The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga hopes to "work with the FCC to resolve" a problem that led the Wireline Bureau to remove the Tennessee utility's rural broadband experiment from further funding consideration, an EPB spokeswoman told us Wednesday: "It seems that wires got crossed in terms of deadline expectations." The bureau denied an EPB petition for a waiver and extension of a June 2, 2015, deadline to provide proof that it had been designated as a USF "eligible telecom carrier" for all rural areas covered by its broadband experiment, which had been provisionally selected to receive $710,147 in commission funding (see 1602020034). An agency spokesman didn't comment.

Cell service was out at four Metrorail stations Wednesday afternoon, said an advisory from WMATA. The affected stations in the nation's capital were Mount Vernon Square, Gallery Place, Judiciary Square and Union Station, all with underground rail service platforms. The cause of the outage was damage to a communication cable that carries the wireless signals, the advisory said. About 2,500 feet of cable will need to be to restore service, WMATA said. The work will require track and tunnel access, and thus will need to be scheduled for an upcoming weekend, it said.

A recently introduced Maryland House of Delegates bill would forbid vendors from putting in gag clauses that prevent customers from posting online reviews of products and services, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a blog post Wednesday. EFF submitted written testimony supporting the bill (HB-131), which was modeled after a 2014 California law, but said it could be improved in two ways. "We noted that the bill only applies to 'goods or services that are primarily for personal, household, or family purposes' -- we’re not sure why the drafters chose to limit its scope that way," activist Elliot Harmon wrote. He said some vendors may also claim to own the intellectual property rights of customers' future reviews and try to delete negative reviews by filing a "takedown request" under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. He said the U.S. Senate's Consumer Review Freedom Act, which was approved in December, bans both practices (see 1601150066).

Andy Tobin was sworn in as a commissioner during an Arizona Corporation Commission special meeting Tuesday. He replaces Susan Bitter Smith, who resigned at the end of 2015 amid a conflict of interest challenge (see 1512180034), an ACC news release said. Gov. Doug Ducey had named Tobin director of the Arizona Department of Insurance in October, and he was also appointed acting director of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions, it said. Tobin also previously was director of the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures, it said. Also during the special meeting, Commissioner Doug Little was named the new chairman of the ACC, the release said. He had been interim chairman.

IRis Networks plans to build three new fiber routes in Tennessee, the company said in a news release. The company delivers fiber-based services in and around Tennessee -- operating more than 5,000 route-miles of fiber, in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. The new routes, totaling more than 897 miles, are Johnson City and Knoxville-Chattanooga, Memphis-Nashville-Chattanooga and Knoxville-Nashville-Clarksville.

Tennessee lawmakers will make an announcement about broadband legislation Wednesday, according to a Facebook event. State Sens. Janice Bowling (R) and Todd Gardenhire (R), and Reps. Kevin Brooks (R), Dan Howell (R) and Art Swann (R) will be joined by other broadband bill co-sponsors, plus AARP and grassroots supporters to discuss the broadband bill (see 1601110063) expected to make its way through the general assembly this session. The news conference is to be at 1 p.m. (CT) at the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol Building in Nashville. Republicans dominate the state House and Senate in Tennessee.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission opened a proceeding to investigate the Kentucky USF (KUSF), the PSC said. In an order issued Monday, the PSC said the investigation was prompted by a "rapid depletion" of the fund, which is in danger of being exhausted by April. The commission will review the need and mechanism for maintaining the fund's solvency while the larger investigation is underway, it said. That investigation will examine whether to continue the KUSF, how and to what extent it should be funded if it's continued, the past and projected distributions from the KUSF that have created the current situation, and how such distributions should be made in the future. To maintain KUSF's solvency in the short term, the PSC estimates the monthly per-line assessment will need to be increased on an interim basis from 8 cents to 14 cents or the monthly Lifeline subsidy will need to be reduced to about $2 from $3.50. The PSC said a decision on which measure to take must be made quickly and set a Feb. 22 deadline for the parties to comment on the proposal to raise the monthly fee or reduce the subsidy. Public comments on the interim fee increase or subsidy reduction are also due Feb. 22, it said. After comments are reviewed, the PSC will issue an interim order with an interim decision.

ECFiber plans to increase speeds, not prices, the company said in a news release Friday. The company's basic plan will increase from 7 to 10 Mbps; its standard plan from 20 to 25 Mbps; the ultra plan will double from 50 to 100 Mbps, and the company's "wicked fast" plan will be boosted from 100 to 500 Mbps. ECFiber’s speeds are symmetrical and have no data caps, the company said. ECFiber is a Communications Union District of 24 towns in East-Central Vermont.

Lumos Networks launched gigabit broadband service for residential and small business customers in Botetourt County, Virginia, the company said in a Friday news release. Lumos is a fiber-based provider of data, voice and IP-based services in the mid-Atlantic region. The launch is the second gigabit broadband service market for Lumos, which expects its entire ILEC fiber-to-the-premise footprint to be gigabit-enabled by the end of 2016.

The California Broadband Council is scheduled to meet 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Sacramento in Room 2040 at the Capitol to discuss funding, the digital divide and other issues, the agenda said. The council was established in 2010 to increase broadband deployment and adoption statewide. The agenda topics include a California First Responder Network FirstNet request for proposal, a broadband deployment to public schools update, an e-Rate Consortia and deployment to libraries update, and an update on hearings of the Assembly Select Committee on the Digital Divide in Rural California. There also will be an 80-minute discussion about California's broadband funding.