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.

Delaware, followed by the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Maryland and Rhode Island, enjoy some of the fastest Internet speeds on the planet, with 10 states ranking among the 20 fastest Internet territories around the globe, according to the latest Akamai State of the Internet report, NCTA recounted in a blog post Friday. The Akamai report from Q4 found average U.S. connection speeds were 14.2 Mbps, up 29 percent from a year earlier, and average peak connection was 61.5 Mbps, up 25 percent, NCTA said. It said Delaware, at average peak speed of 88.3 Mbps, was the state with the fastest connections and fourth in Akamai's top-20 list, while D.C. had an 82.5 average, with Massachusetts at 81.2, Maryland at 79.8, Rhode Island at 79.1, Virginia at 77.5, New Jersey at 77.3, Utah at 74.6, Washington at 73.8 and New York at 72.7. Topping the Akamai rankings overall was Singapore with 135.7, while the global average was 32.5, it said.

Verizon looks forward to defending its copper before the New York Public Service Commission, a company spokesman said. The PSC launched an investigation this week of the quality of Verizon’s legacy copper services and the telco’s willingness to make upgrades to copper in areas where it hasn’t rolled out fiber (see 1603230044). “We will work cooperatively with the Commission and its Staff in this proceeding and we look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate that we continue to provide excellent service to our customers in New York state,” the Verizon spokesman emailed Thursday. He said New York is highly competitive. The representative defended Verizon’s network spending: “We invest over a billion dollars annually in our home state of New York to deliver the best possible service to our customers, whether that’s over fiber or copper. In fact, despite the continued decline in landline phone customers, Verizon spends more, per copper-based phone line in New York today, than it has in any year dating back to 2008. We make these substantial investments because New Yorkers have more competitive choices than ever when it comes to their communications services.” The Communications Workers of America Wednesday called service quality problems in New York "fairly catastrophic."

The South Carolina Public Service Commission approved an AT&T interconnection agreement with Conterra, in an order Wednesday. The agreement covers interconnection of the companies’ phone networks, unbundling of specific network elements and the resale of AT&T telecom services. Such matters are routine; the state commission reviewed the negotiated interconnection agreement through its authority under the federal 1996 Telecom Act.

Alaskan telco officials pledged to assist FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on his plan to consider next quarter their "consensus proposal for an Alaska Infrastructure Fund (AIF)" supporting broadband in their state (see 1603110073). The Alaska Telephone Association "is committed to ensuring the Commission has the information it needs to act" on the group's Alaska Plan, said ATA filings in docket 10-90 on meetings it and its members had with FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero and other staffers. "We discussed performance obligations for both fixed and mobile broadband service and how achievement of those obligations would be reported," one filing said. "We provided a schedule detailing the levels of support which would be distributed under the AIF for both rate-of-return and, assuming all mobile [competitive eligible telecom carriers] other than MTA Wireless received support, for mobile voice and broadband service. The schedule also showed the projected amount that would be available to support wireless voice and broadband deployments to unserved areas. We discussed draft rules to ensure the AIF is effective in supporting broadband networks in rural Alaska, particularly underserved and unserved locations." Detailed proposed rules were included in the filing.

The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) gave Verizon a $150 million contract to help with digital government initiatives, said the telco in a news release Wednesday. Departments and agencies throughout state government, plus county and local governments, K-12 schools, public and private colleges and universities, and public safety organizations can buy services via the VITAnet contract, it said. Verizon said it will deliver a wide range of network-centric services under the VITAnet contract, including the company’s networking portfolio, plus managed services, unified communications and collaboration systems, Internet protocol-based voice services and customer-premises equipment.

Altice replies on its request to take over Cablevision are unsubstantiated, mathematically and operationally implausible and a fictional forecast of future performance, said an analysis of the comments (see 1603090081) that a consulting company opposed to the deal sent to the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) in case 15-M-0647 and the FCC in docket 15-257. "Altice's litany of nonsense submitted to the NYSPSC in these Reply Comments is accompanied by an arrogant and contemptuous silence about the substantial evidence ... that is derived from multiple independent sources," the analysis said. MFRConsulting said the deal shouldn't be approved, regardless of conditions, because Altice is likely to ignore any conditions. The telco is continuing to be "engaged" in the regulatory process, Altice said in an emailed statement Monday. It said the process is "well underway in all regions and proceeding as we anticipated."

ILECs have a continuing obligation to provide DS1 and DS3 capacity loops on an unbundled basis, said the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in a filing with the FCC in docket 15-1. That obligation isn't changed or eliminated when an ILEC replaces copper with fiber or when the transmission is switched to IP, the PUC said. Failing to maintain an unbundling requirement for DS1 and DS3 capacity loops could undermine competition, the filing said.

Maine delayed the text-to-911 compliance date for the 24 public safety answering points in the state from April 6 to July 6, said AT&T in an FCC filing in docket 10-255. AT&T said full compliance was delayed because of unanticipated regulatory challenges. The Maine Emergency Services Communications Bureau and AT&T agreed the company will continue to deliver text messages to 911 via the text-to-TTY method until the transition is fully complete, the filing said.