LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Gov. Asa Hutchinson says a two-year project to get high-speed internet into all of Arkansas’ public schools systems has been completed. Hutchinson on Thursday announced the completion of the Arkansas Public School Computer Network, the high-speed broadband upgrade for all of the state’s K-12 school systems. The project’s completion will […]
Fiber-Optic Cable Cuts Affect Mediacom Customers in 3 States
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Thousands of Mediacom internet and television customers have experienced service interruptions in Georgia, Illinois and Missouri after a pair of large fiber-optic cables were accidentally cut. Mediacom Communications spokeswoman Phyllis Peters says a mower for a road crew severed a cable Thursday morning near Fitzgerald, Georgia. A little over a […]
NY Announces Finalists in Southern Tier Clean Energy Contest
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Eight finalists have been announced in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s competition to spur clean energy technology in New York’s Southern Tier. The contest, dubbed 76West, will award $2.5 million to six winning companies who propose the best ideas for technology that advances clean energy or sustainability. Winning companies must agree to move […]
Altice Buys Portuguese Media Company in Latest Expansion
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Telecoms company Altice is buying control of Portugal’s Media Capital, paying Spain’s Prisa 440 million euros ($502 million) for its 94.7 percent stake in the Lisbon company. The takeover is the latest addition to Altice’s portfolio after its efforts to expand its telecommunications and cable presence in the United States and […]
$3M Federal Funding for West Virginia Broadband
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito says $3 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help to provide broadband access in Barbour, Randolph, and Upshur counties. According to Capito’s office, the grant will be matched with $450,000 in local funds to deploy fixed wireless broadband to […]
Broadband Bill Gains Support in Legislature
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A bill to encourage high-speed broadband coverage is getting support in the Legislature, but needs funding to survive. The bill would cost about $200,000 over two years to create the Maine Broadband Initiative. The House on Monday initially voted 116-29 in support of the bill. The Senate also recommended the bill’s […]
Overcharges Cited in West Virginia Broadband Project
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Federal authorities say Frontier Communications overcharged West Virginia for $4.7 million of federal grant money in the $126 million project to extend broadband internet to underserved regions of the state. The Office of Inspector General cites reimbursements for $465,000 for invoice processing fees as “unreasonable” and at least $4.24 million in “unallowable” indirect […]
Satellite TV Firm Dish Fined $280 Million in Robocall Suit
NEW YORK (AP) — An Illinois judge on Monday ordered satellite-TV company Dish to pay $280 million for calling people who said they didn’t want to be bothered by telemarketers. The court found that Dish “caused millions and millions of violations of the Do Not Call Laws.” Telemarketers are barred from calling people who have […]
Charter’s Rutledge, CBS’s Moonves Among Highest-Paid CEOs
Here are the 10 highest-paid CEOs for 2016, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. ___ 1. Thomas Rutledge Charter Communications Inc. $98 million Change from last year: Up 499 percent ___ 2. Leslie Moonves CBS Corp. $68.6 million Change: Up 22 percent ___ 3. Robert Iger Walt Disney Co. $41 […]
Maine Democrat Proposes Internet Privacy Regulations
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A Maine Democrat says her bill would ban internet service providers from selling their customers’ online browsing data to third parties without explicit consent. Roughly a dozen states have taken up measures in the last two months to enhance internet privacy laws following the defeat of protections proposed on the federal […]