National Cable Television Cooperative board taps Lou Borrelli, ex-Digicel, as CEO, succeeding Rich Fickle (see this section, April 2) ... Semiconductor Industry Association hires Meghan Biery, ex-Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, as director-global technology and security policy ... O’Melveny adds Tim Fink, ex-Patent and Trademark Office, as partner, Intellectual Property and Technology practice and he leads PTO practice.
Emergency alerting officials and broadcasters see more information-rich alerts and increased geotargeting as the biggest needs for improving alerting, looking to ATSC 3.0 as a solution, said speakers at the Advance Warning and Response Network’s virtual summit Tuesday. More authorities are including links and additional information in their alerts, and that’s information that can’t be “effectively delivered” using the current emergency alert system, said Wade Witmer, deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Association's Integrated Public Alert Warning System. Last year, there was an almost 200% increase in use of wireless emergency alerts compared with 2019, and a 135% increase in EAS use, Witmer said.
Ossia wireless power firm taps Jim Cottrell, ex-HP, to lead regulatory efforts as senior director-regulatory compliance ... Comcast adds Toni Beck, ex-NextDecade, as vice president-external affairs, Houston Region ... Liberty Global and Digital Colony creating AtlasEdge Data Centres in transaction they expect to close in Q3, with industry executive Josh Joshi to be AtlasEdge executive chairman ... Hearst Television promotes Andrew Vrees to president-general manager, WMUR-TV Manchester, New Hampshire, succeeding Jeff Bartlett, retiring this summer.
The FCC strike force to end 911 fee diversion first meets June 3 at 10 a.m. EDT, says Thursday's Federal Register. The group will announce its chair and vice chair and establish working groups.
APCO urged its members Monday to send letters to lawmakers supporting the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act. HR-2351, which was refiled in April (see 2104130069), would change the federal government's classification of public safety call takers and dispatchers to “protective service occupations.”
CTIA cross-appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a March 30 district court decision agreeing with CTIA that a Kentucky 911 law conflicts with the 2018 federal Wireless Telecom Tax and Fee Collection Fairness Act (see 2103300041). The wireless association Friday notified (in Pacer) U.S. District Court in Frankfort it's challenging the court's dismissing two counts of CTIA’s complaint and partly granting the Kentucky 911 Services Board’s motion to dismiss. Kentucky defendants appealed last month (see 2104270035).
Altice's Suddenlink must file a plan to fix customer service problems by June 7, West Virginia Public Service Commission Chairman Charlotte Lane said Thursday. She and staff met with the company Wednesday after receiving about 1,900 complaints about service since 2019, the commission said. Lane asked Suddenlink to describe how and when the company will open a West Virginia call center and hire West Virginia technicians, how the company will fix billing errors including on 911 and late fees, and how it will quickly process customer credits. “Recurring problems with Suddenlink’s telephone and cable television service have gone on long enough,” said Lane. Altice didn’t comment.
Broadband bills advanced in several states this week. The Arizona legislature passed a bill (HB-2596) authorizing the state transportation department to install telecom facilities on highways. The House voted 60-0 to concur with the Senate, which voted 30-0. The Ohio House voted 91-4 to concur with the Senate on a proposal (HB-2) to set up a $20 million state grant program for residential expansion, allow electric cooperative easements to be used for broadband, and set up a process for granting telecom companies access to electric co-op poles. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) received a bill (SB-297) from the legislature to set up an infrastructure funding program using American Rescue Plan Act and state funding. Lawmakers also sent him a bill (HB-181) to redirect 25% of $1 million in annual school technology funding to a state matching fund for the federal E-rate broadband program, and a measure (SB-81) to require prepaid wireless to collect state 911 fees.
ASCAP advances Gregory Morgado to executive vice president-deputy general counsel ... Jennifer Chronis moves up to senior vice president, Verizon Public Sector, after joining the telco from Amazon Web Services in 2020 to lead the Federal business ... Comcast Advertising taps Rick Mandler, ex-true[X] and Disney/ABC, as vice president-growth strategy, newly created job.
The Kentucky 911 Service Board appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month’s district court decision agreeing with CTIA that a Kentucky 911 law conflicts with the 2018 federal Wireless Telecommunications Tax and Fee Collection Fairness Act (see 2103300041). Kentucky defendants notified (in Pacer) U.S. District Court in Frankfort, Kentucky, about the appeal Monday. CTIA didn’t comment Tuesday.