Comporium began designing a fiber network for the new downtown Rock Hill, S.C., development known as “Knowledge Park.” Named Zipstream, the service will provide Internet speeds up to 1 Gbps by summer, said the company in a news release Tuesday. It said that area will be one of the first two so-called gigabit communities in South Carolina. Zipstream will cost $99 per month for consumers and $299 monthly for companies.

"Dig once” policies are the most powerful, cost-effective means communities can take to encourage fiber companies to build private local networks, wrote CTC Technology & Energy President Joanne Hovis on the Google Fiber blog (http://bit.ly/1iPC1fN). The immediate past president of NATOA said digging up streets to put fiber underground or installing new utility poles is one of the biggest costs for private companies building fiber networks. But under a “dig once” policy, cities can install fiber conduits or fiber bundles every time they have to tear up a street for road or utility work, wrote Hovis. They can then make the conduits or bundles available to companies and nonprofits which want to build networks, she wrote. “Not only is this an attractive option to providers who save the time and expense of digging, but it has the added benefit of reducing future disruption for local citizens (who probably don’t want to deal with a future road closure if it can be avoided).” Hovis recommended surveying where existing utilizes are, so network providers don’t have to do the work themselves. She said cities and counties could create a streamlined standard permitting process for network providers.

Correction: The name of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission chairwoman is Beverly Jones Heydinger (CD Feb 11 p9).

Frontier’s purchase of AT&T’s wireline assets in Connecticut would lead to “numerous public interest benefits” and “increased competition,” Frontier told FCC Wireline Bureau, International Bureau and Office of General Counsel officials Thursday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1ctBD1p). Frontier has no local exchange, broadband or video operations in Connecticut, but after the transaction it “will compete with the wireless, enterprise and CLEC operations that AT&T will retain in the state,” the telco said in an attached presentation. State customers will benefit from deepened community involvement and increased employment, Frontier said. Frontier will also “be a stronger carrier nationwide,” as the transaction will improve its “overall financial flexibility and stability,” and will ensure that Frontier has the ability to increase broadband investment and penetration over the long term, it said.

California State Sen. Mark Leno (D) introduced legislation Friday that would require all smartphones and tablets sold in the state after Jan. 1, 2015, to include a “kill switch” that would make a smartphone inoperable if not in its rightful owner’s possession. Leno said in a news release that he was introducing the bill in response to what he called an “all-time high” of smartphone-related robberies in California. More than 50 percent of all robberies in San Francisco involve smartphone theft, while one-third of all robberies nationwide involve smartphone theft, Leno’s office said. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón praised the bill, saying in a statement that “the wireless industry must take action to end the victimization of its customers.” The bill would require wireless carriers and retailers to sell mobile devices with the kill switch enabled, but would allow a consumer to opt out of the technology after purchasing the device. Wireless carriers would be prohibited from “using wireless contracts to encourage consumers to disable the kill switch,” Leno’s office said. The California State Senate is set to consider SB 962 in late spring (http://bit.ly/1jkSRpD).

Frontier Communications filed applications with the FCC and Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Friday to acquire AT&T’s wireline, broadband and video operations in Connecticut. Frontier also filed an application with the Justice Department under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act on Monday, seeking approval for the acquisitions, said a news release Monday from Frontier (http://bit.ly/1g27oBm). Frontier agreed in December to pay $2 billion in the deal. Consumer advocates have said they would seek to ensure consumers have high quality of service (CD Jan 2 p1).

Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmeita urged FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to develop incentive auction rules “designed to prevent aggregation and promote competition.” Without reasonable auction controls, “Louisiana customers ultimately may see a duopoly of national wireless providers,” wrote Skrmeita Dec. 6 in a letter posted Monday to docket 12-269 (http://bit.ly/1bnAus7). Skrmeita said the nation’s two largest providers now control 78 percent of the low-frequency spectrum. “The FCC should take steps in the upcoming auction to limit further aggregation,” he wrote. The Incentive Auction Task Force said last week that a report and order establishing the auction’s framework will be presented to the FCC this spring (CD Jan 31 p8).

Strong opposition from municipalities helped postpone a Kansas bill that would bar municipalities from creating their own networks (CD Feb 4 p12), said Larry Gates, utilities director for the city of Chanute. “There were a lot of emails, a lot of press, a lot of stuff on Facebook and Twitter, a huge campaign from all sizes of municipalities,” said Gates, a strong critic of SB-304, in an interview Monday. Backers of the bill denied the impetus was Google’s move to build local networks in the state, but Gates doesn’t buy it. “It was all about Google,” he said. Google had no immediate comment.

Alaska Communications said it’s buying full control of Alaska-based IT services firm TekMate; it had bought 49 percent of the company in 2010. The telco did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Alaska Communications said the buy will help it offer “seamless integrated systems and personalized technology solutions.” TekMate’s 60 employees will join Alaska Communications’ managed services group (http://bit.ly/1dn4WlV).

Puerto Rico Telephone Co.’s application to discontinue interconnected VoIP services in Puerto Rico wasn’t automatically granted by the FCC, said the Wireline Bureau in a public notice Thursday (http://bit.ly/LiRcSm). The commission had received 10 comments in opposition to the proposed discontinuance, including one from the Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico. “Because the comments filed by customers and the Puerto Rico Board require further analysis to determine whether the Applicant’s proposed discontinuance would serve the public interest, PRTC is notified by this public notice that its application to discontinue its PhoneMax service will not be granted automatically,” said the bureau. The docket is WC 13-298.