transit Wireless. All four major wireless carriers have been working with Transit Wireless on the project that will cover 279 underground stations with 6 million riders per day across the boroughs of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens, the release said. Verizon service is in 63 stations and it will connect the remaining stations in phase 3 by the end of the summer, Transit said. Phase 4 of the network buildout, which began construction in March, is connecting 37 Manhattan and Bronx stations, the release said. Phase 5, which is scheduled to start construction late this year, will comprise 37 Manhattan stations, it said.

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia and Verizon used Tuesday's 8/11 date to remind people to call 811 before they start any project that requires digging. Whether installing a mailbox, building a deck, planting a tree or laying a patio, residents need to call West Virginia 811 before they begin, said a news release from the PSC. By calling the free nationwide number -- 811 -- anyone who is planning on digging can help prevent the unintentional strike of underground utility lines, Verizon said in its news release. The depth of utility lines varies and lines can move when the ground freezes and thaws or an area receives a large amount of rain, the PSC release said. The risk of hitting an underground utility exists, even when digging only a few inches. Striking a pipeline, wire or cable can cause personal injury or death and may result in costly repairs, fines or inconvenient outages, it said.

Verizon customers in East Texas experienced a service disruption after an "equipment issue" occurred Monday afternoon, a Verizon spokeswoman said. A damaged or cut fiber optic cable caused the outage, she said, and Verizon is still investigating how that damage occurred. The telco restored service to all affected customers just after 8 p.m. Monday, she said. The company did not provide numbers on how many subscribers were affected.

Pennsylvania Working Families began a campaign to bring Verizon FiOS to underserved areas, a news release from the organization said. The campaign's main target area is the Lehigh Valley, where the organization, along with the Communications Workers of America, held a town hall meeting Tuesday afternoon. The groups also released a radio ad and launched a website on Monday urging Verizon to bring FiOS to those underserved areas in and around the Lehigh Valley, the group said. Pennsylvania Working Families, CWA, local elected officials and citizens from the Lehigh Valley are calling on the Public Utility Commission to investigate the safety, adequacy and reliability of Verizon service in the state, the release said. The groups also held a door-to-door canvass over the weekend in Bethlehem to talk to citizens about the FiOS campaign, it said. Pennsylvania Working Families is tied closely with the CWA, which, along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, has seen contracts expire in recent weeks (see 1508030061). A Verizon spokesman called the campaign nothing more than an attempt by union leaders to "distract attention from the real issues that need to be resolved at the bargaining table, namely healthcare costs, pensions and workplace flexibility."