Google Fiber has multiple rollouts planned for the Nashville area, Government and Community Affairs Manager Ryun Jackson blogged last week. He said construction in Murfreesboro should begin early next year, with start of service later in the year. The Murfreesboro announcement follows Google Fiber beginning service in Smyrna and announcing plans to bring service to Franklin.
Lumen restored Nebraska 911 service after fiber cuts led to outages statewide from Thursday night to Friday morning. “Our team worked throughout the night to fix the issue” and “the system is now fully functional,” a Lumen spokesperson said Friday. Nebraska experienced regional 911 system failures statewide Thursday evening, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen’s office said in a statement that night. The state's 911 system went down at about 7:30 p.m. CDT Thursday, Nebraska’s Douglas County said Thursday on Facebook. The state’s most populous county posted Friday at 8:10 a.m. CDT that services were restored. “Sarpy County’s 911 network provider experienced what they described as a network event that disrupted calls to 911 across Nebraska,” Sarpy County said Friday. “The network provider is investigating the source of the disruption.” Lumen said the outage began at 7:05 p.m. CDT Thursday and service was restored at 5:30 a.m. CDT Friday, said the Nebraska Public Service Commission: The PSC is working with the carrier to determine what caused the cut. The FCC didn’t comment.
Dish Wireless filed an amended petition for eligible telecom carrier designation Wednesday at the Texas Public Utility Commission (docket 54475). Administrative Law Judge Christina Denmark in July required the company to correctly show the state’s rural and non-rural locations. Dish said it filed the amended petition mainly to address the ALJ’s concerns. Denmark directed PUC staff last month to review Dish’s amended petition by Sept. 20 (see 2308040023).
Pennsylvania state senators confirmed nominee Kimberly Barrow to the Public Utility Commission. The Senate voted 47-0 Wednesday after the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee unanimously cleared Barrow earlier that day at a livestreamed meeting. Barrow has been chief of staff for Pennsylvania PUC Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille since 2013 and worked at the PUC for 22 years total. Dutrieuille’s term expired April 1, but Pennsylvania commissioners may continue an additional six months or until a replacement is confirmed. When Dutrieuille exits, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) will choose which commissioner will be chair. "My focus really will be on consumers,” with affordability and reliability as top issues, Barrow told the Senate committee. Shapiro’s nominee said she seeks to find “balance” between consumers and utilities. Saying he looked forward to balanced decisions, Committee Chair Patrick Stefano (R) asked Barrow how she would handle possibly being a deciding vote on a commission with two Democrats and two Republicans. Most PUC decisions are 5-0, and that’s worth continuing, replied Barrow. Barrow will fill Dutrieuille’s “big shoes,” said Minority Chair Lisa Boscola, a Democrat: "It will be great to work with a full commission." Dutrieuille testified that Barrow “will make an excellent commissioner.”
Vermont sent NTIA its five-year action plan for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program, the Vermont Community Broadband Board said Wednesday. Vermont’s plan is a big step toward unlocking the state’s $229 million allocation, said VCBB Executive Director Christine Hallquist. “We’re going to ensure that all Vermonters can get the most out of these critical investments.”
States might want to avoid using fiber fans’ models to set extremely high cost thresholds (EHCT) for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment program, the Wireless Infrastructure Association said Wednesday. The BEAD notice of funding opportunity directed states to deploy fiber except in the highest cost areas. States must set up an EHCT to determine where alternative technologies like wireless may be used. The Fiber Broadband Association and Cartesian released a modeling tool last week to help states calculate EHCTs (see 2308210041). “Though perhaps economically sound in theory, using these models at this early stage risks feeding into the mistaken approach that a state should be setting an exact EHCT at this stage of the process -- or at all,” WIA Chief Strategy Officer Mike Saperstein blogged. “Producing cost models that would pre-determine an EHCT may unnecessarily limit participation and add in substantial programmatic risk, before the application period even opens.” Saperstein praised Louisiana specifically for not establishing an ECHT upfront.
Google Fiber will expand to a third Colorado city, it said Tuesday. The Wheat Ridge City Council unanimously passed an agreement Monday to let in the company, joining Colorado cities Lakewood and Westminster, blogged Google Fiber General Manager-Southwest Sasha Petrovic. Google Fiber said it plans to start construction and begin serving customers next year.
The California Privacy Protection Agency will meet Sept. 8 to discuss future regulations, the agency said Tuesday. The board plans to talk about draft rules on cybersecurity audits and risk assessments. Afterward, in a closed session, board members plan to discuss litigation currently stopping the agency from enforcing the California Privacy Rights Act (see 2307030025), said an agenda. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. PDT. While not part of formal rulemaking, the drafts show the California agency’s “intent to create extensive obligations for businesses subject to these regulations,” Husch Blackwell privacy attorney David Stauss blogged.
Minnesota’s broadband office is seeking comments on its digital equity draft plan for reducing gaps in broadband access and digital skills and technology ownership, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said Tuesday. Comments are due Sept. 29 on the draft plan, which outlines how the state will use NTIA funding. The broadband office will submit the final plan to NTIA by Nov. 30, said DEED. “The three goals highlighted in this plan -- connect people to people, connect people to information, and connect people to resources -- are ultimately limited, nodding to the moments where connections happen rather than the real systemic work it takes to sustain connections,” said the draft. “It will take people working together across the state with this shared vision.”
The California Public Utilities Commission should deny Verizon’s July 27 petition to modify the CPUC’s 2021 conditional approval of the carrier’s Tracfone buy, consumer groups urged Monday. Facing challenges to migrate Tracfone customers still using non-Verizon networks, the carrier asked the CPUC to remove a Nov. 22 deadline and eliminate penalties (see 2307280060). Verizon separately sought a stay of the deadline (see 2308140047). The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) responded in docket A.20-11-001 that the carrier’s modification request is “untimely, unjustified, and against the public interest.” The carrier was “on notice that any failure to complete the migration of TracFone customers to Verizon’s network will result in fines,” TURN and CforAT said. “If Verizon cannot meet the deadline set in Ordering Paragraph 8, there is no basis for the Commission to waive the penalties.” Customer migration was one of the CPUC’s top concerns when it reviewed the deal, the consumer groups said. “Verizon’s petition is not addressing a minor or inconsequential issue.” TURN and CforAT disputed Verizon’s argument that extending the penalty deadline benefits customers by giving them more time to decide whether to migrate networks. “If the Commission denies the petition, the consequences will not fall on the customers, but only on Verizon in the form of financial penalties.” Nothing in the FCC’s Verizon/Tracfone approval prohibited migrating customers two years from the transaction’s close as California required. “While complying with both the [CPUC’s] and the FCC’s conditions may not be ideal for Verizon … none of those conditions are in conflict.”