The West Virginia Public Service Commission ruled that Frontier Communications must lease part of its broadband service to rival Citynet, said a PSC order last week in case No. 14-1295-T-C. The commission upheld most of an administrative law judge’s decision requiring Frontier to lease unused fiber to Citynet in several rural communities (see 1410070052). Citynet filed a complaint with the PSC in August 2014, accusing Frontier of trying to shut out competition for high-speed Internet connectivity by not honoring an agreement. Citynet didn't comment Monday. The PSC's order gives Frontier a framework for business moving forward, said a company spokesman Monday. He said there are some cases where Frontier has leased dark fiber to other providers, depending on need and provided there's an existing agreement to do so. "We provide broadband and voice services to all providers, including Citynet, in nearly every area of the state," the spokesman said. "In other instances, including the earlier ruling on a Charleston route that the Commission left undisturbed, Citynet will be expected to make its own investments in fiber optic facilities, just as other providers across the state do for their networks.”

The Alaska Plan is a forward-looking way to improve broadband deployment in the state and should be adopted, said General Communications in an ex parte letter posted Friday in FCC docket 14-58. The plan (see 1511240049) proposes a way to stretch existing universal service support further and retarget support to areas that most need it, while recognizing that Alaska's geographic and infrastructure challenges require a universal service plan to be tailored to the state, it said.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) announced a $160 million settlement with Frontier Communications to resolve complaints involving Internet speeds provided to consumers, in a Thursday news release. The settlement requires Frontier to invest at least $150 million in capital expenditures to increase Internet speeds across West Virginia and provide access to areas without high-speed service. It also lowers monthly rates for affected consumers and contributes $500,000 to the state’s Consumer Protection Fund. The agreement is the largest independently negotiated consumer protection settlement in West Virginia history, said the release. Morrisey said: “The settlement helps consumers receive the high-speed service they expected, while directing significant monies to help fix connectivity issues that consistently keep our state from achieving economic success.” Between 2013 and 2015, the AG's office received multiple complaints from customers paying for Frontier’s high-speed service, which advertised Internet speeds up to 6 Mbps, said the release. But many consumers said their Frontier service was slow or didn't meet expectations, the AG's office said. The office investigated and found a lot of customers expecting Internet speeds “up to 6 Mbps” actually had speeds of 1.5 Mbps or less. Frontier denied any wrongdoing and signed the settlement to resolve disputed claims without litigation. "We have made a binding legal commitment to continue our strong investment in West Virginia and we have effectively created an additional price tier for certain Frontier Internet Max customers," said Area President Mike Flynn.

NARUC supports the objectives of the Connect America Fund and its Remote Areas Fund and urged the FCC to move as quickly as possible to implement the competitive bidding process for the CAF Phase II and RAF, said an ex parte notice posted Wednesday in docket 10-90 on a meeting with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai and an aide. During its November annual meeting, the NARUC board adopted a resolution (see 1511100058) asking the FCC to move forward on funding to help ensure the timely availability of broadband facilities to remote areas of the nation, including tribal regions. Separately, the group lobbied Wireline Bureau Chief Matthew DelNero to suggest some clarifying language for a draft order on a USTelecom forbearance petition, which is due for a Dec. 17 vote (see 1511250047).

About a month after 43 Colorado municipalities voted to opt out of the state's broadband law (see 1511040055), the state Office of Information Technology (OIT) launched a portal to give residents and industry a place to find broadband news. A map lets users enter their address and see the options for ISPs in their area and the site allows them to do speed tests. Brian Shepherd, OIT broadband program manager, said the portal is a "one-stop shop" for those in the state who are involved with expanding broadband to more people. “One of OIT’s key goals for our broadband strategy is to coordinate amongst the local and regional jurisdictions within the state, so the website provides a chance for those folks to really see what each other [are] doing, provide a chance to find contacts around the state, and really hopefully focus on collaboration and getting people together,” Shepherd says in a welcome video.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller (R)wants a ruling, or to know whether the FCC plans to rule, on TracFone's pending emergency petition for declaratory ruling about 911 fees, said a filing in docket 11-42 sent Monday. The request comes from two cases in federal district court where eligible telecom carriers are alleging that Indiana's statewide 911 fee is pre-empted by the Telecom Act as applied to transactions with Lifeline customers, the filing said. TracFone's petition seeks a declaration that states can't impose charges on Lifeline customers or providers.

Sprint said it will offer free broadband to Illinois public schools. In a Tuesday news release, Sprint said the service will use Wi-Fi hot spots to connect more than 1,600 Illinois students at home. Last year, Sprint pledged to provide wireless broadband connectivity for 50,000 low-income K-12 students across the U.S. as part of a White House initiative, ConnectED. In Illinois, about 54 percent of the students live in low-income households and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, Sprint said.

Change to Win is accusing T-Mobile of false advertising and "engaging in deceptive and unfair practices toward consumers," said complaints the organization was planning to file with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Change to Win -- a labor federation with 5.5 million members -- is behind the "Calling Out T-Mobile" effort, which is working with a group of consumer, civil rights and labor organizations to push for reforms, the project’s website says. The complaint said T-Mobile’s no-contract advertising can mislead consumers and that the company’s “inadequate and opaque debt resolution and debt collection processes” exacerbate “misleading advertising” by placing into collections consumers who had no knowledge of inadequately disclosed termination fees. T-Mobile didn't officially comment, but CEO John Legere responded Tuesday to tweets about the accusations. USA Today reported that the New York Attorney General's Office opened an investigation into the complaints, which Legere said on Twitter are misleading. The New York AG didn't comment Tuesday.

Forty-two California government entities joined a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower against AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Filed in Sacramento County Superior Court under the California False Claims Act, the case alleges the wireless companies overcharged government customers by more than $100 million, said a news release from Constantine Cannon, which represents the intervenors and whistleblower. The action was unsealed by the court Monday. The case alleges the wireless companies ignored two cost-saving requirements included in the master contracts under which California state and local government customers bought wireless services, the release said. It said the contracts required the carriers to determine and report to the government customers which rate plan selections would result in the lowest cost -- called "rate plan optimization" -- and to provide wireless services at "the lowest available cost."

In 2014, more than 87 million households -- or three-quarters of all households nationally -- had a broadband subscription, said a report from the Brookings Institution released Monday. The report used 2013 and 2014 American Community Survey data to track broadband adoption rates, while using other census and Internet speed data to show what factors affect metropolitan adoption rates. Only 46.8 percent of households with annual incomes under $20,000 had a broadband subscription in 2014, compared with 88.8 percent of households earning $50,000 or more, Brookings said. While 54.1 percent of those with less than a high school diploma had a broadband subscription, 91.5 percent with a bachelor’s degree or higher did. Low adoption rates also appear among older age groups -- 64.5 percent of individuals 65 years and older -- while those not in the labor force -- 69.7 percent -- subscribe to broadband at lower rates than the national average. Broadband adoption also varies across different U.S. markets, including the country’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, the report said. Although these areas tend to have higher adoption rates (77.8 percent) than the country as a whole (75.1 percent), rates can still differ by up to 30 percentage points or more in some cases, it said. Tech centers like San Jose (88.2 percent), Seattle (84.8 percent), and Boston (82.7 percent), for instance, exceed the shares in Lakeland, Florida (64.1 percent), Greensboro, North Carolina (64 percent), and McAllen, Texas (58.1 percent), the report said.