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.
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.
Financial institutions operating in or with New York state should be required to have a BitLicense to handle virtual currencies, said Benjamin Lawsky, New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) superintendent, in remarks at the Bipartisan Policy Center Thursday. Lawsky outlined proposed revisions to NYDFS virtual currency regulations. Coin Center, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation were among those that filed comments on NYDFS’ October proposal (see 1410210038 and 1410220023). Those groups said the proposed BitLicense could create privacy and regulatory issues, particularly the BitLicense’s requirement to keep records of all bitcoin transactions. “Our initial proposal was meant as a beginning -- not an end -- to a healthy, vigorous public discussion about what the final regulation should look like,” Lawsky said in prepared remarks. But “many of the original proposals make sense, are good for consumers, and are good for the long-term health of the virtual currency industry,” he said. He said software developers wouldn’t be required to have a BitLicense. Virtual currency startups would be required to have a two-year “transitional” BitLicense, Lawsky 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.
New Jersey and five other states will receive a combined $750,000 settlement from Gannett-owned digital ad company PointRoll to end a lawsuit over claims the company used an illegal method to circumvent the Safari browser’s privacy settings and place advertisers’ cookies. New Jersey Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said in a news release that his state will receive $200,000 from the settlement, while New York will receive $110,000. The other states that were parties to the lawsuit were Connecticut, Florida, Illinois and Maryland. PointRoll also agreed to implement a privacy program within six months that includes employee training, not “misrepresent or omit” facts about its reasons for collecting end users’ information and cooperate with compliance monitoring. “Every company is expected to play by the same set of rules,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a news release. “No one should have to fear a business is violating their privacy by bypassing personal settings on their computers or mobile devices.” PointRoll didn’t immediately comment.
The Iowa Chamber Alliance (ICA), a coalition of 16 of the state’s chambers of commerce, said its members support “aggressively” pursuing broadband investment as part of Iowa’s 2015 legislative agenda. The group said it supports “competitive tax treatment” for broadband providers and deployment incentives, which alliance Executive Director John Stineman told us align with the “Connect Every Acre” plan that Republican Gov. Terry Branstad proposed during his successful re-election campaign. Branstad’s plan appears likely to influence Iowa legislators in 2015 as they reconsider a bill to expand broadband access in the state. State legislators failed to pass similar legislation in 2014 (see 1410310059). ICA also backs legislation that would bar the Iowa Utilities Board from regulating broadband, Stineman said.
A New York City project to offer free Wi-Fi hotspots at converted payphone sites shows the dangers of “virtual redlining,” Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld told FCC officials, said a filing in docket 14-28. “The decision by commercial providers to limit prioritized service to wealthier communities and to avoid communities of color because of racial stereotypes, is a very real concern,” Feld said. The Wi-Fi hotspots are supported by advertisers, and “advertisers prefer wealthier eyes,” he said. “As a result, all of the 2,500-plus locations in Manhattan are high speed, giving the borough with 20 percent of the city’s population fully 65 percent of all the fast kiosks. Meanwhile, the Bronx will get speedy Wi-Fi at 361 kiosks -- just 6 percent of the fast Wi-Fi stations in the city.” Feld said the New York example points to the dangers of paid prioritization. “If carriers decide to offer commercial businesses the opportunity to reduce cost by limiting prioritization to specific markets on the basis of zip code, census block, or other geographic demarcation, we can anticipate that -- as with the NY City public wifi experience -- businesses will avail themselves of this opportunity,” he said. The New York City Franchise and Concession Review Committee recently held a hearing on the CityBridge consortium’s plan to install a Wi-Fi hot spot system in place at up to 10,000 obsolete payphone booth sites across the city (see 1412040056).
The New York Public Service Commission won’t vote on whether to approve Comcast's planned buy of Time Warner Cable as part of the PSC's scheduled Thursday meeting, the commission said Tuesday. Thursday’s meeting is the PSC’s last regularly scheduled meeting before the current Dec. 31 deadline for the commission to consider Comcast/TWC. The PSC is empowered to hold a special meeting to consider the deal or it can extend the review deadline in consultation with Comcast and other parties, as it has already done twice. If the PSC doesn’t extend the deadline or vote on Comcast/TWC before the current deadline, the deal would be considered approved by default. A PSC spokesman didn’t indicate how the commission plans to proceed on the review but noted that the commission is continuing its review “given its importance to New York consumers.” Comcast didn’t immediately comment.
The Kansas Corporation Commission’s staff recommended the KCC approve Chanute’s plan to issue bonds to pay for an expansion of the city's municipal broadband network, which serves government and community buildings, plus some local businesses. Chanute says the expansion would let the city provide broadband service throughout its utility service area and support smart grid advanced metering infrastructure. KCC staff said in a report that it believes Chanute’s plans don’t duplicate existing broadband services in the area and that the expansion is appropriate for the city to undertake. AT&T and Cable One also provide broadband service in the Chanute area, but AT&T’s download speeds average 10-25 Mbps and Cable One’s average 50-100 Mbps, both below the Chanute municipal network’s range of 100 Mbps-1 Gbps, KCC staff said. They cited information from the Kansas Statewide Broadband Map Initiative. “Neither AT&T nor Cable One furnish or are currently able to furnish Gigabit connectivity to all of the City of Chanute and three miles thereof, as proposed by the City of Chanute,” KCC staff said in the report. Chanute’s network expansion plans “would not only benefit the citizens of Chanute but its community anchor institutions and community business partners as well,” KCC staff said. “By improving and expanding upon the fiber optic network currently in place by Chanute,” the city is protecting its existing investment in the network, said the staff. AT&T became an official intervener in the case last week, but hasn’t made any filings in KCC’s docket on Chanute’s expansion plans. The telco said in a statement that it wanted to receive information on Chanute’s plans but hasn’t taken a position on the proceeding. Cable One didn't immediately comment.
Cox Communications said it began providing gigabit broadband service at the Park Place Apartment Homes in Irvine, which Cox said was its first gigabit deployment in Southern California. Cox began offering residential gigabit service in Phoenix in October and has said it plans to offer gigabit in all of its markets by the end of 2016. Cox said it doubled its broadband speeds in October, increasing its Internet Preferred tier to 50 Mbps, its Premier tier to 100 Mbps and its Ultimate tier to 150 Mbps, it said Monday in a news release.