Verizon will partner with Boston to replace its copper network with fiber, Verizon and Mayor Martin Walsh (D) said in a news release Tuesday. Under the partnership, Verizon will invest $300 million over six years. The project is to start this year in Dorchester, West Roxbury and the Dudley Square neighborhood of Roxbury, followed by Hyde Park, Mattapan, and other areas of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, Verizon said. The city and Verizon will take votes from locals to prioritize neighborhoods for the buildout, Verizon said. The city agreed to an expedited permitting process, it said. The partnership is also expected to enhance wireless services in Boston because it allows Verizon to attach wireless equipment to city street lights and utility poles. The city also will begin a cable TV licensing process so Verizon can offer Fios TV service in Boston, Verizon said. "Boston is moving faster than our current infrastructure can support, and a modern fiber-optic communications platform will make us a next-level city,” Walsh said. “It is a priority to ensure that every resident has expanded access to broadband and increasing competition is critical to reaching that goal.”
Uber agreed to pay $10 million in a settlement with San Francisco and Los Angeles. It will have to pay another $15 million in two years if it hasn’t complied with all terms of the agreement. California Superior Court Judge Mary Wiss Thursday approved the settlement, resolving the enforcement action that began in December 2014. Uber agreed not to use possibly misleading phrases like “safest ride on the road” or describe its background checks as “the gold standard,” in advertising, the company said. “We’re glad to put this case behind us and excited to redouble our efforts serving riders and drivers across the state,” Uber said. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said the settlement “sends a clear message to all businesses, and to startups in particular, that in the quest to quickly obtain market share, laws designed to protect consumers cannot be ignored.” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said she's pleased Uber agreed to comply with state consumer laws: “The ridesharing company has pledged to communicate honestly about its driver background checks and airport fees, important steps to protecting the residents of California.”
County police are looking forward to the rollout of a nationwide public safety broadband network, the National Association of Counties said Tuesday. Police officers voiced enthusiasm for the network in an article about the FirstNet request for proposal on the NACo website. FirstNet released the RFP in January, and proposals are due May 13 (see 1603160052). Sheriff Jim Voutour from Niagara County, New York, said one immediate benefit with FirstNet is using smartphone apps connected to a secure network. The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office has launched several apps, including one that provides access to real-time detention center data with mug shots, charges and other information. The app includes push notifications for Amber Alerts and news about escapees and searches. “In Niagara County we take technology very seriously. We are always looking forward,” Voutour said. “The cops we are hiring today grew up with technology; they’ve had smartphones since they were 10 years old.” Meanwhile, in Texas, the public safety network “has made the laptop in a patrol car the equivalent of a network PC,” Brazos County Lt. Thomas Randall said. “We have gone from dial-up to a smartphone overnight.”
A municipal broadband project in California will wirelessly bring 1 Gbps speeds to residents, businesses and community sites in Santa Cruz. Siklu Communication, Cruzio and the City of Santa Cruz on Tuesday unveiled a project to use hybrid fiber-wireless technologies to roll out the wireless service in less than three months. The service will connect existing fiber from independent ISP Cruzio to millimeter wave radios provided by Siklu. The radios can be attached to building facades, roofs, poles and other locations to wirelessly extend the reach of fiber. Millimeter wave frequencies allow the radios to transmit multiple gigabits reliably with low latency and no interference and congestion. Chairman Izik Kirshenbaum said in a news release that Siklu aims to deploy the same technology “in other U.S. communities in the months to come.”
Consumers and small businesses in five states received 1 Gbps Internet service on Monday, according to announcements from Windstream and GCI. Windstream launched a 1 Gbps speed tier in Lincoln, Nebraska; Lexington, Kentucky; Sugar Land, Texas; and seven North Carolina communities. Separately, GCI continued its 1 Gbps rollout across Alaska, announcing an expansion of the fiber service to Juneau.
Verizon dismissed union rallies in New York as “like a bad April Fool’s joke.” Hundreds of union workers rallied Thursday at Verizon’s offices in New York City and White Plains, New York. The workers, represented by Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, protested about job security and health and retirement benefits amid a labor contract dispute with Verizon. “Verizon’s CEO makes more than 200 times as much as the average frontline worker, but the company refuses to bargain the fair contract Verizon workers and their families need and deserve,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor. “It’s time for management to stop slashing frontline workers’ job security and living standards.” A Verizon spokesman replied that it's “simply foolish to believe these meaningless disruptions have any impact on the bargaining process.” Verizon is committed to the long-term success of its business, he said. “We hope union leaders would feel the same.” CWA has also been on the attack at the New York Public Service Commission, where it has successfully petitioned the commission to open an investigation into the quality of the telco’s copper-based services (see 1603230044).
