Honolulu Police Department officials will implement Smart911, a free national public safety service that allows residents to provide the information dispatchers need, before an emergency happens, said a news release from Smart911. Honolulu is the first city in the state to use the system, the release said. Smart911 enables citizens to create a free safety profile online that can include any information about their households that they want 911 to have in an emergency, the release said. When a resident makes an emergency call, that person's safety profile is automatically displayed to the 911 call taker, "allowing them to send the right response teams to the right location with the right information," it said. Smart911 is available in 40 states and more than 1,500 municipalities, the release said. Smart911 data is private and secure, and is used only for emergency responses and available in the event of an emergency call, the release said.

PocketiNet Communications selected Huawei for rolling out its fiber-to-the-home initiative to bring ultra-fast gigabit Internet -- the first gigabit rural network in the state -- to Walla Walla, Washington, Huawei said in a news release. PocketiNet is a locally owned and operated ISP that serves 17 markets in the Columbia Basin region in Washington. The gigabit initiative is being launched in the U.S. without state or federal funding, the release said. The network will bring Internet to more than 15,000 homes and businesses in the Walla Walla area in a multiyear build-out, it said. PocketiNet expects to complete initial deployments of the network in 12-15 months, with a combination of underground and overhead fiber, it said.

The California Broadband Council will discuss the state's first responder network, telehealth network and library system, and will get a tribal update at a meeting Tuesday, said the agenda. The council is made up of nine people and chaired by state Chief Information Officer Carlos Ramos. It was formed in 2010 to expand broadband deployment and eliminate the digital divide. The 9:30 a.m. meeting is at UC Riverside, 900 University Ave., Room 1113 INTS Building, Riverside, California.

Tests of the New York City subway's Transit Wireless network show riders of the Q line receive the best overall service on mobile phones, said Rhode & Schwarz in a Wednesday news release. Global Wireless Solutions tested 67 subway stations in the city from June to July, using Rhode & Schwarz test equipment, to analyze the program, the release said. The test found that the 4 line was by far the worst performing line for Wi-Fi connections, with just two out of 22 stations on the line (9 percent) having Wi-Fi available. Testing found that six of the sites had no detectable Wi-Fi signal, it said. New York City and Transit Wireless anticipate a complete rollout of Wi-Fi services to all 279 stations making up the city's subway system by 2017, it said.

Hundreds of Verizon wireline and wireless workers and elected officials -- including New York state Assemblymen Peter Abbate (D) and William Colton (D) and New York City Councilmen Daneek Miller (D) and Mark Treyger (D) -- are expected to rally outside a Verizon Wireless store in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, Thursday, said a news release from Communications Workers of America. Participants are asking the company to bring back Bianca Cunningham, a CWA union leader they said was being fired for "standing up for her rights, and [trying to] negotiate a fair contract," the union said. Verizon Wireless told Cunningham she will be terminated, and the company is targeting other union activists, CWA said. The union filed suit in a federal court against Verizon for unfairly firing Cunningham and expects to prevail, it said. A Verizon spokesman said the company doesn't comment on personnel matters. Contract negotiations between the company and CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are ongoing, he said. "Rather than stage meaningless protests and rallies, we believe the unions would be far better off focusing on the issues that still need to be resolved."

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will open an investigation into last week's outage of CenturyLink's toll-free services in the state (see 1509040044), said a UTC news release. The outage reportedly affected services nationwide. Toll-free services, which include 800, 866, 877 and 888 numbers, failed in Washington around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, it said. The UTC said it will investigate the cause of the outage, the company's preparedness and response, restoration efforts, and notification and communication with regulatory and emergency agencies.

The National Association of State 911 Administrators released a white paper on four possible approaches states could take to ensure sustainable funding for next-generation 911. The white paper addresses the problem of declining revenue and suggests using either the current funding model with moderate changes, sales tax, insurance or the state USF as a means to fix that. A companion white paper will be released in early 2016, it said.

NGN Connect's fiber network is providing 100 Mbps symmetrical connections to seven libraries within the Northeast Georgia Regional Library system, said a news release from NGN. NGN is a member-owned cooperative operating over 1,600 miles of fiber infrastructure in north Georgia. NGN is also providing the libraries with hosted Wi-Fi service and a VoIP phone system at each location, it said. The network is live in Northeast Georgia Regional Library locations in Clarkesville, Cleveland, Cornelia, Rabun, Stephens and the system’s central library office, it said.

An examination of AT&T's and Verizon's networks, ordered in proceeding 13-02-023, remains necessary, said a decision from the California Public Utilities Commission this week. The study is needed because the performance of both companies has consistently failed to meet existing service quality metrics, the CPUC said. The essential economic and safety functions performed by and through the network infrastructure and facilities of these companies are no less critical than they were when the evaluation was ordered more than two years ago, it said. The decision directs staff to begin the study within six months. Despite its belief the evaluation isn't warranted, AT&T will work with the CPUC to complete it, a company spokeswoman said. Verizon had no immediate comment.

Salisbury, North Carolina, is the first 10 GB city by Calix and Fibrant, with 10 Gbps service being offered at Catawba College, said a news release from Calix Thursday. Calix supplies telecom equipment to service providers. Fibrant is an all-fiber municipal broadband network owned and operated by the city of Salisbury.