The FCC should rely more on the efficiency measures it adopted in 2014 for state and local governmental decision-making on tower-siting applications, Gregory Vogt said Monday in a blog post for the Free State Foundation. The Montgomery County v. FCC decision (see 1512180045) in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the FCC's 60-day "deemed granted" remedy was constitutional and a "reasonable interpretation of ambiguous provisions" contained in Section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, the blog post said. Adoption of time limits for reaching decisions in proceedings and "deemed granted" solutions are an important part of achieving more efficient government processes, Vogt said. The "deemed granted" remedy for tower siting applications is laudable, and this type of mechanism would work especially well in proceedings where the original policy issues have already been substantially resolved, such as routine license applications and waiver petitions, he said. "Either Congress, or the FCC itself, should expand upon the FCC's laudable step, now upheld in court, in speeding state and local government antenna siting decisions to encompass speeding up a number of the FCC's own processes," the post said. "This will permit the Commission at all levels to come closer to acting with the speed of business for the ultimate benefit of consumers."

Time Warner Cable customers in parts of the Carolinas experienced a service outage Thursday caused by a router problem that lasted about 55 minutes, a spokesman emailed us Friday. Because customers in the same region are served by different routers, the outage didn't affect all of the customers in a given region, he said. The outage was the second of its kind in the Carolinas within two weeks, with the prior one Dec. 27, the spokesman said.

The FCC released its annual Report to Congress on State Collection and Distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 Fees and Charges for public comment in docket 09-14, said a Friday public notice from the commission. The report covers the collection and distribution of 911 and E-911 fees and charges for the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2014, and was submitted to Congress Dec. 31, 2015, the notice said. Eight states reported diverting or transferring 911/E-911 fees for purposes other than 911/E-911, the report said. Of those, five -- California, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia -- used a portion of their 911/E-911 funds to support other public safety or emergency response-related programs, it said. Three -- Illinois, New York and Rhode Island -- diverted a portion of their 911/E9-11 funds for either nonpublic safety, or unspecified, uses, it said. The total amount of 911/E-911 funds diverted by all reporting jurisdictions in calendar year 2014 was $223.42 million or about 8.8 percent of total 911/E-911 fees collected, the survey said. Fourteen states reported collecting 911/E-911 fees at the state level, nine reported collecting fees at the local level and 24 states collected fees at both the state and local level, it said. Fees and charges collected on a per-state basis ranged from a low of $8.16 million by Delaware to a high of $213.98 million by Illinois, the report said. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia reported spending 911/E-911 funds on next-generation 911 (NG-911) programs in calendar year 2014, it said. The total amount of reported NG-911 expenditures from the fees was $227.57 million or about 9 percent of total 911/E-911 fees collected, it said. Forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Navajo Nation and three Bureau of Indian Affairs offices responded to the report year’s data request, the report said. Comments are due Feb. 8, replies March 9.

The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Commerce initiated an audit of FirstNet, said a letter sent in December to the FirstNet board secretary. The audit will evaluate FirstNet's processes for entering into, monitoring and closing its interagency agreements, the letter said.

Connected Nation Exchange received a contract to work on behalf of Warren County, Kentucky, to help provide fiber-based broadband services throughout the county, said a news release from CNX Wednesday. CNX will develop technical and financial models to find the best path for establishing public-private partnerships to invest in infrastructure and provide broadband services to county residents, businesses and community anchor institutions such as schools, libraries and public safety agencies, it said. The effort was accelerated by the start of construction of the state's new KentuckyWired middle mile network, which is designed to provide every Kentucky county faster, cheaper high-speed networks locally, it said.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) is partnering with the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure and government services, a Wednesday news release from his office said. Inslee signed an executive order creating a state Office of Privacy and Data Protection, it said. Both were announced at the Governor’s Summit on Cyber Security and Privacy in Seattle, the release said. The DHS partnership is a pilot to develop a "playbook of critical infrastructure defense strategies" that states and local governments can adopt, Inslee's office said. DHS and the state Office of Cyber Security will establish an advisory board of experts from government, critical infrastructure providers and intelligence organizations to guide development of the playbook. The Office of Privacy and Data Protection will build on work being done by state Chief Privacy Officer Alex Alben, Inslee's office said. The office will provide privacy training and best practices to state agencies as well as consumer outreach and education for Washington state residents, it said.

The Arizona Supreme Court chose not to consider a case seeking the removal of former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith because her resignation rendered the effort by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) irrelevant, said minutes from the court. Brnovich had wanted Bitter Smith removed, saying her work for Southwest Cable Communications Association was a conflict of interest making her ineligible for office. Bitter Smith resigned last month (see 1512180034) -- effective Monday -- because the case was “causing great distraction” from the commission’s work. “The Court’s refusal is not a victory for the AG," she said in a statement Tuesday. "The issue of whether a conflict arises from relationships with those businesses that are affiliated with regulated businesses remains alive. This question will cause concern for every candidate for the [commission] and for the businesses that have affiliates regulated by the [commission].” Brnovich said in a statement that he wouldn’t have moved forward with the case if he and the other people in his office didn’t believe Bitter Smith had a clear conflict of interest. "After Bitter Smith’s resignation, we asked the Arizona Supreme Court to dismiss the Petition for Special Action because the conflict no longer existed," he said.

Hawaii's initial consultation meeting with FirstNet focused on natural disasters, the challenges that exist in being an island state and having predominantly rural demographics, said a Wednesday blog post from FirstNet. More than 80 public safety representatives from Hawaii met with the FirstNet team. Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) said the consultation was an opportunity to discuss building a network that will let state responders fulfill their public safety missions, the post said. A case study presented on Hurricane Iselle showed the need for the state and counties to get communications to the many areas without commercial cellular coverage, the post said. It also proved there's considerable support for the nationwide public safety broadband network to address some of the state’s coverage needs, the post said.

The South Washington County Telecommunications Commission plans a hearing 7 p.m. Jan. 28 in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, as part of the cable-TV franchise process, said a SWCTC notice Monday. The hearing will include representatives from CenturyLink, which applied for a cable franchise in the commission's area. SWCTC is a Minnesota municipal joint powers commission including the cities of Cottage Grove, Grey Cloud Island Township, Newport, St. Paul Park and Woodbury. The commission set the hearing to allow interested persons and organizations to comment on the recommended cable franchise.

NARUC has petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the FCC's June decision giving interconnected VoIP providers direct access to phone numbers (see 1506180060). The FCC ignored the plain text and the structure of the Telecom Act by extending the rights and obligations of telecom common carriers to unclassified service providers, the state regulatory group said. "The FCC has fomented a host of potentially unnecessary proceedings and litigation over the scope of NARUC's member State commissions both with respect to numbering conservation and a range of other issues." The FCC did not immediately comment Tuesday.