Two New York utilities recently considered their role as emergency responders and the best ways to communicate with customers during storms, as detailed in a new report submitted to the New York State Public Service Commission (http://xrl.us/bnnhn9). New York State Electric & Gas Corporation and Rochester Gas and Electric submitted the Monday joint report responding to PSC staff recommendations. The utilities said they still communicate with customers using “traditional” methods such as the call center and VRU [voice response unit] but identified new forms of technology that are helping them reach affected individuals. “NYSEG utilized automated calls technology to the Elderly, Blind, Disabled (EBD) and Life support customers prior to storms and during the outages,” they said. “We are continuing to consider additional outreach using this method of communication. We are finalizing a contract with a vendor who provides outbound dialing as well as text messaging.” The report described how NYSEG used Twitter, which it’s now attempted for 18 months, during the storms as well as how it’s hoping to expand its basic Facebook presence in 2013. The utilities are also “investigating Mobile Smart Phone solutions,” they said. “This technology utilizes existing web functionality to allow customers to report outages or check the status of an outage from their device."
The Federal Aviation Administration will take another look at whether to allow the use of portable electronic devices during flight including during takeoff and landing. The FAA sought comment Monday (http://xrl.us/bnnhmj). “We're looking for information to help air carriers and operators decide if they can allow more widespread use of electronic devices in today’s aircraft,” said Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “We also want solid safety data to make sure tomorrow’s aircraft designs are protected from interference.” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said: “With so many different types of devices available, we recognize that this is an issue of consumer interest.” “It’s about time,” said CTIA Vice President Jot Carpenter. “It strikes me as silly that I can read a book at take-off, but if the book has been downloaded to an e-reader or tablet, then I have to wait until we've reached 10,000 feet or some arbitrary cut-off determined by the government or the airlines. Reading is reading and it shouldn’t make a difference whether I bought a book or newspaper at Hudson News or downloaded the same content while waiting to board my flight. And since most hardback books are heavier than an e-reader, please don’t tell me that this is a ’safety issue.'” Carpenter said research shows that electronic devices don’t pose an interference threat to the electronic systems in commercial aircraft. “The bottom line is that this has always struck me as an antiquated rule that no one could explain, especially since there are several airlines that offer tablets for their pilots,” he said. In December, the White House’s “We the People” website gave users an opportunity to sign a petition on allowing airline passengers to use the Amazon Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android phones and other devices in “airline mode” during takeoffs and landings (http://xrl.us/bmj76n). “Access” to that petition “has expired, because it failed to meet the signature threshold,” according to the petition’s page. Under terms last revised Oct. 3, 2011, petitions must reach 150 signatures within 30 days to “cross the first threshold and be searchable within WhiteHouse.gov,” and 25,000 within 30 days to “cross the second threshold and require a response” from the White House (http://1.usa.gov/Rj5jXA).
It is urgent to establish rules and laws for the Internet, and to crack down on violations, as vigorously as on violations of law in everyday life, said Sylvie Rutschmann Hill in a submission dated Aug. 17 to the ITU public consultation on the draft of the future International Telecommunication Regulations. Only five submissions have been made since the consultation opened Aug. 15. A Swiss online phonebook lists Hill at the same residential address and phone number as Richard Hill, the expert who likely will be the ITU counselor to the December World Conference on International Telecommunications, which will revise the regulations. It is unbearable to receive more spam, unwanted advertising and pornography announcements, she said. It is unbearable to have email addresses regularly stolen and used to send advertisements, she said. The problems, which include the ability to distribute child pornography, which bother millions, must be eliminated, she said. She said she does not understand why ITU member governments are not unanimously agreed that ITU finally put order onto the Internet.
ActiveVideo Networks said it’s set to speed up deployments of its CloudTV platform following a decision by a federal appeals court on Friday to uphold a $260 million patent infringement award against Verizon (CD July 27 p10). “We're gratified the Court of Appeals has upheld our company’s rights to its inventions and look forward to helping the multichannel and CE industry benefit from the deployment of CloudTV-based services,” CEO Jeff Miller said in news release.
