NARUC will consider five telecom resolutions at its winter meeting in Washington, it confirmed this week, releasing a document with all the drafts (http://t.co/xPNT99ZbXi). One proposed resolution, sponsored by outgoing Telecom Committee Chairman John Burke, a member of the Vermont Public Service Board, would ask the FCC to revamp the contribution side of USF. Another draft resolution proposes to improve rural broadband deployment by allowing utilities and critical infrastructure industries to tap Connect America Fund money in unserved and underserved areas where no incumbent provider is given support. Another possible resolution would back location accuracy standards for wireless 911 calls, both indoor and outdoor. One proposed resolution would encourage the National Association of Public Affairs Networks “to establish public affairs networks in every State” -- non-profit television networks akin to C-SPAN, focused on public access and government transparency -- and have each PUC coordinate with the FCC and state executive branches and legislatures, among other stakeholders, to improve digital communications networks. The final draft resolution would ask the FCC to ensure a consumer protection standard before approving any IP transition trials. If approved, it would ask the FCC to make sure “residential and small business customers in affected areas avoid any (i) degradation in the capability, quality and reliability of voice services; (ii) reduction in the availability of voice service options/providers; or (iii) increase in rates for equivalent voice services (such as federal and State Lifeline services).” None of the drafts is NARUC policy until the NARUC board approves them, and the drafts can be substantially modified or rejected outright when considered by the NARUC telecom subcommittee, which consists of state commission staff members, or the telecom committee, consisting of state regulatory commissioners. The meeting will be Feb. 9-12.

A bicameral, bipartisan agriculture bill would create a pilot for gigabit networks. Lawmakers in the House and Senate unveiled several hundreds of pages worth of a conference report on what’s known as the “Farm Bill” Monday night (http://1.usa.gov/M9TrYK). The Agriculture Act includes a section on access to broadband telecom in rural areas, specifying how loans will be distributed and that the government is “to prioritize loans and loan guarantees to all or part of rural communities that do not have residential broadband service that meets the minimum acceptable level of broadband service,” said the conference report starting at Section 6104 on page 533. It specifies that the minimum acceptable broadband speeds for rural areas are 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. The Farm Bill also mentions that the Department of Agriculture would create what’s known as the Rural Gigabit Network Pilot Program, with its own loan allowances. Any entities interested in gigabit network loans must show the government they have the ability to provide such fast broadband service, apply and then build out the fast network within three years, with $10 million authorized for each of the fiscal years 2014 through 2018, according to the bill conference report. When describing broadband loans more generally, it includes a notice requirement that the secretary of agriculture must “promptly provide a fully searchable database on the website of the Rural Utilities Service” that contains information on loan applicants and the regions they propose to serve. Anyone receiving assistance would have to “submit a semiannual report for 3 years after the completion of the project,” it added. The bill proposes specific unserved levels that the government should be focusing on. The measure would also compel the secretary of agriculture to do a study within 180 days of the bill’s enactment in conjunction with the secretary of commerce and the chairman of the FCC of how data collected through the Agriculture broadband programs, specifically looking at “address-level data,” could be shared to help support the National Broadband Plan. Within 60 days of completing the report, the Agriculture Department would have to report these findings to congressional committees. The House may consider the bill as early as Wednesday.

NATOA “strongly supports” expanding access to the Connect America Fund, it said in a letter to the FCC Thursday (http://bit.ly/1hsSB3R). “Repurposing a portion of the CAF to new entities -- particularly non-traditional providers of communications services -- will significantly aid in the provision of broadband to the residential, business, and community anchor institution sectors,” the group said. “Non-traditional providers such as municipalities, counties, tribes, public electric utilities and cooperatives, and non-profit providers (such as research and education networks) have demonstrated a track record in recent years of providing reliable and affordable broadband service in unserved and underserved markets. Making the CAF available to fund these network projects will result in more entrants into the broadband provider market in regions of need, more pilot projects for innovative service models, more gigabit capacity networks, and more public-private partnerships with the goal of expanding the broadband user base."

Some residents of Provo, Utah, were able to sign up for Google Fiber as of Wednesday, according to a Google Fiber blog post (http://bit.ly/1aLGASK). Only residents who live in the area of the former iProvo network can sign up, it said. “We can’t install fiber to everyone in Provo all at once, so we're going to work in waves, starting with the North Park area next month and finishing in the Foothills area hopefully by the end of this year."

C Spire said it’s making it easier and more convenient for residents of various Mississippi cities to sign up for the company’s 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-home service. On Monday, the company opened specialized kiosks in 13 retail stores to sell the service.

Fibertech Networks will build a new fiber network in Detroit and surrounding suburbs, it said in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/KDEInN). The network will encompass more than 750 route miles, the company said.

The city of Charlotte, N.C., will use Motorola Solutions' Migration Assurance Program, the company said in a news release Thursday. Charlotte will use the program “to keep their ASTRO P25 network software and hardware refreshed as well as implement technology enhancements over the coming years, helping to ensure their first responders are always equipped with the best technology needed to meet public safety communications demands,” it said (http://bit.ly/1dxBzRZ). Charlotte Shared Services Director Chuck Robinson praised the program’s flexibility, affordability and efficiency, in a statement.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission asked the FCC for a permanent waiver of rules requiring Idaho to provide a copy of Lifeline subscribers’ certification forms to the eligible telecom carrier, in a petition Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1cqeqw9). “Special circumstances in Idaho warrant a deviation from the rules,” the PUC said. The state contracts with the Community Action Partnership of Idaho to administer its state and the national Lifeline programs, it said. Because of the way the group gathers and stores information on the state’s subscribers, it would require extensive manual labor to comply with the FCC rules, the PUC said, noting Idaho already has “sufficient safeguards in place to protect against waste, fraud and abuse."

Ping4 partnered with the Florida Division of Emergency Management on a pilot program providing mobile emergency alerts to citizens and visitors in Brevard County, Fla. Ping4’s platform “allows for custom alert polygons to be created and stored providing specifically targeted alerts,” said the company in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1aiNm5v). The app, Ping4alerts, is a free iOS and Android app “that uses the latest location-based technology to deliver a push notification to mobile devices within a geographically-defined area,” it said. Users aren’t required to provide Ping4 with personally identifiable information, it said.

New York state schools will need higher-speed broadband, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Wednesday in his State of the State address, outlining an initiative to improve school district technology. Cuomo, a Democrat, judged “the best long-term economic development strategy” to be education. “We are in the midst of an education reinvention. ... We must transform our classrooms from the classrooms of yesterday to the classrooms of tomorrow.” He outlined a plan in which each district must submit a technology plan to the state and can receive funds, pending approval of a bond referendum. Cuomo released a long document pegged to his speech describing this $2-billion “Smart Schools” bond referendum (http://bit.ly/1ii7yGs). “If approved by the voters, the ‘Smart Schools’ bond referendum will enable schools to go wireless; educate students using interactive tablets instead of outdated textbooks and worksheets; make it possible for teachers to connect with one another to share strategies and lesson plans; offer high-level courses such as Advanced Placement through blended online/classroom learning; replace chalkboards with 79 new interactive whiteboards; and provide access to other technology to improve student achievement,” the governor’s office said in the document. It described how funds from this initiative would be allocated to every district. “At some schools, there are children on the Internet. At some schools, they don’t even have a basketball net,” Cuomo said during the speech. “Let’s have the smartest classrooms in the nation."