TDS may buy telecom assets of a Wisconsin utility in Sun Prairie, TDS said in a Monday news release. TDS signed a nonbinding letter of intent with the city-owned Sun Prairie Utilities to acquire all the utility’s assets for operation, transport, delivery and support of telecom services, TDS said. The parties plan to reach a final agreement by the end of March, TDS said. “Under the LOI we are signing, TDS will own and assume full responsibility for managing and operating our existing fiber network and build on the important work we started,” Sun Prairie Mayor Paul Esser said. “TDS would continue with our vision to have a highly connected community, accelerate investment, and expand communications services to include TV and phone offerings in addition to high speed internet service. This sale would divest the City and its taxpayers of any risk associated with the project.” The agreement reduced risk for the utility, Sun Prairie Utilities Commission Chairman Ted Chase said.

A wireless siting bill failed Monday in the Virginia House, but the chamber will soon vote on similar legislation from the Senate. The House was also expected Monday to have debated a controversial municipal broadband bill, with a final vote possible Tuesday, but legislators didn’t take up the bill before our deadline. The House voted 37-57 against the wireless siting bill (HB-2196) after the Senate voted 21-18 Friday to pass the similar S-1282. Both bills require localities to review a small-cells application within 60 days and other wireless infrastructure within 150 days, while limiting the reasons why a locality could say no to small cells. In floor debate, Del. Terry Kilgore (R) said the House bill was meant to untangle a “patchwork of numerous regulations across the commonwealth.” Del. John O’Bannon (R) said he opposed the bill but indicated he might take a different view when the chamber votes on S-1282. The Virginia muni-broadband bill (HB-2108), which has raised concerns by community broadband advocates and local governments, requires local broadband authorities to maintain and make publicly available records showing their compliance with pricing rules requiring that rates cover network costs (see 1702030051). Sponsor Del. Kathy Byron defended the bill in an email Friday. As revised, HB-2108 “provides transparency and accountability for taxpayers when government is investing their tax dollars in broadband services,” Byron said. “It still protects proprietary information and puts no restrictions on deployment of broadband.” The Republican delegate denied the bill requires municipal broadband authorities to disclose proprietary information, as claimed by community broadband advocates. She defended the Broadband Advisory Council, which some critics say has a conflict of interest because top industry lobbyists are members. The council also has members from the state House and Senate and a local government representative, as set by state statute, Byron said. Google, Netflix, NATOA, the Telecommunications Industry Association and other tech companies and associations on Monday again urged Virginia legislators to reject the Byron bill. “While the current version of HB 2108 no longer contains many of the troubling provisions in the prior versions, it would still have the same adverse effects,” they wrote in a letter to House members we obtained. Removing localities' right to protect sensitive business information would derail public-private partnerships, they said: “HB 2108 would also thwart economic, educational, and vocational opportunities that would contribute to a skilled workforce from which businesses across the state would benefit.”

FCC rules for states to opt out of FirstNet should allow opt-out plans that include “both a radio access network and a core network in order to leverage existing infrastructure and enable faster, lower cost deployment of the public safety broadband network,” Southern Linc said in a Thursday FCC filing. Representatives of the carrier said they made their case on opt-out rules to aides for all three commissioners. “Southern Linc representatives also encouraged the Commission to implement reasonable procedures that allow for rapid and cooperative review of state opt-out plans and urged the Commission to not disapprove any state plan without first providing the state with an opportunity to address any Commission concerns,” the company said. The filing was posted in docket 16-269.

Verizon agreed to process changes in Maryland for notifying customers and the Public Service Commission about copper-to-fiber migrations. The changes respond to concerns raised by the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, which in December prompted the telco to postpone planned disconnections of copper service in the states (see 1612120030). The company, People's Counsel and PSC staff agreed to the Verizon process changes after meeting Dec. 20, Verizon said in a Wednesday letter to the agency. The company agreed to (1) change how it files notices with the PSC, (2) clarify action deadlines and other information in customer notices, (3) train staff to explain the difference between fiber voice services and Fios-branded voice services to customers, (4) clarify customer communications about battery back-up for fiber-based voice services, (5) migrate customers in waves and suspend or disconnect customers who don’t respond to copper retirement notices and (6) report periodically on network transformation projects in Maryland. “Verizon's Report satisfies OPC's immediate concerns about the confusing and potentially misleading notices that Verizon sent to Maryland consumers in the fall,” People’s Counsel Paul Carmody emailed Thursday. But it “does not resolve all of the issues raised by OPC's Petition requesting an investigation of Verizon's handling of the copper network,” she said. The PSC has requested comments by May 1 on the OPC petition, she said. “Maryland still regulates basic local phone service, and Verizon has a responsibility to maintain affordable, reliable service. Half of our State does not have a fiber network, and consumers have complained in those areas about service quality and the maintenance of the network.”

