Existing customers who qualify for the Lifeline program are eligible to receive Fios Forward at a discount, Verizon announced Monday. Eligible customers can choose from a mix-and-match monthly internet plan at rates of 200/200 Mbps for $19.99, 400/400 Mbps for $39.99, or up to 940/880 Mbps for $59.99. Verizon rolled out its Fios Forward program to new customers only in April.
Allamakee County, Iowa, uses 4.9 GHz for all law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service communications and opposes actions by the FCC that would harm its use of the band, the county said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 07-100. Public safety groups urged the FCC to rethink an order changing how the band is allocated (see 2012300047). “If any of the proposed rulemaking would seek to or have the effect of unduly interfering with Allamakee County’s ability to utilize the 4.9 GHz channel, we would strongly object to the proposal,” the county said: “The number one concern here is being able to continue to operate as we have been with our existing microwaves and licensed frequency.”
Nobody is forcing users to search on Google, the company said Monday. Google generally denied plaintiffs’ legal claims in an answer (in Pacer) to DOJ and states’ antitrust lawsuit at U.S. District Court in Washington (case 1:20-cv-03010-APM). “People use Google Search because they choose to, not because they are forced to or because they cannot easily find alternative ways to search for information on the Internet.” The court let California, Michigan and Wisconsin intervene last week and scheduled trial for Sept. 12, 2023 (see 2012210041).
T-Mobile launched location-based routing and next-generation 911 capabilities, it said Thursday: The upgrades will quicken emergency response times by providing more precise locations for callers and reducing need for caller transfers.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission may require diversity reporting by telecom and other regulated entities. Commissioners voted 4-0 Thursday to start a rulemaking in docket L-2020-3017284, said the PUC. The agency updated utility diversity guidelines earlier this month (see 2012040030). State commissioners lag the nation in racial and gender diversity, per a Communications Daily Special Report Wednesday (see 2012160048).
FCC RDOF Phase I auction results raise questions about how much money is needed to deploy services to the remaining unserved locations to be auctioned in Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase II, blogged Joan Marsh, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory relations: As many as 5 million locations could still be unserved without more precise broadband mapping. Another concern is whether rural customers can afford services at 100/20 Mbps download/upload, which most of the locations are expected to receive. Results suggest that "as the winning providers roll out these subsidized high-speed services, many rural households may need help to afford them," Marsh said.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) filed a petition Monday asking Sacramento County Superior Court to order Amazon to comply with his office’s investigation into whether the tech company is sufficiently protecting its workers from COVID-19 and the number of cases at its facilities in the state. Becerra wants the court to order Amazon to comply with outstanding subpoenas, after the company didn’t adequately respond. “Amazon has made billions during this pandemic relying on the labor of essential workers” who have been “putting themselves at risk,” said Becerra. “It’s critical to know if these workers are receiving the protections on the job that they are entitled to under the law.” Amazon is “puzzled” by Becerra’s “sudden rush to court because we’ve been working cooperatively for months and their claims of noncompliance with their demands don’t line up with the facts,” the company said in a statement. “We’re a leader in providing COVID-19 safety measures for our employees” and “encourage anyone to compare our speed and actions in this area to any other major employer.”
Oral argument is scheduled for Feb. 9 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (in Pacer) on what constitutes interconnected VoIP and whether the FCC can block state, local and tribal governments in Alabama from charging higher 911 calling fees for VoIP than traditional telecom services (see 1910250063).
West Des Moines may have violated Iowa law when it used bonds for urban blight and poverty to build a $50 million municipal network for Google Fiber, Mediacom said Thursday. The cable company sought an injunction against the city in Iowa District Court for Polk County. “We aren’t asking for any special treatment, just a fair and balanced regulatory environment that allows us to expand our network and compete for the business of West Des Moines consumers,” said Thomas Larsen, Mediacom senior vice president-government and public relations. Google and the city didn’t comment.
Frontier Communications got another state OK for its bankruptcy reorganization. The Mississippi Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Tuesday to adopt an order clearing the deal. The PSC recognized the deal is in the public interest, a Frontier spokesperson emailed. “We look forward to working to secure our remaining state approvals in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.” Also at the webcast meeting, commissioners unanimously supported the PSC entering into talks with the NTIA on the national broadband availability map (see 1910180017). “It presents an opportunity for Mississippi to have state-specific data that we are able to either upload ourselves or have carriers upload to help clear up some of the interim problems that we know exist with mapping right now,” said Commissioner Brandon Presley (D).