Massachusetts added Level 3 Communications as an authorized vendor for its ITT46 network sales contract, which Level 3 said Wednesday would allow it to offer its network connectivity and communications services directly to multiple state agencies. Level 3 will offer its voice, data and network security services via a connection to state buildings, including data centers in Boston, Springfield and Worcester. Those services will give state institutions support for high-demand applications like storage visualization, Big Data analytics and cloud computing, Level 3 said (http://bit.ly/1mmY2lV).

The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) said it ruled car service Uber is a “common carrier and a public service company over whom the Commission has jurisdiction.” The PSC rejected Uber’s claim that it’s exempt from PSC oversight because its technology is covered by the Communications Act, noting that while Uber uses telecom technology, that technology is also used to contract with transportation services and to set rates (http://bit.ly/1vbOCTO). The ruling doesn’t affect UberX or Lyft services, the PSC said Wednesday. The PSC’s decision affirms an April ruling by the PSC’s public utility law judge that the PSC can regulate Uber as “non-taxicab, passenger-for-hire service.” The order requires Uber to apply for a motor carrier permit for its UberBlack and UberSUV services within 60 days and directs the PSC to draft new regulations within 90 days that “reflect the evolving nature of transportation services like Uber.” The rules PSC staff must now create to handle Uber-like services must address “new technologies” for dispatching transportation-for-hire services, methods of providing notice of transportation rates, along with insurance, driver qualifications and vehicle safety, the PSC said (http://bit.ly/1AVlf8L). Uber believes the Maryland PSC “is stuck in the days of the horse and buggy,” a spokesman said. “The PSC’s attempt to take choice and competition away from Maryland residents will not stand."

AT&T said it will expand its GigaPower gigabit fiber network into Greensboro, North Carolina (http://soc.att.com/1y5lERM). The city was one of the metro areas AT&T had identified in April as a possible target for future GigaPower expansion (CD April 22 p8). The telco said it chose to move forward in Greensboro because of the city’s “business friendly” policies. The expansion into Greensboro “will open tremendous new opportunities for our citizens in many fields,” Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, a Democrat, said in an AT&T news release Wednesday. The telco said it’s deploying additional network infrastructure in Greensboro to support GigaPower, but will announce specific location availability and pricing later for its U-verse with GigaPower Internet service, which will eventually have a top speed of 1 Gbps. AT&T had said Monday and Tuesday that it would expand GigaPower into Houston and Overland Park, Kansas (CD Aug 6 p12).

AT&T says it will expand its GigaPower fiber network into Houston and Overland Park, Kansas, and offer its U-verse with GigaPower service in both cities. AT&T had identified the Houston and Kansas City, Missouri, metro areas in April as potential areas of expansion for the network, which will eventually transmit at 1 Gbps (CD April 22 p8). The Overland Park City Council approved a memorandum of understanding Monday to allow AT&T to deploy additional fiber infrastructure. AT&T said it will announce specific locations where the service will be available in Overland Park later. The telco said it’s also currently considering deploying the GigaPower network in two other cities near Overland Park -- Leawood and Shawnee (http://soc.att.com/1p8gweX). AT&T said Tuesday it’s also currently deploying additional fiber infrastructure in Houston to support GigaPower, and will announce later additional information on locations where the service will be available (http://soc.att.com/1srQMep). The GigaPower network is currently operational only in Austin, but AT&T is expanding it into the Dallas-Fort Worth area and previously announced plans to expand it to the Nashville and San Antonio metro areas, along with three North Carolina metro areas -- Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem.

CenturyLink said it expanded its gigabit fiber services in 16 cities, including 13 where it didn’t already offer gigabit fiber. Ten of the cities now have residential and business fiber services -- Columbia and Jefferson City, Missouri; Denver; Las Vegas; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Omaha; Orlando; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City; and Seattle. CenturyLink was already offering residential fiber in Las Vegas and Omaha, and business fiber in Salt Lake City. The telco said it’s now offering business fiber in six other cities -- Albuquerque; Colorado Springs; Phoenix; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Spokane, Washington; and Tucson. Pricing for the 1 Gbps service begins at $79.95, while 100 Mbps will cost at least $49.95 and 40 Mbps will cost at least $39.95, CenturyLink said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1lwx7Ee).

Aruba Networks said the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) district in Maryland is deploying an Aruba Mobility-Defined Network in its 204 schools and 20 other school system facilities to support mobile device use. PGCPS has experienced an influx of mobile device use at its facilities, requiring new network infrastructure that would be able to accommodate additional growth, Aruba said Tuesday. PGCPS is deploying more than 15,000 access points in its facilities as part of the network upgrade, which it hopes will make it possible to formalize bring-your-own-device policies for staff and students, Aruba said (http://bit.ly/1kEaB1h).

Free State Foundation President Randolph May criticized Alabama Monday for requiring Lifeline subscribers in the state to pay the state’s 911 service fee, which he said should be “jettisoned” one way or another. “It just doesn’t make sense to grant certified low-income consumers a $9.25 subsidy on the one hand, and then make those same customers pay a $1.75 fee on the other,” he said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1o7JkUC), referring to our report that TracFone has filed a lawsuit against the Alabama 911 Board that challenges the board’s authority to extend the 911 fee to Lifeline subscribers. The National Grange and six other groups have also lobbied against the law (CD Aug 4 p7).

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) said the state completed work on a $100 million expansion of the Illinois Century Network, a regional broadband network with about 1,800 miles of fiber. The network, anchored at Illinois State University, connects about 400 schools, health facilities and public safety locations. The project, which quadrupled the network’s capacity, was funded through a $62 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act award and almost $34 million in state and local funds, Quinn’s office said Friday. The network includes more than 1,000 miles of new fiber lines and 750 miles of previously unused “dark” fiber, Quinn’s office said (http://1.usa.gov/1qMWftl).

NTIA scheduled a workshop Sept. 4 in Minneapolis on the “nuts and bolts” of building effective community broadband programs in the Upper Northwest. The workshop will draw on examples from NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and State Broadband Initiative, said that agency Monday. The meeting will focus on how to align community, government and private sector interests in a broadband program, picking an effective business model and the funding application process. The workshop will follow up on NTIA’s May workshop on planning for community broadband, NTIA said (http://1.usa.gov/1APhSA5).

The Florida Public Service Commission said the state’s telecom industry is becoming more competitive, noting that CLECs’ market share of residential and business access lines rose from 26 percent to 32 percent last year. LECs in the state reported a 7 percent decrease in wirelines from 2012, while total residential access lines decreased by 18 percent, the agency said Friday. ILECs are now a minority in the state’s wireline business market, the PUC said. AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon were the three largest ILECs in Florida last year, it said. About 2.8 million Florida residents were VoIP subscribers last year, a 5 percent increase from 2012, the agency said (http://bit.ly/1pwcj3F).