Windstream is opening a data center in Charlotte, N.C., its fourth in that city and seventh in that state, it said Monday (http://bit.ly/14oUCWi). “Design and construction have already started and will result in a 72,000-square-foot facility with multiple 10,000-square-foot data center suites, delivered in a phased approach,” the telco said, saying it expects the center to open late this year. The location will handle a “full suite of cloud computing, dedicated hardware, data storage, and managed services, helping business customers more efficiently manage resources and reduce costs,” it said. The company said its managed and dedicating hosting solutions can be combined with its communications products, such as voice and data services, as well as VoIP.
The Florida Public Service Commission approved the budget for Florida Telecom Relay yet again and maintained a surcharge of $0.11, it said in a Monday order (http://bit.ly/15yGn4l). The relay provider projected 2013-2014 operating revenue of $8.77 million and operating expenses of $10.11 million. The surcharge’s approval is effective July 1.
Canada’s Rogers Communications said it will provide affordable broadband Internet, computers and software to Toronto Community Housing as part of a broadband pilot project. The program, which will begin later this year, is targeted at bringing more youth online and providing them with related tools and resources to improve digital literacy, Rogers said Monday. Qualifying participants will get access to broadband at a speed of 3 Mbps, with a total monthly usage limit of 30 GB, for $9.99 a month. Microsoft Canada and Compugen are also participating in the program, giving participants the option to purchase a computer for $150, Rogers said (http://roge.rs/ZosyUw).
Hughes unveiled three network solutions to help government and business networks continue functioning in emergency situations. The offerings include satellite network solutions for emergency preparedness, recovery and backup services, Hughes said in a press release. A continuity of operations solutions provides Internet connectivity “when terrestrial or wireless primary networks fail,” it said. It features policy-based routing with automatic failure detection and switchover between primary and backup links, Hughes said. After an emergency, Hughes Emergency Network Restoral Solutions “ensure communications restoral within 48 hours using standard VSAT [very small aperture terminal] equipment,” it said.
The USF waiver process is not “a viable remedy” to help East Ascension and Vision Communications weather the USF and intercarrier compensation reforms passed by the FCC, the telcos told aides to FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday and Friday (http://bit.ly/19u3zDo). Due to “unique situations,” these companies have fared worse than others under the FCC’s quantile regression analysis regime, they said. The “sudden influx of new residents and resulting increased broadband deployment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina” drove up costs, as did the “financial and operational challenges resulting from living in an area susceptible to hurricanes,” they said. The companies’ S-corp status also requires them to pay income taxes while being analyzed along with companies that do not, they said. Rather than dealing with case-by-case waivers, the FCC needs to comprehensively address the “significant flaws” in the regression analysis regime, they said.
TiVo is appealing a federal judge’s order upholding a $3.2 million arbitration award against the company in a case tied to the so-called time-warp patent it used to strike settlements with AT&T, EchoStar and Verizon. It filed an appeal Friday with the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking to reverse U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton’s, New York, decision denying TiVo’s motion to vacate an arbitration award made to Eric Goldwasser and his daughter, Romi. The Goldwassers and their company, Good Inventions, were issued a patent in 1993 describing what is generally considered as the first DVR with the ability to record one program while another is being watched. The so-called Goldwasser patent expired in March 2011. But TiVo, which licensed it from the inventors, has used it to reach a $500 million settlement with EchoStar as well as agreements with AT&T and Verizon that brought in $214 million and $250 million (CD Sept 25 p10).
The total projected collected interstate and international end-user revenue base to be used in determining the USF contribution factor for Q3 is about $16.1 billion, the Universal Service Administrative Co. told the commission in a report Friday (http://bit.ly/19u2Z8s). That amount was derived from FCC Form 499-Q data reported by wireline and wireless carriers in May, it said.
The FCC waived emergency alert system-related rules at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, so public service ads FEMA developed to tout EAS can simulate wireless emergency alert attention signals. Concern about running those WEA promotions came from some EAS participants worried about the attention signals, said a Public Safety Bureau one-year waiver order released Friday. The PSAs must present “the WEA Attention Signal in a non-misleading manner,” said the waiver (bit.ly/1aJDOwL). “That is, in a manner that does not mislead the listening or viewing public into erroneously concluding that an actual emergency message is being transmitted.” The condition is that the PSAs’ purpose must be “educating the viewing or listening public about the functions of their WEA-capable mobile devices and the WEA program,” said the order signed by bureau Chief David Turetsky. “We recommend that FEMA take steps to ensure that such PSAs clearly state that they are part of FEMA’s public education campaign.” WEA messages sent by federal, state and local agencies through carriers’ networks “include a special tone and vibration” and the texts are up to 90 characters long, FEMA said in a Wednesday news release.
It’s time for the FCC to comprehensively review its AM radio rules again, said Commissioner Ajit Pai. Since 1990, “the number of AM stations has decreased while the number of FM stations has almost doubled,” he said Friday at the Missouri Broadcasters Convention. “Due to widespread interference, it seems to get tougher each day to receive a clear AM signal.” Pai urged broadcasters to continue submitting proposals in support of his request for an FCC AM Radio Revitalization Initiative (CD Sept. 20 p6). He invited broadcasters to offer suggestions on how the commission can make it easier for AM broadcasters to obtain FM translators, and whether the FCC should eliminate the AM ratchet rule. The around-the-clock, nine-day coverage provided by KZRG(AM), Joplin, Mo., in the wake of the 2011 tornado “demonstrates the importance of AM radio in times of crisis,” Pai said.
Clearwire postponed Friday’s planned shareholder vote on a Sprint Nextel bid to buy the company, announcing Thursday that the vote will now occur June 13 (http://bit.ly/ZhX7er). That vote would occur a day after Sprint shareholders are expected to vote on SoftBank’s bid to buy 70 percent ownership of Sprint for $20.1 billion. The postponement occurred after Dish raised its counteroffer for at least 25 percent of Clearwire Wednesday to $4.40 per share, a dollar above Sprint’s “best and final” offer of $3.40 per share (CD May 31 p9). Clearwire said “while the most recent Dish proposal raises issues that need to be discussed with Dish, the proposal appears to be more actionable than Dish’s previous proposal, and the committee intends to issue its recommendation in due course.” Clearwire intends to tell the Securities and Exchange Commission by June 12 whether its board and special committee recommends or rejects Dish’s revised offer; so far, the special committee “has not made any determination to change its recommendation of the current Sprint offer,” the company said. Tom Cullen, Dish executive vice president-corporate development, said in a statement that the company is “confident that our offer is superior to the proposed Sprint merger as it offers substantially greater value to Clearwire and its minority stockholders and a clearer path to value realization for all parties. Importantly, it also provides a meaningful alternative to the significant group of Clearwire minority stockholders that remains opposed to the Sprint merger. Our offer is not subject to any financing contingency” (http://bit.ly/12Up4bb). A Sprint spokesman said the carrier “has various rights with respect to Clearwire which are a matter of public record. Sprint would expect Clearwire to honor such rights, and would seek appropriate remedies if they are violated."