A measure that would let Chicago increase monthly 911 charges on wireline, wireless and prepaid cellphones was awaiting a signature from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn after being approved by both chambers of the Democratic General Assembly May 30. A spokesman for Quinn, a Democrat, was not immediately available for comment. HB-2453 (http://bit.ly/1jV2Ht9) would let Chicago impose monthly fees of up to $3.90 for landline and wireless service and up to 9 percent of the transaction cost for prepaid cellphones, according to a summary by Illinois APCO (http://bit.ly/1pTMkSX). These increases will be in effect until July 1, 2015, when they are scheduled to revert to the current rates. Chicago wireline and wireless fees are now capped at $2.50 and the prepaid fee at 7 percent, APCO said. The conservative Heartland Institute opposed the measure. The proposal by Mayor Rahm Emanuel would mean a 56 percent increase in the city’s cellphone tax, making it the highest of its kind in the U.S., Heartland Government Relations Director John Nothdurft said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1re8DHp). Emanuel’s office was not immediately available for comment. The measure keeps the wireless 911 surcharge outside of Chicago at $0.73, but reduces the amount that goes to carriers and increases the amount given to 911 systems, the APCO summary said. Additional funding would go to counties with less than 100,000 people, which are especially financially strapped, APCO said. The measure would establish a statewide 911 administrator within the state police to develop and implement a statewide 911 network outside Chicago. The state’s 9-1-1 Services Advisory Board is charged with developing a plan by April 1, 2015, for the creation of a statewide network, the consolidation of 911 systems and services, and a plan for implementing next-generation 911, APCO said.

The Perkins School for the Blind was certified by the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau to distribute communications equipment to Vermont’s low-income deaf or blind under the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP), said an agency public notice Monday (http://fcc.us/1ueh3MQ). The Nebraska Assistive Technology Partnership (NATP) was also certified for Nebraska, the agency said. Certification for both will be effective July 1.

Connecticut residents will be able to block unsolicited commercial text messages beginning Oct. 1, after Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy signed SB-209 into law (http://1.usa.gov/1kAjmHx) May 29. The measure, which adds the solicitations to the state’s “Do Not Call” Registry, responds to changing technology, Malloy said in a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1kqNsNJ). In addition to the texts being an annoyance, “some cell phone plans charge a fee for each text,” the release said. It said the new law also increases the maximum fine for each registry violation from $11,000 to $20,000.

New York City wants to replace payphones with facilities that allow for both new payphones and free public Wi-Fi, city representatives said in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. The city would take that step when current franchise agreements expire, said an ex parte filing on the meeting posted to docket 13-238 Friday (http://bit.ly/1psgEqa).

The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates responded Friday to a “volley of ex partes” from various ISPs arguing the FCC shouldn’t reclassify broadband Internet as a Title II service. “Misclassification of Internet access has consistently undermined courts’ willingness to affirm” the net neutrality rules, NASUCA said in an ex parte filing in docket 14-28 (http://bit.ly/1oSy6Sh). ISPs’ “ad horrendum arguments” seek to “scare this Commission away from classifying broadband consistent with its function, i.e. as telecommunications,” NASUCA said. “AT&T preaches fire and brimstone” about the “evils of reclassification” -- namely that it will wreak havoc on the market and stifle investment, but that “apocalyptic vision ignores the fact that uncertainty is the state of the world,” NASUCA said. “Not-so-veiled threats” about reclassification’s “negative impact on investment” are counterbalanced by more than 170 Internet content providers and 150 venture capitalists “pleading” with the commission to “enact a clear and enforceable anti-discrimination regime,” it said. “Even under a common carrier regime, the nation’s carriers will prosper and investment will grow.”

FairPoint Communications said Thursday its new ethernet business-class Internet service is available in 32 markets in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The service, capable of speeds up to 1 Gbps, will “meet the demands of some of the region’s largest institutions, such as regional health care facilities, financial institutions, and government and education entities,” FairPoint said. The company said it has spent more than $700 million on upgrades to its communications infrastructure since 2008. Other companies recently have said they are adding gigabit-speed service.

New Jersey’s Division of Rate Counsel appealed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' April 29 decision (CD May 16 p10) to allow Verizon to meet its commitment to build broadband throughout the state with wireless. BPU had ruled a 1993 agreement, in which Verizon promised full broadband deployment, did not mandate what technology would be used. The Tuesday appeal to the state Superior Court’s Appellate Division in Trenton said wireless “is not comparable to wireline or fiber broadband in service reliability or pricing.” Verizon said it’s reviewing the appeal and had no comment.

Alcatel-Lucent said Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative subsidiary Bolt Fiber Optic Services selected it to create a broadband network for northeastern Oklahoma with a 1 Gbps top speed. Bolt Fiber intends to use the network to also deliver VoIP service and TV services in its service region, which includes rural communities and tribal areas. Alcatel-Lucent said it will use its gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology to ensure Bolt Fiber’s desired 1 Gbps top speed, which is about 100 times faster than the average U.S. broadband connection speed. Alcatel-Lucent said it currently uses the GPON technology in broadband networks in Bristol and Chattanooga, Tennessee; Hong Kong; and Portugal. “Providing access to ultra-broadband will attract jobs and investment, improve lives through services like telemedicine and e-learning, and allow families to stay in the communities they love,” said Bolt Fiber Manager Sheila Allgood in a Tuesday Alcatel-Lucent news release (http://bit.ly/1wfAwyO).

TDS Telecom launched service with speeds of 1 Gbps Tuesday in Hollis, New Hampshire, it said in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1oqBOVr). Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., a Commerce Committee member, tweeted praise for the announcement and posted a photo of herself and TDS Telecom officials. The high-speed package is available for under $100 a month with a bundle, TDS said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, is urging state lawmakers to increase the monthly tax on cellphones from $2.50 to $3.90, said various reports in Chicago area publications (http://bit.ly/1oqwAJr). The move comes as the legislature heads for a scheduled adjournment Saturday. Free-market think tank the Heartland Institute criticized the development. “Mayor Emanuel’s proposed 56 percent increase in the city’s cell phone tax would give Chicago the highest tax of its kind in the nation,” said John Nothdurft, the institute’s director-government relations. “This is the tax equivalent to death by a million cuts. Is it any surprise then that the city has experienced population loss over the last decade?"