The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved a request by Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable to change the deadline to file rebuttals in the proceeding to approve transfer of control of TWC in docket 2015-0207, said an order from the PUC filed Monday and posted Tuesday. The deadline was originally Nov. 5, but the PUC extended it to Thursday.

About 96 percent of New York City residents own cellphones, and 80 percent own smartphones, said a study from the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. The study was sponsored by Capital One and the MetLife Foundation and aimed to "analyze the needs, barriers, and opportunities to increase financial inclusion through mobile financial services use." The study also showed that 66.5 percent of city residents who had no income still have smartphones. Mobile phone usage and ownership varied a little by banking status, with about 95 percent of banked respondents reported owning a cellphone, 79 percent of whom owned a smartphone, the study said. The report said, "Someone who is 'underbanked' has a bank or credit union account but also uses alternative financial services such as a check cashing service, money order, payday loan, pawnshop loan, reloadable prepaid debit card, or payroll card from an employer." About 90 percent of unbanked respondents owned a cellphone, with 73 percent reporting having a smartphone, and 98 percent of the underbanked owning a cellphone, 80 percent of whom had a smartphone, it said. Immigrant respondents and those who were between the ages of 18 and 29 were among the highest groups to have a smartphone, at 93 percent and 94 percent respectively.

For FirstNet to succeed in Michigan, it’s important to have teamwork among all public safety entities and it’s imperative that cybersecurity concerns be addressed, stakeholders said at the state’s Initial Consultation Meeting with FirstNet earlier this year, FirstNet said in a blog post. More than 100 stakeholders from local, state and tribal entities in Michigan met in East Lansing. For the purpose of outreach, Michigan maintains ongoing involvement with a number of organizations, including the APCO Broadband Committee, Michigan’s Public Safety Communications Interoperability Board, the National Association of State 911 Administrators, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, the Public Safety Communications Research Program and the State 911 Committee, the post said.

The New York State Department of Public Service is investigating phone outages Thursday that affected 911 service to more than 400,000 Verizon New York and Frontier Communications customers in the lower Hudson Valley, including portions of Putnam, Ulster, Sullivan and Westchester counties, a DPS news release said. The Verizon outage in Dutchess, Putnam, Ulster and Westchester counties potentially affected more than 400,000 customers, DPS said Friday. The outage made it so customers couldn't call 911, it said. The Verizon outage began at 2:30 p.m., with services gradually being restored starting at 5:30 p.m., and full restoration at 6:45 p.m., it said. The Frontier outage affected the hamlet of Roscoe in Sullivan County and left more than 900 customers without service, the agency said. The outage started in the early afternoon with intermittent service, but became a complete outage by evening, DPS said, with full service restored by midnight. The department said it plans to evaluate why the backup systems -- which are designed to ensure continued service operations -- failed, and what improvements might be needed. The investigation is expected to take two months. Verizon said it will cooperate with the investigation. Frontier didn't immediately comment Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Transit Wireless launched wireless, public safety and Wi-Fi services to 21 underground subway stations in the Bronx and 16 in Manhattan, said a news release from Transit Wireless. The company also started working on wiring another 37 stations, which are expected to have wireless up and running by the middle of 2016, the release said.

The Communications Workers of America asked the Maryland Public Service Commission to re-open an investigation into quality of service on Verizon's copper network. A letter, similar to one sent to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in October (see 1510220054), included photos that the union said show deteriorating phone equipment that CWA believes threaten service quality. Before sending Monday's letter, CWA said it examined Verizon’s equipment in areas of the state where the telco hasn't built FiOS and offers service only through traditional copper wiring. The investigation found poles that are damaged, unsecured and broken, damaged and exposed cable and splice terminals, bypassed damaged cable, and equipment that shows evidence of damage caused by animals, the union said: "Verizon’s systemic underinvestment in its traditional landline network violates the terms of the alternative form of regulation that the company is currently operating under." Maryland law allows Verizon to operate under alternative regulation only if the commission finds that it protects consumers by "producing affordable and reasonably priced basic service and by ensuring the quality, availability and reliability of telecommunications services throughout Maryland," CWA said. The filing is an "agenda-driven attempt by the union to try and divert attention from our on-going contract negotiations," said a Verizon spokesman. "Union leaders have an ill-advised pattern of creating campaigns filled with mischaracterizations and inaccurate statements." If there are problems with the network, Verizon will look into them, the spokesman said. Instead of trying to force Verizon to hire more union employees, CWA should work with the company on a new contract that's good for employees and fair to customers, he said.

A federal court should uphold the FCC order pre-empting two state laws that restrict municipal broadband growth, said an amicus brief filed Thursday by the Benton Foundation, Common Cause, New America's Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition. The North Carolina and Tennessee laws "placed significant burdens on municipalities attempting to provide their own broadband networks," the consumer-oriented groups told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing state challenges to the order in two dockets (Tennessee v. FCC, No. 15-3291, and North Carolina v. FCC, docket No. 15-3555). Also filing amicus briefs in support of the FCC were: the Coalition for Local Internet Choice; the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors; Next Century Cities and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance; and the North Carolina League of Municipalities.

The California Public Utilities Commission revoked operating authority of 26 wireline carriers for failing to comply with certain regulatory requirements, under Resolution T-17489, which was released Tuesday after being unanimously adopted by commissioners last week. The revocation will take effect 30 days after the Nov. 5 adoption of the resolution, which is Dec. 5. The carriers had their operating authority revoked for failing to comply with at least two of the following duties: payment of user fees, payment of “public purpose” surcharges and submission of a performance bond. The affected carriers were mostly competitive local carriers, resellers and interexchange carriers; one was a radio telephone utility.

Both of the proposed telecom resolutions were approved unanimously Tuesday by the NARUC board during the annual state utility regulators group's meeting in Austin. The board didn't raise concerns about the second resolution being filed late, despite the Committee on Telecommunications having discussed that matter during its Monday business meeting (see 1511090033), when the committee approved the resolutions. There was no discussion about either resolution during the board vote.

NARUC members voted Monday to elect Montana Public Service Commissioner Travis Kavulla as its next president, during the annual meeting here in Austin. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner Robert Powelson will become first vice president, up from second vice president. Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority Commissioner Jack Betkoski becomes second vice president. Indiana Utility Regulatory Commissioner David Ziegner remains treasurer, and Charles Gray remains executive director. The elected positions carry one-year terms.