The Kentucky Public Service Commission opened a proceeding to investigate the Kentucky USF (KUSF), the PSC said. In an order issued Monday, the PSC said the investigation was prompted by a "rapid depletion" of the fund, which is in danger of being exhausted by April. The commission will review the need and mechanism for maintaining the fund's solvency while the larger investigation is underway, it said. That investigation will examine whether to continue the KUSF, how and to what extent it should be funded if it's continued, the past and projected distributions from the KUSF that have created the current situation, and how such distributions should be made in the future. To maintain KUSF's solvency in the short term, the PSC estimates the monthly per-line assessment will need to be increased on an interim basis from 8 cents to 14 cents or the monthly Lifeline subsidy will need to be reduced to about $2 from $3.50. The PSC said a decision on which measure to take must be made quickly and set a Feb. 22 deadline for the parties to comment on the proposal to raise the monthly fee or reduce the subsidy. Public comments on the interim fee increase or subsidy reduction are also due Feb. 22, it said. After comments are reviewed, the PSC will issue an interim order with an interim decision.

Tennessee lawmakers will make an announcement about broadband legislation Wednesday, according to a Facebook event. State Sens. Janice Bowling (R) and Todd Gardenhire (R), and Reps. Kevin Brooks (R), Dan Howell (R) and Art Swann (R) will be joined by other broadband bill co-sponsors, plus AARP and grassroots supporters to discuss the broadband bill (see 1601110063) expected to make its way through the general assembly this session. The news conference is to be at 1 p.m. (CT) at the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol Building in Nashville. Republicans dominate the state House and Senate in Tennessee.

IRis Networks plans to build three new fiber routes in Tennessee, the company said in a news release. The company delivers fiber-based services in and around Tennessee -- operating more than 5,000 route-miles of fiber, in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. The new routes, totaling more than 897 miles, are Johnson City and Knoxville-Chattanooga, Memphis-Nashville-Chattanooga and Knoxville-Nashville-Clarksville.

Lumos Networks launched gigabit broadband service for residential and small business customers in Botetourt County, Virginia, the company said in a Friday news release. Lumos is a fiber-based provider of data, voice and IP-based services in the mid-Atlantic region. The launch is the second gigabit broadband service market for Lumos, which expects its entire ILEC fiber-to-the-premise footprint to be gigabit-enabled by the end of 2016.

ECFiber plans to increase speeds, not prices, the company said in a news release Friday. The company's basic plan will increase from 7 to 10 Mbps; its standard plan from 20 to 25 Mbps; the ultra plan will double from 50 to 100 Mbps, and the company's "wicked fast" plan will be boosted from 100 to 500 Mbps. ECFiber’s speeds are symmetrical and have no data caps, the company said. ECFiber is a Communications Union District of 24 towns in East-Central Vermont.

AT&T and the Louisiana Office of Technology Services are cooperating to modernize communications within the state, the telco said in a news release. The state will use AT&T's switched ethernet to "plan, provision and scale its network usage," it said. The network also supports teleheath, electronic health records, online student testing, e-filing of state forms, video streaming of legislative meetings and electronic licensing, registration and renewals, AT&T said. The service is less susceptible to interruptions caused by events such as hurricanes, it said.

The California Broadband Council is scheduled to meet 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Sacramento in Room 2040 at the Capitol to discuss funding, the digital divide and other issues, the agenda said. The council was established in 2010 to increase broadband deployment and adoption statewide. The agenda topics include a California First Responder Network FirstNet request for proposal, a broadband deployment to public schools update, an e-Rate Consortia and deployment to libraries update, and an update on hearings of the Assembly Select Committee on the Digital Divide in Rural California. There also will be an 80-minute discussion about California's broadband funding.

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs is encouraging parents to file a complaint if their Internet-connected baby monitors were hacked, said a Wednesday DCA news release. Commissioner Julie Menin warned parents to take the necessary steps to ensure their Internet-connected baby monitors aren't vulnerable to privacy or security risks. DCA is issuing subpoenas to several major manufacturers of video monitors that market their devices as secure, it said. DCA is investigating whether the companies have corrected known security vulnerabilities with their devices and whether their security claims violate the city’s consumer protection law, it said. Cybersecurity researchers have said many top-selling Internet-connected baby monitors, which are often marketed as secure, are easily exploited by hackers, DCA said. DCA didn't release the names of companies it subpoenaed.

All low-income households should be involved in any broadband Lifeline program, especially seniors, people with disabilities and veterans, said an ex parte filing by the California Emerging Technology Fund posted Wednesday in FCC docket 10-90. CETF and representatives from EveryoneOn, the Chicana/Latina Foundation, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the County of Los Angeles met with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Jan. 21 about Lifeline modernization. CETF also proposed a wireless router be included in any modem provided as part of the program, for school-issued electronic devices to be compatible with the broadband service being provided. The Chicana/Latina Foundation emphasized the importance of in-language, in-culture outreach for broadband adoption efforts, citing its experience working with CETF on successful California broadband adoption programs, the filing said. EveryoneOn encouraged the commission to set performance goals to reach the national broadband plan goal of 90 percent by 2020, with disadvantaged populations no less than 80 percent, it said. The school district emphasized the importance of affordable home Internet connectivity for its students.

FirstLight Fiber extended its network by adding 36,000 fiber miles in New York's Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties, the company said in a news release. The company constructed the addition in response to market and customer demand to expand its offerings closer to New York City, the release said. The network is designed to be in close proximity to more than 4,000 cell tower and enterprise locations in order to serve businesses along the fiber route, it said. FirstLight Fiber is a facilities-based provider operating in New York and northern New England. The newly constructed network can support dark fiber, ethernet and wavelength services from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps as well as Internet access, the release said. With this expansion, FirstLight’s fiber network now spans 260,000 fiber miles in New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts, it said.