Dozens of Verizon union workers plan to protest Wednesday outside a quarterly meeting of the New York State Procurement Council, the Communications Workers of America said Tuesday. As the strike enters its fourth week (see 1605050047), union protesters will urge council members not to grant any new contracts to Verizon during the strike, CWA said. The council issues guidelines and recommendations on public contracts; members include the state comptroller and the director of budget. New York has $311 million in existing contracts with Verizon, CWA said. “Taxpayers should not fund Verizon contracts during the strike since the company cannot deliver proper service,” CWA said. “Its experienced workforce has been replaced with inexperienced, poorly-trained replacement workers and managers who cannot properly service and maintain Verizon’s networks.” A Verizon spokesman responded: “Union leaders like [CWA President] Chris Shelton are too shortsighted to realize that when revenues decline because of adverse union involvement or activities, these actions potentially lead to reduced revenues and a smaller workforce.” New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli voiced concerns about the strike in an April 21 letter to Verizon Chairman Lowell McAdam. “I am concerned that this impasse, coupled with the negative media attention that resulted in 2011 from tense contract negotiations between CWA and Verizon, may create a risk that Verizon will be perceived as ‘anti-labor,’” he wrote. “A protracted workforce strike of this magnitude would undoubtedly affect the morale and productivity of Verizon’s employees. I am concerned that a disenfranchised workforce and the associated negative publicity may ultimately impact Verizon’s profitability.” The Wednesday protest is scheduled for 11 a.m. outside Empire State Plaza, Meeting Room 6, in Albany.

Verizon asked Pennsylvania regulators to hit pause on their copper service quality investigation until the company resolves its East Coast strike. In a motion filed Friday at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Verizon requested “that this case be held in abeyance for the duration of the strike” and to delay current due dates for prehearing memorandum (May 20) and the prehearing conference (May 26) until 30 days and 45 days, respectively, after union workers return to work. Verizon asked for the delay because it said the employees who would attend the prehearing conference are engaged in emergency work assignments filling in for the striking union workers. The purpose of the prehearing conference is to establish a litigation schedule. While not specifically rejecting Verizon’s motion, a spokeswoman for the Communications Workers of America said the probe must go on. “Verizon earlier tried to stop this investigation, but in April, the PUC rejected that move,” she said. “The PUC decided in February that a hearing into Verizon's neglect of the network was needed. The documentation of Verizon's failure to keep up the network and give customers the service they pay for dates to last fall and even earlier. One of the reasons workers are on strike is to push Verizon to provide customers with the service they deserve. Regulators are taking a serious look at this company, as they should.”

The New York Public Service Commission plans a June 7 procedural conference for its probe of Verizon copper service quality. “The principal purposes of the conference are to identify the parties participating in the proceeding, discuss any scheduling and process proposals, and address any other matters appropriately raised at the conference,” the state commission said in a notice Friday. The meeting starts at 10:30 a.m. in the PSC’s Albany offices. The state is examining the quality of Verizon’s legacy copper services and Verizon’s willingness to make upgrades to copper in areas where it hasn’t rolled out fiber (see 1604250046).

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) recommended conditional OK of Altice's buying Cablevision. The city’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee plans a hearing to review the transaction Monday and will vote Wednesday. Next up will be state approval, with the New York Public Service Commission expected to decide May 20 (see 1604050059). "After several in-depth discussions and multiple requests for supporting information to ensure an equitable buildout of infrastructure and fulfillment of customer service contracts, the City is recommending conditional approval of this transaction,” mayor’s counsel Maya Wiley said in an emailed statement. “We are conditioning approval on satisfactory staffing levels to ensure compliance with franchise agreement commitments. The condition will help the City ensure a fair and equitable deal for our Brooklyn and Bronx residents." Under the draft resolution, Altice must give the Bronx and Brooklyn priority for infrastructure upgrades, and it must reach an agreement with the New York PSC -- acceptable to the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications -- that maintains “levels of customer facing employees for an appropriate time period.” The FCC OK'd Altice/Cablevision without conditions other than for national security (see 1605040010).

AT&T and CenturyLink supported municipal broadband restrictions that could be passed this week by the Missouri Legislature. An amendment to a traffic citations bill (SB-765) would prohibit local governments from providing a communications service that competes with one or more service providers in the jurisdiction. Missouri House and Senate legislators entered conference on the bill Thursday; the limits are opposed by community broadband advocates (see 1605050051). "We do not oppose the use of government owned networks (GON) in areas where advanced infrastructure has not been, and is not likely to be, reasonably and timely deployed,” an AT&T spokesman said. “However, we also believe that if a governmental entity seeks to deploy or operate a GON in a market that can be served by the private sector, there should be safeguards in place to ensure a ‘level playing field.’” A CenturyLink spokeswoman agreed: "We believe the best approach is for municipalities to explore workable solutions with existing Internet service providers. CenturyLink will continue to work closely with communities, local leaders and policymakers on creative public-private partnerships that bring high-speed Internet services to more American homes and businesses. However, if local governments chose to compete with private Internet service providers, there needs to a level-playing field." The sponsor of SB-765, Missouri state Sen. Eric Schmitt (R), is reviewing all amendments added to the bill, emailed his spokesman. There will likely be a conference committee meeting on the bill early this week, which is the last week of the session, he said. The Missouri Legislature has until 6 p.m. Friday to pass legislation.

