Comcast and Time Warner Cable agreed last week to extend the deadline for the New York Public Service Commission to complete its review of the proposed Comcast/TWC deal. The PSC previously had faced a Dec. 31 deadline for completing its review, but didn’t vote on whether to approve the deal during its last regular 2014 meeting Dec. 11 (see 1412090048). The PSC must now vote on the deal by Jan. 22 and issue a final order by Jan. 27, Comcast said in a filing.

Region 1 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected the bad faith bargaining charges against FairPoint Communications, the company said in a news release Wednesday. The NLRB posted the dismissal letter and said the appeal is due by Jan. 12. FairPoint has been battling against the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “As described in the NLRB ruling, FairPoint engaged in lawful bargaining designed to achieve our stated goals of cost savings and operational flexibility,” FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu said in a statement. “The ruling today ... confirms our position and honest belief that we have bargained in good faith. As the unions appeal to the General Counsel of the NLRB, my expectation is that our case will continue to receive the fair and objective treatment that it did at the Regional level.” Peter McLaughlin, who chaired the unions’ bargaining committee and is IBEW Local 2327’s business manager, called the decision disappointing but not surprising. “Unfortunately, US labor law favors corporations like FairPoint, not working people,” he said in a statement. “The NLRB is one tool in our toolbox -- the NLRB does not decide what’s best for our workers and our communities. We remain united and committed in our fight for fairness at FairPoint.” The unions will appeal, they confirmed.

The New Hampshire Executive Council delayed a vote Tuesday on a $13 million state contract with FairPoint Communications to provide phone and Internet service to the state government. Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern, a Democrat, asked for the contract to be withdrawn from the council’s agenda over what he said were concerns about FairPoint’s current service quality. FairPoint would provide services to the state through 2020 under the contract. A FairPoint spokeswoman said the telco is working with New Hampshire officials to address concerns. The contract delay is occurring amid a protracted strike involving more than 1,700 FairPoint workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont that has drawn criticism from members of all three states’ congressional delegations. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Rep. Ann Kuster, D-N.H., sent a joint letter Monday to FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu urging the company to negotiate with the striking workers. Kuster and Shaheen said the New Hampshire Public Utility Commission has received almost 500 complaints about poor service quality and outages since the strike began Oct. 17. Sunu responded Tuesday, telling Kuster and Shaheen that FairPoint has been negotiating in good faith and that issues with service quality are primarily due to a recent series of storms in the state. The elected five-member council is part of the executive branch of the state's government.

Forty-six Connecticut municipalities have signed on to an effort to facilitate development of gigabit networks in Connecticut, state Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz said Friday. New Haven, Stamford and West Hartford sought a joint Request for Qualifications in September to obtain information from interested broadband providers (see 1409160049), with the additional cities’ participation in the RFQ meaning more than 25 percent of the state’s municipalities are now involved. The localities that have since joined the RFQ include state capital Hartford. “The response from our state’s towns has been overwhelming,” Katz said in a news release. “Partnering with the private sector to examine the best way to build and finance these Gig networks is the first step in making them a reality in Connecticut.” Proposals from entities interested in partnering with the municipalities are due Jan. 13 to the New Haven city government’s purchasing department.

FairPoint Communications’ labor dispute with striking workers “involves FairPoint’s ability to be the 21st century telecommunications provider Vermonters want and Vermont’s economy deserves,” the company wrote the state’s congressional delegation Thursday. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I) and Rep. Peter Welch (D) wrote the company Wednesday urging FairPoint to negotiate an end to a strike in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont involving more than 1,700 of the telco’s workers (see 1412170059). In response, the company wrote the union’s demands “are not within the mainstream.” The company said the workers are seeking wage increases, maintaining accrual of defined pension benefits despite having a matching 401(k) plan and do not want to make “meaningful contributions" to their health plans. A spokesman for the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) locals representing the workers called FairPoint's letter "misleading."

If the FCC grants TracFone’s petition to allow text messages to be considered "supported" usage of Lifeline service, it should do so only for outgoing messages, the Public Utility Commission of Oregon said in a filing posted Wednesday. Outgoing text messages could mesh with the FCC’s current rule, which considers only active customer communications to be supported Lifeline services, the PUC said. Incoming text messages shouldn’t be defined as supported usage because, "like a voicemail message, which doesn’t qualify as usage under the current rule, the text could be left unopened indefinitely or for long periods of time,” the PUC said.

