The broadband landscape is changing for local governments, said Gigi Sohn, counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, during the NATOA conference in San Diego Wednesday. The FCC is making its own changes to reflect changing conditions, she said, according to prepared remarks. Sohn cited pre-emption of restrictions on municipal broadband in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Connect America Fund Phase II commitment to pay $1.5 billion annually over the next six years, and the modernization of the Lifeline program as ways the FCC is making changes to keep up. During this change, the FCC wants to work with NATOA to remove barriers to broadband deployment, spur competition and ensure access for all, Sohn said. She said the future isn't in cable, but rather in broadband, which is good for citizens because it facilitates education, healthcare, economic empowerment, good government and civic participation. Rather than wait for incumbent ISPs to build the network cities want and need, Sohn said NATOA members can take control of their own broadband futures. This new model for local governments looks to benefit their citizens through externalities, not direct revenue, she said.

The California Broadband Council will discuss the state's first responder network, telehealth network and library system, and will get a tribal update at a meeting Tuesday, said the agenda. The council is made up of nine people and chaired by state Chief Information Officer Carlos Ramos. It was formed in 2010 to expand broadband deployment and eliminate the digital divide. The 9:30 a.m. meeting is at UC Riverside, 900 University Ave., Room 1113 INTS Building, Riverside, California.

Hundreds of Verizon wireline and wireless workers and elected officials -- including New York state Assemblymen Peter Abbate (D) and William Colton (D) and New York City Councilmen Daneek Miller (D) and Mark Treyger (D) -- are expected to rally outside a Verizon Wireless store in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, Thursday, said a news release from Communications Workers of America. Participants are asking the company to bring back Bianca Cunningham, a CWA union leader they said was being fired for "standing up for her rights, and [trying to] negotiate a fair contract," the union said. Verizon Wireless told Cunningham she will be terminated, and the company is targeting other union activists, CWA said. The union filed suit in a federal court against Verizon for unfairly firing Cunningham and expects to prevail, it said. A Verizon spokesman said the company doesn't comment on personnel matters. Contract negotiations between the company and CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are ongoing, he said. "Rather than stage meaningless protests and rallies, we believe the unions would be far better off focusing on the issues that still need to be resolved."

Tests of the New York City subway's Transit Wireless network show riders of the Q line receive the best overall service on mobile phones, said Rhode & Schwarz in a Wednesday news release. Global Wireless Solutions tested 67 subway stations in the city from June to July, using Rhode & Schwarz test equipment, to analyze the program, the release said. The test found that the 4 line was by far the worst performing line for Wi-Fi connections, with just two out of 22 stations on the line (9 percent) having Wi-Fi available. Testing found that six of the sites had no detectable Wi-Fi signal, it said. New York City and Transit Wireless anticipate a complete rollout of Wi-Fi services to all 279 stations making up the city's subway system by 2017, it said.

PocketiNet Communications selected Huawei for rolling out its fiber-to-the-home initiative to bring ultra-fast gigabit Internet -- the first gigabit rural network in the state -- to Walla Walla, Washington, Huawei said in a news release. PocketiNet is a locally owned and operated ISP that serves 17 markets in the Columbia Basin region in Washington. The gigabit initiative is being launched in the U.S. without state or federal funding, the release said. The network will bring Internet to more than 15,000 homes and businesses in the Walla Walla area in a multiyear build-out, it said. PocketiNet expects to complete initial deployments of the network in 12-15 months, with a combination of underground and overhead fiber, it said.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will open an investigation into last week's outage of CenturyLink's toll-free services in the state (see 1509040044), said a UTC news release. The outage reportedly affected services nationwide. Toll-free services, which include 800, 866, 877 and 888 numbers, failed in Washington around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, it said. The UTC said it will investigate the cause of the outage, the company's preparedness and response, restoration efforts, and notification and communication with regulatory and emergency agencies.

The National Association of State 911 Administrators released a white paper on four possible approaches states could take to ensure sustainable funding for next-generation 911. The white paper addresses the problem of declining revenue and suggests using either the current funding model with moderate changes, sales tax, insurance or the state USF as a means to fix that. A companion white paper will be released in early 2016, it said.

NGN Connect's fiber network is providing 100 Mbps symmetrical connections to seven libraries within the Northeast Georgia Regional Library system, said a news release from NGN. NGN is a member-owned cooperative operating over 1,600 miles of fiber infrastructure in north Georgia. NGN is also providing the libraries with hosted Wi-Fi service and a VoIP phone system at each location, it said. The network is live in Northeast Georgia Regional Library locations in Clarkesville, Cleveland, Cornelia, Rabun, Stephens and the system’s central library office, it said.

Salisbury, North Carolina, is the first 10 GB city by Calix and Fibrant, with 10 Gbps service being offered at Catawba College, said a news release from Calix Thursday. Calix supplies telecom equipment to service providers. Fibrant is an all-fiber municipal broadband network owned and operated by the city of Salisbury.

Service was restored after a 911 outage that affected only landline calls in Tama County, Iowa, said a spokeswoman for the county's Emergency Management Agency. The outage was caused by an electrical surge the agency said was likely from a thunderstorm late Friday, Aug. 28. The problem wasn't brought to the agency's attention until Sunday, Aug. 30, when the county lost all three 911 trunks in the early morning and the outage began, the spokeswoman said. The outage couldn't be corrected until the replacement parts were delivered Tuesday and the outage lasted about 36 hours, she said. Neighboring counties answered landline calls that were rerouted during the outage, the spokeswoman said.