The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission adopted pole attachment rules that take effect Jan. 1, said a WUTC order. It said the rules generally follow the ones put forth by the FCC, except WUTC didn't adopt the telecom rate formula, so all attachers will have the same rate formula. In the new rules, WUTC also forbids pole owners from denying access if the attacher is willing to compensate the owner for the costs to replace the existing pole with a taller pole, which is similar to FCC rules. The rules allow attachers to overlash without having a permit, but require an overlasher to provide 15 business days’ notice to the pole owner. A pole owner may refuse to allow the overlashing within 10 business days. The rules apply to wireless attachments to utility poles, as well. PCIA called changes "common sense rules governing attachments." PCIA, along with AT&T, asked that the UTC exempt CMRS companies from the definition of "owner" in the rule change. "For nearly two years, PCIA has been advocating for responsible and consistent pole attachments rules in Washington State," PCIA said in a statement Monday. “Friday’s rule implementation represents a vast improvement over the existing uncertainty surrounding pole attachment rulemaking.”

Communities looking for ways to connect residents to broadband need to be willing to think outside the box and do some "serious work" to build out a network, said municipal consultant Craig Settles, president of CJ Speaks, in a report sponsored by Corning and SiFi Networks. One of Settles' examples was Columbus, Ohio, which received Department of Transportation funding to replace traffic signals. The city used an almost $8 million grant from DOT to fund the project, contributing about only $750,000, to get a new traffic signal system that was built on the backbone of fiber cable and wireless technologies, the report said. The city can invite an ISP to use the city's fiber and offer broadband service to its residents, Settles said. He said other federal agencies that will fund broadband projects include the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior.

More than half of respondents to a survey on broadband in Washington County, New York, said they were dissatisfied, said a broadband and telecom report released last week. The survey was mailed to the 29,400 postal addresses in the county and saw replies from 2,856 households and businesses. Of those who responded, 20 percent said they had no option for broadband, the report said. The report was done by the Washington County Planning and Economic Development Department and partially funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Adirondack Gateway Council. The report compares expanding rural Internet to the rural electrification in the 1930s, saying expanding broadband is just as important as getting electricity to all residents. The survey found that 90 percent of the country's residents use Time Warner Cable (26 percent), satellite (22 percent), Verizon Wireless (11.7 percent), Verizon DSL (11.2 percent), Hudson Valley Wireless (5.2 percent) or dial-up (3.5 percent) for broadband.

A couple is suing Apple for $5 million, alleging it misled consumers about extra data usage through Wi-Fi Assist, a new feature that was part of the update to iOS 9, said the complaint, seeking class-action status, filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose Friday. The lawsuit alleges Apple violated California's unfair competition and false advertising laws and accuses the company of negligent misrepresentation. Wi-Fi Assist is a default setting that allows the phone to switch from Wi-Fi to data usage when the wireless connection is weak or unreliable, the suit said. Apple never told consumers that this function was there, leading consumers to go over their data caps and have to pay higher bills, the suit alleges. Apple issued a statement Oct. 2 telling people how Wi-Fi Assist works and how to deactivate the default setting, the suit said. Apple didn't comment.

From 2008 to 2014 Verizon spent more than $12 billion on its copper network, the company said in an ex parte filing Friday, in response to a letter that the Communications Workers of America (CWA) sent on Oct. 9 (see 1510130033) that attempted to "cast Verizon as failing to invest and maintain its network." The $200 million figure that CWA continues to use and that Verizon used in a July letter to the FCC reflected "a small subset" of what the company said it spends to maintain, repair, rehabilitate, restore and supplement its copper plant, the filing said. The $200 million reflected spending only in one category of capital investment, Verizon said. Verizon said the company's total 2008-14 expenditure on its wireline network was $50 billion. "We are taking reasonable steps to ensure we maintain the quality of service we provide to all of our customers, including those served by copper." CWA didn't comment.

North Carolina broadband leaders should find ways to attract companies to cities in need of better service to avoid challenging the state's restrictive laws such as happened in the city of Wilson before the FCC stepped in (see 1505150043), said Marc Hoit, North Carolina State University chief information officer. That point was the main focus of a discussion about the future of broadband at a panel held in North Carolina by MCNC, which operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network. The panelists offered recommendations on how to provide cities and regions with tools and resources that attract broadband investments, Hoit said. Panelists included Blair Levin, Brookings Institute fellow; Glenn Ricart, founder and chief technology officer of U.S. Ignite; and Laura Spining, NTIA's director of broadband infrastructure.

Sprint lost a bid in the New York Court of Appeals to get a case dismissed that charges the company with failing to collect more than $100 million in taxes from customers in New York, said the court's decision in New York v. Sprint Nextel Corp., New York State Court of Appeals case No. 127. The New York Attorney General originally denied Sprint's attempt to get the case dismissed. The case seeks to recoup three times the $100 million in taxes that Sprint owes New York state and local governments since 2005, plus penalties, the AG's office said in its release in 2013. Tuesday's decision leaves Sprint open to a lawsuit from the state. Sprint "unbundled a part of the fixed monthly charge that it attributed to intrastate mobile voice services and did not collect taxes on the portion that it attributed to interstate and international calls," the decision said. Sprint is disappointed in the court's decision and is "reviewing the opinion and considering our legal options," a spokesman said.

The FCC should accept the Regional Planning Committee's reserve channel and spectrum re-allotments and reservations, the Virginia Department of State Police said in comments in docket 02-378.

Ting plans to build out a symmetrical gigabit network in Holly Springs, North Carolina, the company said in a news release. Ting previously built in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Westminster, Maryland. The company said Wednesday that it will start surveying residents about demand for the service this quarter, and the results of that survey will guide construction, which could start as early as 2016.

The FCC should add broadband to its Lifeline program to augment the current program so low-income families can afford Internet services, said the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) in comments Monday in docket 11-42. The program should require Internet providers have an affordable, unbundled option that costs about $10 per month, said CETF. The program shouldn't force people to choose between phone and Internet service, it said. There should also be a streamlined process for third-party verification of eligibility, said CETF. It asked the FCC to encourage states to have their own Lifeline program to supplement the national one.