Frontier Communications apologized for ongoing service issues in California after last month’s acquisition of more than 1 million Verizon wireline customers in California, Florida and Texas. The California Public Utilities Commission received 584 customer complaints from April 1 to April 29 about the Verizon/Frontier transition, a CPUC spokeswoman said. A California State Assembly chairman said Thursday his committee may hold hearings on the transition woes if problems continue (see 1605050062). Frontier is “continuing to resolve customer issues as they come to us,” a company spokesman said in an emailed statement Thursday evening. “With a transition of this size and geographic scale, there will be issues that need to be addressed and that’s what we’re focused on. Our operational command center for the transition process is monitoring the network 24/7, tracking every customer escalation, and we have nearly 1,000 highly trained and experienced technicians working extended hours and weekends in the field responding as quickly as possible to resolve every customer request as we receive them. At the same time, we’re operating and maintaining the network, taking care of the business-as-usual issues that occur, while working hard to address all customer questions and concerns as they are brought to our attention. We apologize for any inconvenience our customers are experiencing and we thank them for their patience.”

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission was expected to soon file objections in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota on its dispute with Charter Communications about state authority over interconnected VoIP services. “We anticipate that the Commission will timely file objections to the Magistrate’s Report,” a Minnesota PUC spokesman emailed Thursday. The PUC had to file objections within 14 days of an April 21 magistrate judge recommendation to deny the commission’s motion to dismiss the Charter complaint (see 1604210054). Charter’s complaint alleged the Minnesota PUC overstepped its authority by imposing state regulations for traditional phone services on VoIP services. The case began in March 2013, when Charter transferred overnight 100,000 Minnesota customers to an affiliate, Charter Advanced Services, which provided VoIP phone service that wasn't certified by the PUC (see 1508210040). In its motion to dismiss, the Minnesota PUC asked the court to determine that Charter Advanced’s VoIP service is a telecom service under the Telecom Act and therefore subject to state regulation.

Sprint launched a free public Wi-Fi network in Kansas City, Missouri, covering the 2.2-mile KC Streetcar line through downtown. The network also will connect city services, including maps and visitor information, on 25 interactive kiosks along the streetcar line and downtown, and a smart lighting system and video sensors for public safety and security, said Sprint. Sprint partnered with Cisco on the smart city initiative. “Sprint Wi-Fi will help streamline city operations, generate economic development, and improve the quality of life for Kansas City residents,” said Tim Donahue, Sprint president-Kansas and Missouri, in a news release.

A California legislative committee may hold hearings on continuing service problems experienced by customers moved to Frontier from Verizon, said Mike Gatto, chairman of the Utilities and Commerce Committee in the California State Assembly. “There has been an alarming rate of telephone and internet outages in Southern California and consumers are frustrated with the lack of a solution to this months-long ordeal,” the Democrat said in a statement Wednesday. “These problems need to be resolved swiftly. Cities are unable to live stream council meetings and residents are at risk because of the inability to dial 911 in an emergency. My committee will hold hearings on the impact on our constituents and the appropriate government response if these problems persist.” Frontier said last month it's working to resolve lingering transition problems after the acquisition of Verizon wireline customers in Florida, Texas and California (see 1604080052).

Missouri House and Senate legislators entered conference Thursday on a traffic citations bill that could include restrictions on municipal broadband. On Monday, the Missouri House grafted text of a bill restricting municipal broadband deployment (HB-2078) onto the unrelated Senate bill (SB-765). The Republican sponsor of HB-2078, state Rep. Lyndall Fraker, put forward the muni measure as an amendment to SB-765, which had come up for a vote in the House after passage in the Senate. The House passed the amendment Monday 106-36, but on Tuesday the Senate refused to concur with the amended legislation, forcing the two legislative bodies to move to conference. The amendment would prohibit local governments from providing a communications service that competes with one or more service providers in the jurisdiction. The measure includes exemptions for local governments that already offer muni broadband; areas where competitive service isn’t offered to 50 percent of addresses by “any combination of service providers”; muni plans where the fiscal impact of providing the service is less than $1 million over the first five years; and areas where a business requests 1 Gbps service and no other service providers can supply it. The local government could also offer muni broadband if a majority of voters approve the plan, but the municipality would first have to release a cost-benefit analysis. Fraker expects the legislative conference to wrap up by Monday, he told us in a Facebook message. “I don't think citizens should have to subsidize the expansion of broadband through raising water, sewer or electric rates [especially] if private companies are already providing this service. But if the citizens would have a chance to vote on this then that's OK.” But Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance director-community broadband networks, condemned Fraker’s proposed law. “Representative Fraker is using political tricks to push his anti-competition laws through the Missouri legislature,” he said in a statement. “Missouri people and businesses deserve to have a choice in Internet providers.” In an email, Mitchell added, “I continue to find it unfathomable that in 2016, states would discuss how to limit investment in next-generation networks rather than encouraging it. Communities should have the authority to make these decisions themselves without a state effectively granting monopolies to companies like AT&T that cut big checks to the political party in power.” AT&T didn’t comment.