The FCC’s 3-2 decision to suspend pricing flexibility rules for special access services in advance of a mandatory data collection (CD Aug 22 Bulletin) could put downward pressure on the special access revenue of leading landline providers over time, but the overall impact is “more likely to be irregular than sweeping once federal regulators get a better lay of the land in coming months,” said Jeff Silva of Medley Global Advisors in an analyst report. The move was “neither unexpected nor inconsistent” with the Democrat-led commission’s “inclination to revisit” the special access market “deemed broken in its own right and in need of being rationalized as a key input to the broadband economy,” Silva said. There will be only “minimal” impact in the near to midterm, but risk could become “more tangible later, depending on the direction reform takes and potential changes in the political landscape,” he said. “We see the prospect of a potential upside for wireless carriers … competitive LECs, businesses and others that depend on high-capacity middle-mile lines, though it’s not clear to what degree re-regulation would benefit wireless carriers since some have increasingly turned to fiber for backhaul."
Cablevision stopped carrying Tribune’s WTIC-TV Hartford and WGN America Friday, the companies said. “This is an extremely unfortunate situation and we're disappointed that Cablevision refuses to recognize the value of these channels to our viewers,” said Nils Larsen, Tribune Broadcasting president, in a news release Friday. “We remain far apart in negotiations and urge subscribers to call Cablevision and express themselves through social media,” he said. Cablevision put the blame on Tribune: “After causing the blackout of WPIX on Cablevision a week ago, the Tribune Company has now pulled the plug on FOX CT in Hartford, even after Cablevision agreed to pay all the fees they demanded for this station,” the company said in a statement Friday. “Tribune is illegally tying carriage of FOX CT to less-popular channels they also own, in an attempt to extract tens of millions in new fees from Cablevision customers."
CenturyLink bowed to an Oregon Public Utility Commission complaint and “admits that the violation was committed as alleged in the Complaint and is willing for the Commission to enter an order finding that the violation was committed as alleged in the Complaint,” an Oregon PUC filing said Monday (http://xrl.us/bnnedp). The PUC alleged in March that CenturyLink “failed to locate and mark with reasonable accuracy all of its locatable underground facilities [within] the area of proposed excavation near the intersection of US 26 and Dover Lane, Madras, Oregon,” as it had been required to do by law and later acknowledged. The PUC said this is not the first time this has happened. CenturyLink must pay the commission $5,000 within 30 days of the order’s entry, the PUC said. The agreement was initially reached at a June 26 meeting, according to the filing.
Fox-owned TV stations in Phoenix, Minneapolis and in Orlando, Fla., will carry Bounce TV programming on their multicast channels, Bounce said. Fox’s TV station group already carries the multicast network in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Baltimore, Bounce said. The terms weren’t disclosed.
The FCC Office of Native Affairs sought comment on a USTelecom petition for reconsideration of the Further Guidance Public Notice regarding the Tribal government engagement obligations adopted in the USF/intercarrier compensation order (http://xrl.us/bnnedk). Comments are due Sept. 26 in WC docket 10-90; replies Oct. 11.
Project Concord’s online video licensing dispute with Comcast/NBCUniversal may have “broad implications for the future of online video distribution,” Public Knowledge attorney John Bergmayer wrote in a letter to the FCC. He urged the agency to make sure it does not discourage Project Concord or companies like it from taking advantage of the protections it puts in place during its merger review process. “Not all companies have PCI’s ability to pursue claims in the face of tough opposition,” he wrote (http://xrl.us/bnnec8). Without assurances that cost-shifting arbitration proceedings will be available, some companies may be discouraged from enforcing their rights at all, he said: “Thus, parties that are victorious in arbitration should be able to expect their costs will be recovered."