The Alaska Plan will give the state a stable telecom investment environment, General Communications (GCI) said in a Tuesday filing in FCC docket No. 10-90. The plan would allow the state to have enforceable deployment commitments and improved targeting of support to unserved and underserved areas, the filing said. The Alaska Plan would leverage the same middle-mile infrastructure to connect remote locations to urban centers and the lower 48 states, the filing said. Alaska Communications also filed an ex parte notice in the same docket, urging the FCC to take action on the pending Connect America Fund Phase II proposal it submitted. The FCC should also allocate support for continuing voice service in extremely high-cost census blocks in Alaska, and look at further universal service overhaul in the state, Alaska Communications said.

FirstNet launched its consultation program for 2016 on Monday, sending planning packages to the single points of contact (SPOCs) in all 56 states and territories, said David Buchanan, FirstNet director-consultation, in a Tuesday blog post. “The package provides an overview of our consultation approach and includes a number of tools to assist the SPOCs with preparing for consultation, including a checklist and proposed agenda to help organize their kick-off meetings, as well as suggestions for executive-level consultation in their states and territories,” Buchanan said.

The FCC should extend the Feb. 9 deadline for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to implement a new historical map to 90 days after the digital mapping information is made available, said Cox Communications Monday in a filing in docket No. 11-42. Granting the OCC's request (see 1511190020) will ensure that Lifeline providers in the state can implement the rule change correctly, Cox said.

Eliminating the state role in eligible telecommunications carrier designation processes would remove important protections that help prevent fraud and abuse, said an ex parte letter from the state members of the FCC's Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services filed Tuesday. The state members' December survey found that of 42 responding states, 21 have some sort of verification program in operation, the filing said. The FCC's announcement that it's creating its own databases for verification is likely an incentive for some states to defer action on plans to create similar programs, the filing said. Because of that linkage, eliminating the state role in verifying ETC designations is poor policy, the state members of the joint conference said.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) is warning consumers about a telephone scam involving unpaid energy bills, the commission said in a news release. Residents and businesses in parts of Pennsylvania were targeted by callers who claimed to be from their electric company and alleged the targets had an unpaid bill, the release said. The caller requested immediate payment over the phone to avoid termination of electric service, it said. “Your utility will never call about a payment on the day of a scheduled termination,” PUC Chairman Gladys Brown said.

FirstNet representatives attended a governance body meeting facilitated by Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Dec. 4, the network said in a Monday blog post. Meeting attendees included state public safety and communications experts, it said. The department staffers showed they understand FirstNet through an update of the state's network FloridaNet, the post said. During the FloridaNet update, network members discussed the state’s response to FirstNet’s draft request for proposal, FloridaNet’s updated coverage objectives map, and a combined FloridaNet/FirstNet road map, among other items, it said.

Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Susan Bitter Smith resigned after filing a response to Attorney General Mark Brnovich's (R) petition to remove her from the ACC position for conflict of interest (see 1512010060). The ACC has "important work" ahead of it, which is why Bitter Smith said she is concerned the AG's petition will create distractions from the commission's duties, the chairwoman said during a news conference announcing her resignation Thursday. Bitter Smith's resignation is effective Jan. 4. The AG alleged in the petition to the state Supreme Court that Bitter Smith is a registered lobbyist and executive for Southwest Cable Communications Association, an association of cable companies regulated by the ACC, so she's ineligible to hold office.

The Vermont Public Service Board ordered FairPoint to issue bill credits, improve customer notification and invest in additional rural broadband service in the state as the PSB settlement for a service quality investigation pending since December 2014, said the telco in a Friday news release. The order said operational and network changes happened since the start of the investigation, including returning service quality to "normal levels," noted the telco. FairPoint will be required to pay bill credits to eligible customers who had out-of-service repair delays just before and during a labor strike, it said. The PSB requires FairPoint to provide clear guidance for phone customers who are eligible for such credits in the future. Because of significant changes in telecom in the past several years, the PSB said it will open a new docket to review the scope of regulatory obligations applicable to FairPoint.

Marion County, Florida, picked Airbus DS Communications to build the its next-generation 911 system, said a news release from Airbus. The system will serve the county’s 350,000 residents and handle more than 700,000 calls per day. Instead of operating two separate public safety answering points, Airbus said its Vesta 911 system will consolidate the county’s call centers to operate as one entity.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles released draft regulations on equipment requirements, performance standards, safety certifications and other issues for the operation of autonomous vehicles. "These regulations create a framework that allows manufacturers to transition from testing to deployment, promotes the continued development of autonomous vehicle technology, and ensures that autonomous vehicle technology is deployed in a safe and responsible manner on California public roads," said a DMV summary. The draft includes a provision that requires manufacturers to notify operators about data "collected by the autonomous technology that is not necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle." The provision said manufacturers must get written approval from the operator to allow for that collection. The state agency plans two workshops -- Jan. 28 in Sacramento and Feb. 2 in Los Angeles -- to get feedback.