About 120 striking DirecTV technicians protested Wednesday​ in Sacramento after walking off the job Monday in response to the company firing one of their own, Communications Workers of America said. The terminated technician, Anthony Estrada, lost a piece of equipment that later was stolen, CWA said in a news release Tuesday. “Excusable errors like this rarely result in termination.” Tensions between AT&T and its California and Nevada union workers have been running high amid disagreements negotiating a new contract (see 1612190050). “A walkout is not in anybody’s best interest, and it’s unfortunate that the union chose to do that,” an AT&T spokesman emailed Wednesday. “We’re prepared to continue serving customers, and are engaged in discussion with the union to get these employees back to work.” When AT&T terminated the employee, the company followed employment laws and a union-supported disciplinary process, which includes taking into account an employee’s entire service record and not a single incident, the spokesman said. AT&T remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with CWA in the western region, he said. The company and CWA reached a tentative labor agreement Monday in separate negotiations covering about 500 former DirecTV employees in California and six other states, AT&T said in a news release.

Michigan cable providers saw increased video competition in their franchise areas in 2016, the Michigan Public Service Commission said Wednesday, releasing an annual report on video service competition. By year-end, providers reported having one competitor in 599 franchise areas, two competitors in 199 areas and three competitors in five areas, the report said. The state had 38 total video providers in 2016, five less than in 2015, and had 2,045 franchise agreements, six more than the year before, the report said. The providers served about 2.17 million customers there, down about 178,000 from 2015, it said. In 2016, the commission received 393 informal customer complaints and inquiries pertaining to 10 cable providers, with 64 percent directed to Comcast, 14 percent to AT&T and 11 percent to Charter Communications, the report said. The most common complaints were billing charges, cable line issues and equipment service problems.

Tennessee legislation introduced Tuesday would create a commission to coordinate state broadband policies. Under HB-194 by Rep. Bill Sanderson (R), the proposed commission on education and technology would “foster collaborative relationships between local governments, private businesses, and the state to expand broadband.” Other duties include watching federal broadband funding opportunities, setting goals and metrics for broadband expansion across the state, providing education about broadband to local governments for underserved communities, and recommending broadband policies at the state and local levels. The group’s membership would include various state government officials and representatives for schools, libraries and counties. The bill doesn’t address the state’s ban on expanding municipal broadband, upheld last year by a federal court, which stopped Chattanooga from bringing its fiber network to neighboring communities. Sanderson didn’t comment on that policy. Last week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) proposed $45 million in broadband grants and tax credits, and to allow nonprofit electric cooperatives to provide retail broadband service (see 1701270037). Tennessee is one state community broadband advocates are watching this year for state legislative action, our Friday report found (see 1701260022).

The Vermont Public Service Board plans to hear oral argument Feb. 16 on its proposed decision declaring VoIP a telecom service that may be regulated by the state board, said a notice posted Monday. Comcast disagreed with the proposed decision and asked for the oral argument (see 1701250062). Verizon, AT&T and VoIP providers also opposed the draft decision, saying VoIP is an information service subject to federal but not state regulation. The oral argument starts 11 a.m. at the board's headquarters.

Verizon and the Communications Workers of America made progress toward settlement of CWA’s complaint against the company in the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, a PUC administrative law judge said in a Jan. 26 scheduling order released Friday. The PUC was to start hearings Feb. 6 in a probe into the state of Verizon copper, but postponed them because the parties said they were continuing settlement talks and could provide an update March 1. The parties entered settlement talks in late November (see 1611300062). “The Commission strongly encourages settlement,” wrote ALJ Joel Cheskis. If it’s still unresolved by March 1, the commission will set a new procedural schedule, he said.

A consumer advocacy group wants San Francisco police to keep tabs on Uber's self-driving car program, launched in mid-December, but which now is only being used for mapping purposes. Consumer Watchdog Monday sent a letter to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D) to request Police Chief Bill Scott "closely monitor" the company's autonomous cars. “Based on Uber’s past performance when they flouted California law and put their robot cars on the road without the required permits from the [California Department of Motor Vehicles], there is absolutely no reason to trust the company now,” wrote John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog privacy project director. He wrote that Uber's cars were seen going through red lights when they were first deployed and the company blamed the human test driver. In a news release announcing the letter, Simpson wrote Uber didn't want to get the permits from the DMV because it didn't want to share information about its test activities. The DMV requires companies testing self-driving technology on public streets to file "disengagement reports" when the tech fails or test driver has to intervene, Simpson said. Uber Head-Advanced Technology Group Anthony Levandowski wrote in a Dec. 14 blog post that when San Francisco riders request an UberX ride, the company's lowest-cost option, they will be matched with a self-driving car, if available. That program was halted after a week when regulators revoked vehicle registrations since the company didn't want to get a permit for testing self-driving cars. Levandowski said at the time it didn't need permits since the cars weren't ready to be driven without a person monitoring them. An Uber spokeswoman emailed that the company is pleased with the similar Pittsburgh pilot launched in September. Self-driving Uber cars "are on the road in Arizona for internal use at this time, but are not a part of our public operations," she said. She pointed to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle that said Uber had several glitches with that city's program and issues with regulators, prompting the company to halt the pilot in December with the self-driving systems disabled and the cars used only for mapping.