Vermont’s congressional delegation urged FairPoint Communications to negotiate an end to a strike in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont involving more than 1,700 of the telco’s workers. “We are extremely disappointed that FairPoint management has not come back to the bargaining table with any meaningful concessions to end this strike,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I, and Rep. Peter Welch, D, in a letter to FairPoint, posted Wednesday. “It is becoming increasingly clear to Vermonters that management is more concerned with the interests of corporate owners of FairPoint than negotiating a reasonable agreement that is fair to your workers and customers.” Vermont’s Department of Public Service has received an amplified number of customer complaints about FairPoint since the strike began in October, prompting the state Public Service Board to begin an investigation into the complaints (see 1412090063). FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu blamed local chapters of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Wednesday for the protracted length of the strike, saying in a letter to Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin that FairPoint “has always been willing to compromise with the unions.” FairPoint’s efforts to reach an agreement have been unsuccessful, he said. Shumlin had sent a letter to FairPoint last week also urging an end to the strike. A spokesman for the local CWA and IBEW chapters said FairPoint has rejected the unions’ proposals.

California PUC staff discussed the Local Number Portability Administration (LNPA) selection during a conference call with FCC Wireline Bureau staffers Thursday, the CPUC said in an ex parte filing Monday. Neustar and Telcordia have been battling for LNPA selection (see 1412030046). The call focused on LNPA services the CPUC “considers critical to 911 operations, and might impact 911 and public safety,” the CPUC said. The call also focused on whether the shortened LNPA transition “poses any special challenges” for the selected vendor, the CPUC said.

The California Public Utilities Commission confirmed Monday that it won’t hold hearings Wednesday and Thursday as part of CPUC's review of Comcast's proposed buy of Time Warner Cable. The CPUC had budgeted time Wednesday and Thursday for evidentiary hearings on the deal as part of its revised review timeline, but canceled them after the commission’s Office of Ratepayer Advocates filed a motion declining to request hearings. CPUC Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer subsequently denied a hearing request from the National Asian American Coalition. The CPUC holds hearings on a proceeding only in response to a stakeholder request. ORA said in its filing, posted Friday, that it didn’t believe it and other stakeholders would have adequate time under the revised timeline to adequately prepare for a hearing. Comcast and other companies involved in Comcast/TWC and related deals filed their opening briefs on the deal Dec. 1, while other stakeholders had until Wednesday to file reply comments. Media Alliance Executive Director Tracy Rosenberg told us she believes the CPUC can still do a thorough review of Comcast/TWC without the hearings because of the material included in other parties’ reply comments, which generally opposed the deal. Hearings would have been preferable because they would have allowed the public an additional opportunity to comment on the deal, Rosenberg said.

"Don’t risk being the next AT&T," reads a marketing message headlined, "AT&T fined $52 million for dumping their electronics," that was emailed to us Thursday by 4th Bin, a New York-based recycler that collects and processes e-waste from corporate clients. The email references AT&T’s settlement agreement last month with the California attorney general to resolve allegations that AT&T facilities in California unlawfully dumped hazardous e-waste into landfills over a nine-year period. In the agreement, AT&T technically wasn't fined $52 million as the 4th Bin email suggests, but agreed to pay $23.8 million in civil penalties and spend $28 million the next five years to bring the company into "environmental compliance." In its email, 4th Bin, which is e-Stewards-certified by the Basel Action Network, describes itself as "an advocate for responsible, sustainable and smart decisions in all phases of our client’s technology lifecycle." On California’s finding that AT&T "was not properly recycling their e-waste and was fined $52 million for their actions," AT&T was "hardly alone in their practices," 4th Bin says. "On a daily basis, we are approached by companies who seek free or low cost solutions to the disposal of their e-waste. The companies come in all shapes and sizes, are often well-known brands and many have internal sustainability initiatives and goals. Why are these companies willing to risk data security, financial repercussions and, equally important, their reputation is a question we constantly ask ourselves." The message warns prospective clients that "the next time some e-waste company tries to provide you and your company with a free or low-cost solution, think about AT&T." In "AT&T’s defense," 4th Bin said, the company publicly has committed itself "to spend $28 million dollars to right the ship. AT&T will choose a path of ethical recycling and we agree with this decision." AT&T declined to comment on the 4th Bin campaign.