Otelco, a wireline provider for several states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware Sunday, in order to restructure. The company, which is incorporated in Delaware, has $168.5 million in assets and $310.06 million in total debt, according to documents filed at the Wilmington, Del., bankruptcy court. Otelco operates 11 RLECs throughout Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Vermont and West Virginia as well as two CLECs providing telecom service in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts and is “the sole wireline telephone services provider for many of the rural communities it serves,” the documents said.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Friday he will leave the FCC in a matter of weeks. Industry officials told us they expect an announcement from the White House as early as this week on a replacement, with former CTIA and NCTA President Tom Wheeler still considered the likely front runner. In the interim, industry and government officials expect the White House to designate Commissioner Mignon Clyburn as the first woman to chair the commission, until a new permanent chairman is confirmed and in place.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Friday he will leave the FCC in a matter of weeks. Industry officials told us they expect an announcement from the White House as early as this week on a replacement, with former CTIA and NCTA President Tom Wheeler still considered the likely front runner. In the interim, industry and government officials expect the White House to designate Commissioner Mignon Clyburn as the first woman to chair the commission, until a new permanent chairman is confirmed and in place.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a presumptive candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, said Internet freedom will be one of his top issues as a new member of the Senate Commerce Committee. Rubio also emphasized the importance of spectrum, in a luncheon speech to the conservative Free State Foundation.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, reintroduced legislation Thursday aimed at clarifying the legal rules concerning how citizens’ geolocation data can be used by companies and law enforcement agencies. The Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act (HR-1312) would require law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant based on probable cause in order to track an individual by using cellphone location data or a GPS device. The new GPS Act proposal contains no changes from the bill Chaffetz introduced last Congress, his spokesman confirmed Thursday. The legislation previously faced stiff opposition from law enforcement officials and failed to advance (CD May 18 p8).
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, reintroduced legislation Thursday aimed at clarifying the legal rules concerning how citizens’ geolocation data can be used by companies and law enforcement agencies. The Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act (HR-1312) would require law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant based on probable cause in order to track an individual by using cellphone location data or a GPS device. The new GPS Act proposal contains no changes from the bill Chaffetz introduced last Congress, his spokesman confirmed Thursday. The legislation previously faced stiff opposition from law enforcement officials and failed to advance (WID May 18 p1).
States should increase their role as a partner with the federal government to address Internet privacy issues, said Steve Ruckman, Maryland assistant attorney general and director of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Internet Privacy Unit, at a joint FCBA-American Bar Association Forum on Communications Law event Wednesday. Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler has made Internet privacy protections a priority -- both in his in-state work and in his role as president of the National Association of Attorneys General NAAG), Ruckman said. Gansler was originally scheduled to speak at the FCBA event, but needed to testify at a Maryland General Assembly hearing.
States should increase their role as a partner with the federal government to address Internet privacy issues, said Steve Ruckman, Maryland assistant attorney general and director of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Internet Privacy Unit, at a joint Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA)-American Bar Association Forum on Communications Law event Wednesday. Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler has made Internet privacy protections a priority -- both in his in-state work and in his role as president of the National Association of Attorneys General NAAG), Ruckman said. Gansler was originally scheduled to speak at the FCBA event, but needed to testify at a Maryland General Assembly hearing.
The FCC asks a battery of questions in an NPRM approved Wednesday that tries to get to the bottom of what went wrong in June when the derecho storm led to problems at 77 public safety answering points across Ohio, the central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic states, with 17 PSAPs losing service completely. FCC officials said the NPRM is open-ended and doesn’t draw tentative conclusions, though it could lead to new requirements for carriers. The questions raised are based on the problems identified in the Jan. 10 FCC report on the storm (http://bit.ly/ZTzB3M).
FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky implored public safety answering point operators to “step up” and “shape the change that’s coming, rather than try to put it off.” At a meeting of the National Emergency Number Association Tuesday, Turetsky touted the upcoming ability of carriers to send text messages to 911 centers, with the service available by May 2014 to all PSAPs that request it. PSAPs won’t be required to accept emergency texts, but “the ball is really in the PSAPs’ court,” he said. Turetsky understands there are concerns over costs, and new demands on 911 call takers, “but with all due respect, let me suggest that PSAPs that are hesitating need to ask another question: How can we afford not to move forward?” Turetsky also discussed the upcoming NPRM on improving the reliability of 911 services nationwide, based on several of the bureau’s recommendations, set for an FCC vote Wednesday. Those recommendations include requiring service providers to conduct periodic physical audits, maintain backup power and follow specific testing procedures, he said. “We must make our existing 911 infrastructure work well, even as we develop paths to migrate to NG 911,” which will improve system resilience and connections between 911 call centers, Turetsky said. The ability to receive texts, photos, videos and data will also give PSAPs improved analytic abilities, he said. Text messages have a better chance of getting through when voice networks are congested, and can be more easily prioritized, with several texts up on a screen at once, he said.