"The ethos and behavior" of Altice would mean considerable harm for New York City-area residents and Cablevision employees if it's allowed to buy the cable company, MFRConsulting said in a pair of filings (see here and here) Friday in docket 15-257. One filing cited disputes between Altice and workers at a 2015 acquisition, Portugal Telecom. "Altice takes actions that affect others (possibly with harmful consequences) unilaterally and obliges them to respond and object after the fact ... instead of engaging in good faith negotiations to arrive at an agreed outcome about changes," said MFRConsulting, which has been a critic of both the Cablevision deal (see 1512300024) and previously raised questions about Altice's now-approved buy of Suddenlink (see 1512180035). The other filing submitted comments by New York Department of Public Service staff, plus a debt analysis, to argue claims Altice/Cablevision would bring any net public benefit are groundless, "whereas there are multiple independently identified and validated grounds for expecting it to deliver substantial net detriments." Altice didn't comment.

Despite concerns raised by some commissioners, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners board adopted all four resolutions put forward by the telecom committee Wednesday at the final session of the winter committee meetings in Washington. The resolutions were unanimously adopted by the telecom committee Monday (see 1602150004).

The Telecom Subcommittee and full committee adopted four resolutions over the weekend with very few major changes during NARUC's meeting in Washington. Most of the changes were grammatical with a few word additions and deletions. The resolutions (see 1602040062) include one that focuses on Lifeline overhaul and keeping states involved so as to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. Another would support preserving the fundamental features of legacy services during the IP transition. A third would back streamlined access to rights of way on federal lands to accelerate broadband deployment. The last is on FCC process overhaul. The full NARUC board meets Wednesday to vote whether to adopt the resolutions officially.

While coverage on tribal lands has improved over the past few years, native American leaders are still frustrated and confused by telcos' lack of willingness to help bring service to their people, some said during a panel at NARUC’s meeting in Washington. Because wireless companies don’t always make it easy for the tribes to build out new service, many times the tribes become their own communications companies, said CEO Forest James of tribal communications firm EnerTribe and a member of the Smith River Tribe. American Indian Chamber of Commerce California President Tracy Stanhoff said it doesn’t make sense to her that telcos don’t want to partner with tribes given that tribes that put in their own infrastructure and start a service, immediately get customers. Sidney Dietz, Pacific Gas & Electric regulatory relations director, said PG&E's Lifeline product has good adoption rates, has built its own towers to improve service and is starting to build out more broadband so tribal members can keep up with current technologies.

The FCC should reaffirm that incumbent LECs have an obligation to provide unbundled DS1 and DS3 capacity loops to requesting competitive carriers regardless of the physical medium or transmission protocol the incumbent uses in its network, said the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 15-1. In Washington, competitive LECs compete directly with ILECs, so the continued availability of both the DS1 and DS3 loops is a matter of public interest within the state, the WUTC said. "The UTC is concerned that continued ambiguity over CLEC access to unbundled network elements, potentially exacerbated by technology transitions, may lead to higher prices and less choice for Washington consumers."

The Richmond, California, police department is now accepting text to 911 as a part of the switch to Next-Generation 911, a spokeswoman said. The department provides fire and emergency medical service and dispatches police services for the cities of Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito and Kensington, she said. The department uses a Web-based program through TeleCommunication Systems to accept the text messages and has received at least a dozen texts -- reporting gunshots and less serious crimes -- since the program went live at the end of January, the spokeswoman said. "We thought that being able to text 911 was important for the hearing/speech impaired community, this gives them a way to contact us directly without using a third party," she said in an email. "It allows those that would be in danger by placing a 911 voice call a way to contact emergency services."

The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable plans a telephonic case status conference about inmate calling, at 2 p.m. Feb. 29, an MDTC notice said. The call will discuss the effect the FCC's inmate calling order has on the scope of the Massachusetts proceeding, MDTC said.

Four companies accused of having a role in posting fraudulent online reviews and endorsements settled with the New York attorney general's office and will pay penalties ranging from $15,000 to $50,000, said state AG Eric Schneiderman Thursday in a press release. “Consumers rely on reviews and other endorsements on the Internet to inform themselves in making daily purchasing decisions,” he said in the release. The office's separate investigations into what he called "astroturfing over the Internet" tells companies "consumers deserve honesty and transparency in their reviews, endorsements and related content,” he said. The settlements require companies to be honest and transparent in such reviews. The companies that settled are: California-based online entertainment network Machinima, which will pay a $50,000 fine; cosmetic and beauty supply chain Premier Retail Group, with locations around the country, paying $50,000, of which $30,000 is suspended assuming compliance with the settlement agreement; California-based Internet marketing company Here2Four, which will pay $15,000; and New York-based Rani Spa, which will pay $50,000, of which $48,000 is suspended assuming compliance with the agreement.

Sixteen percent of broadband homes in Texas own a smart energy device -- such as a thermostat, light bulb, power strip, outlet or plug/adapter -- compared with 12 percent of all U.S. broadband homes, a report by Parks Associates said. “Texans are slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to buying smart energy devices,” Parks Associates President Stuart Sikes said. “Texas companies including Austin Energy and Reliant have been strong leaders in driving consumer awareness of energy programs and products -- 36 percent of Texas broadband households are familiar with energy monitoring and management products, compared to 28 percent nationwide.” In the past year, 12 percent of Texas broadband households bought or received a smart energy device, while nationwide, 9 percent of broadband households bought such a device in the same period.

North Carolina launched a new website for the Broadband Infrastructure Office, which aims to expand access to high-speed Internet services for underserved areas in the state, said the site from the state Department of Information Technology's Broadband Infrastructure Office. The office's goals include creating the "nation’s first giga-state by 2020," expanding broadband access to underserved communities and supporting digital learning by extending Wi-Fi access to every classroom in the state, the site said.