Greater Harris County 911 Emergency Network (GHC 911) said it began phasing in text-to-911 service in the 49 cities and two counties in its jurisdiction, which covers Harris and Fort Bend counties, Texas. Text-to-911 is meant for use when the caller is deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired or in situations where speaking would endanger the caller, GHC 911 said Wednesday. Callers outside GHC 911’s service area or who use a carrier besides Verizon or T-Mobile will receive a bounce-back message if they try to text, GHC 911 said. Customers using AT&T and Sprint will be able to use text-to-911 in the GHC 911 service area by the end of October (http://bit.ly/1vdgpQE).

Frontier Communications said it promoted Kenneth Arndt to president, East region. The telco has moved New York and Pennsylvania into a separated and new East region, while Ohio and West Virginia will be in the company’s Mid-Atlantic Region, and some executives were named there. (See separate report below in this issue.) The East region will also include Connecticut, and would be based in New Haven, if Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approves Frontier’s buy of AT&T’s broadband, video and wireline assets in the state, the telco said Thursday. Arndt played a “critical role” in Frontier’s 2010 buy of Verizon’s assets in 14 states, managing integration of Verizon’s operations in North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia, Frontier said (http://bit.ly/XNhWAX).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler praised Connecticut state and local officials Monday for issuing a joint request for qualifications (RFQ) seeking information from interested parties in a bid to encourage gigabit broadband development in the state. The RFQ solicits interest in developing networks in New Haven, Stamford and West Hartford, including free or discounted broadband service with a minimum 10 Mbps speed for underserved and disadvantaged Connecticut citizens (CD Sept 16 p17). “Too many Americans lack real choices for fast, affordable Internet service, which is why I'm heartened to see these leaders commit to bringing gigabit connectivity to the businesses and consumers of central Connecticut,” Wheeler said in a statement (http://fcc.us/1o0Fau4). “Today’s announcement will lead to more competitive choices for consumers and more innovation to create jobs and improve the lives across the region."

The monthly per-line surcharge for the Relay Missouri dual-party telephone relay service for the deaf, hearing-impaired and speech-impaired will drop from 8 cents to 6 cents Dec. 1, the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) said in an order last week (http://on.mo.gov/1qXh1bh). The PSC was acting on a staff recommendation for reducing the surcharge, which appears on the phone bills of all Missouri wireline customers. The PSC had said reducing the surcharge would allow the fund for Relay Missouri “to remain solvent and available for those customers who need it, while reducing the bills of all Missouri landline subscribers."

A group of Connecticut state officials and mayors issued a joint Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Monday seeking information from interested parties in a bid to encourage development of gigabit broadband networks in New Haven, Stamford and West Hartford. The officials’ RFQ seeks free or heavily discounted broadband service with a minimum 10 Mbps speed to “underserved and disadvantaged” residential areas. “It’s time we tear down the walls to gigabit Internet access in Connecticut,” said Democratic state Sen. Beth Bye in a news release. Other municipalities in Connecticut may also join the RFQ by submitting an addendum, said state Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz in the news release. The RFQ is “an important step toward making Connecticut the first gigabit state,” said state Comptroller Kevin Lambo in the release. New Haven’s city government said it will administer and coordinate the RFQ.

Columbia University law professor Timothy Wu, who created the term “net neutrality” in 2003, lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for New York lieutenant governor Wednesday to former Rep. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y. He received 37 percent of the vote to her 55 percent, according to unofficial results updated Wednesday afternoon. The New York Times had endorsed Wu, who was running with failed Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Zephyr Teachout, in part based on his “impressive record” on Internet law and other legal issues (CD Aug 29 p11). Hochul was running with incumbent Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who won against Teachout with 60 percent of the vote.

The U.S. broadband market is “robust in terms of speed, affordability and choice,” and while some municipal broadband projects aim to fill in some gaps in rural areas, the projects have had problems, said a study by the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute at New York Law School. It was submitted as an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1uGfvuA) in the petitions to pre-empt state laws imposing barriers on municipal broadband projects, posted Friday in FCC dockets 14-115 and 14-116 for the petitions filed by Wilson, North Carolina, and the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Overly optimistic projections about costs and take rates doomed some projects, the study said, while moderately successful ones were based on “unique circumstances” that would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible to replicate.” Governments are not well-equipped to compete in dynamic markets, the study said. It said municipal governments “do not have a strong record of keeping pace with technological advances or in shaping policies that reflect rapidly evolving consumer preferences for new services.” The study also said a project “often diverts scarce public resources from more pressing priorities."

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) recommended Monday that customers in the existing 740 area code area should begin using 10-digit or 11-digit dialing starting Sept. 20 to make the practice “second nature” when it becomes mandatory March 21 as part of the rollout of the overlapping 220 area code. Carriers are set to begin offering numbers using the 220 area code in the 740 area code area, which includes much of central and southeast Ohio, beginning April 22, PUCO said. The commission said it approved plans for the 220 area code overlay in December amid projections that the 740 area code would run out of available phone numbers in Q2 2015 (http://1.usa.gov/1ufCJcR). PUCO had also explored dividing the 740 area code area in half and requiring customers in half of the area to change phone numbers to one in the 220 area code (CD Nov 7 p15). Current 740 area code telephone numbers will not change with the introduction of the 220 area code overlay, PUCO said.

The Media Alliance asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to grant the group party status in its ongoing review of the Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal. The Media Alliance said in a filing posted Thursday that it seeks to ensure “the free flow of information throughout California to maximize civic engagement and access to information.” The group said it would address how Comcast/TWC will affect diverse communities in the state and the state’s information sector. The Media Alliance said its participation in CPUC’s review is “crucial to ensuring the needs of users and residents are fully considered and [we] would like to have input into the proceeding” (http://bit.ly/1o7JmIi).

The Connecticut Internet Service Providers Association (CTISPA) urged Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) Friday to require Frontier Communications to offer DSL service to ISP end users in Connecticut who don’t maintain plain old telephone service (POTS) -- known as offering a “dry loop” -- when ISPs buy wholesale DSL transport. The dry loop offering should be a public interest condition in Connecticut’s settlement with Frontier for regulatory approval of its purchase of AT&T’s wireline, broadband and video assets in the state, CTISPA said (http://bit.ly/1nAYGgA). PURA is considering revisions to the settlement after it rejected late last month a settlement version that Frontier reached with state Attorney General George Jepsen and the Office of Consumer Counsel (CD Sept 3 p16). AT&T currently offers dry loops in the state only to its own customers but not to ISP end users, still requiring those users to maintain a POTS line in order to have DSL while using a wholesale DSL transport service, CTISPA said. Elsewhere, AT&T offers dry loops to its own customers and ISP end users, the group said. PURA has jurisdiction to require the dry loop condition because it is a “local voice loop issue” rather than an ISP service issue or DSL provisioning issue, CTISPA said.