Verizon looks forward to defending its copper before the New York Public Service Commission, a company spokesman said. The PSC launched an investigation this week of the quality of Verizon’s legacy copper services and the telco’s willingness to make upgrades to copper in areas where it hasn’t rolled out fiber (see 1603230044). “We will work cooperatively with the Commission and its Staff in this proceeding and we look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate that we continue to provide excellent service to our customers in New York state,” the Verizon spokesman emailed Thursday. He said New York is highly competitive. The representative defended Verizon’s network spending: “We invest over a billion dollars annually in our home state of New York to deliver the best possible service to our customers, whether that’s over fiber or copper. In fact, despite the continued decline in landline phone customers, Verizon spends more, per copper-based phone line in New York today, than it has in any year dating back to 2008. We make these substantial investments because New Yorkers have more competitive choices than ever when it comes to their communications services.” The Communications Workers of America Wednesday called service quality problems in New York "fairly catastrophic."
The South Carolina Public Service Commission approved an AT&T interconnection agreement with Conterra, in an order Wednesday. The agreement covers interconnection of the companies’ phone networks, unbundling of specific network elements and the resale of AT&T telecom services. Such matters are routine; the state commission reviewed the negotiated interconnection agreement through its authority under the federal 1996 Telecom Act.
Alaskan telco officials pledged to assist FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on his plan to consider next quarter their "consensus proposal for an Alaska Infrastructure Fund (AIF)" supporting broadband in their state (see 1603110073). The Alaska Telephone Association "is committed to ensuring the Commission has the information it needs to act" on the group's Alaska Plan, said ATA filings in docket 10-90 on meetings it and its members had with FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero and other staffers. "We discussed performance obligations for both fixed and mobile broadband service and how achievement of those obligations would be reported," one filing said. "We provided a schedule detailing the levels of support which would be distributed under the AIF for both rate-of-return and, assuming all mobile [competitive eligible telecom carriers] other than MTA Wireless received support, for mobile voice and broadband service. The schedule also showed the projected amount that would be available to support wireless voice and broadband deployments to unserved areas. We discussed draft rules to ensure the AIF is effective in supporting broadband networks in rural Alaska, particularly underserved and unserved locations." Detailed proposed rules were included in the filing.
The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) gave Verizon a $150 million contract to help with digital government initiatives, said the telco in a news release Wednesday. Departments and agencies throughout state government, plus county and local governments, K-12 schools, public and private colleges and universities, and public safety organizations can buy services via the VITAnet contract, it said. Verizon said it will deliver a wide range of network-centric services under the VITAnet contract, including the company’s networking portfolio, plus managed services, unified communications and collaboration systems, Internet protocol-based voice services and customer-premises equipment.
Maine delayed the text-to-911 compliance date for the 24 public safety answering points in the state from April 6 to July 6, said AT&T in an FCC filing in docket 10-255. AT&T said full compliance was delayed because of unanticipated regulatory challenges. The Maine Emergency Services Communications Bureau and AT&T agreed the company will continue to deliver text messages to 911 via the text-to-TTY method until the transition is fully complete, the filing said.
Altice replies on its request to take over Cablevision are unsubstantiated, mathematically and operationally implausible and a fictional forecast of future performance, said an analysis of the comments (see 1603090081) that a consulting company opposed to the deal sent to the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) in case 15-M-0647 and the FCC in docket 15-257. "Altice's litany of nonsense submitted to the NYSPSC in these Reply Comments is accompanied by an arrogant and contemptuous silence about the substantial evidence ... that is derived from multiple independent sources," the analysis said. MFRConsulting said the deal shouldn't be approved, regardless of conditions, because Altice is likely to ignore any conditions. The telco is continuing to be "engaged" in the regulatory process, Altice said in an emailed statement Monday. It said the process is "well underway in all regions and proceeding as we anticipated."
FairPoint Communications installed new equipment in Washington state, bringing faster broadband to more than 40,000 residences and businesses, the company said in a news release. The upgrades will make available speeds of up to 50 Mbps down and up to 10 Mbps up, FairPoint said. Since 2012, FairPoint has invested more than $9 million in its Washington service territories, the telco said.
ILECs have a continuing obligation to provide DS1 and DS3 capacity loops on an unbundled basis, said the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in a filing with the FCC in docket 15-1. That obligation isn't changed or eliminated when an ILEC replaces copper with fiber or when the transmission is switched to IP, the PUC said. Failing to maintain an unbundling requirement for DS1 and DS3 capacity loops could undermine competition, the filing said.
Atlantic Broadband and Univision Communications renewed their multiyear contract, said a news release from Atlantic Broadband. Atlantic has offered Univision programming to its Miami customers for 12 years, the release said. The agreement also includes rights for enhanced On Demand content and new TV Online capabilities that will let customers watch Univision programming on devices whenever and wherever they want, it said. The new capabilities are expected to roll out later in 2016.
The New York City Franchise and Concession Review Committee approved Charter Communications' buy of Time Warner Cable, said a resolution released Wednesday. The committee reviewed the deal and determined it complies with the terms and conditions of the franchise agreement, the resolution said. The committee also said the franchisee will have the technical, managerial and financial ability to comply with the provisions of the existing franchise agreement after the transaction is complete.