A California bill authorizing telcos to end legacy copper service in 2020 will get a hearing April 13 in the California State Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee. The bill (AB-2395) would authorize telcos to discontinue legacy telephone service in 2020, as long as they first educate consumers about the transition. The bill’s sponsor, Assembly Member Evan Low (D), has said the bill will keep California at the forefront of technology (see 1603300054). But consumer groups are coordinating to fight the proposal, which they say would authorize AT&T to strand many Californian customers who still rely on the copper network, including people in rural areas, low-income households, seniors and people with disabilities (see 1603290055). The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. PDT and will be webcast.
A bill in the California State Assembly to push telecom customers toward IP services (AB-2395) will keep California at the forefront of technology, said a spokesman for the bill’s sponsor, Assembly Member Evan Low (D). The bill would authorize telcos to discontinue legacy telephone service in 2020, as long as they first educate consumers about the transition. Consumer group The Utility Reform Network slammed the bill Tuesday (see 1603290055) because it said the proposal would authorize AT&T to strand many Californian customers who still rely on the copper network, including people in rural areas, low-income households, seniors and people with disabilities. Low, who represents the Silicon Valley, believes it’s time to push adoption of IP telecom services in California, his spokesman said. “This bill is the nexus in terms of advancing California’s innovation economy.” Other states have passed similar legislation and this is a case of California playing catch-up, he said. The bill includes “backstops” recognizing that IP infrastructure might not be an option for all Californians, he said. Under the bill, customers can petition the state commission to review availability of IP service at their location if a telco gives notice it's discontinuing legacy telephone service. If the commission finds there's no provider, the commission can help the customer find an alternative, or order the withdrawing telco to continue providing voice service to the customer for another 12 months. A committee hearing in the California State Assembly is expected on AB-2395 in April.
The FTC supported a telehealth bill in the Alaska legislature that would remove a requirement that physicians be located within the state. Telehealth provisions in SB-74 would allow licensed Alaska physicians located out of state to provide telehealth services in the same way as in-state physicians, and would allow certain Alaska-licensed behavioral health professionals to provide services remotely. It would authorize regulations to establish a standard of care for physicians prescribing medications without a physical examination. The Alaska Senate passed SB-74 March 11; the House referred the bill to the Finance Committee March 14. Telehealth provisions in SB-74 would make "a procompetitive improvement in Alaska’s telehealth law,” the FTC said in a letter to state Rep. Steve Thompson, the Republican co-chairman of the House Finance Committee in the Alaska legislature. FTC Office of Policy Planning Director Marina Lao, Economics Bureau Director Ginger Zhe Jin and Competition Bureau Director Deborah Feinstein signed the letter. “These provisions would likely increase the supply of telehealth providers, enhance competition, and reduce health care costs, thereby benefiting Alaskans, especially underserved populations with limited access to health care,” the letter said. But the FTC said parts of the bill could discourage patients who are concerned about privacy. “While SB 74 might encourage greater use of telehealth by behavioral health professionals, its requirement that behavioral health professionals providing services remotely, unlike those providing services in person, share sensitive mental health records with a primary care provider could discourage its use for patients who wish to keep such records confidential,” the agency said. Also, a proposed requirement for special standards of care for remote health providers could hurt competition, it said. “A telehealth provider who has not made a physical examination is already subject to the state’s licensure requirements, including an obligation to meet the state’s existing standard of care. The development of additional ‘safeguards’ solely for telehealth providers might lead to the adoption of unnecessary restrictions that would only serve to restrict competition, and thereby undermine SB 74’s goal of enhancing access to telehealth services.” The FTC vote to issue the staff comment was 4-0.
The FCC should carve out Alaskan wireless carriers from a proposed 3G minimum broadband standard for mobile services in the upcoming Lifeline order (see 1603240052), Alaskan carrier General Communication Inc. said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 10-90. GCI met Tuesday with Stephanie Weiner, aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “By our best estimate, Remote Alaska contains at least 100 communities with a combined population of more than 40,000 that have access only to a 2G network,” GCI said. “A few years ago, many of those consumers had no wireless service at all. As Alaska wireless providers continue to build out and upgrade service in rural Alaska, the Commission should not make it more difficult for such communities to afford the best service available.” GCI said the simplest option is to exclude all facilities-based Alaska wireless carriers from the 3G minimum requirement. Or, it could apply the minimum standard only where commercial 3G service is offered, it said. “As a last resort,” the FCC could request waivers from carriers that offer 2G service in certain areas, said the cable and telecom provider. “That solution, however, would create uncertainty, cause delay, and unnecessarily tie up Commission and carrier resources.” GCI, a backer of the so-called Alaska Plan for a looming FCC rate-of-return USF overhaul (see 1602250025), also lobbied on that broadband deployment proposal.