State attorneys general of Indiana, Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas sued the two men and their Houston-based companies for violating the federal law governing telemarketing.
Intelligent Fiber Network has spent the last 18 months rebranding—including a name change that telegraphs its growth plans—and ramping up its marketing.
The bill would stiffen enforcement and require that phone companies offer free consumer tools to identify and block scam calls. It also calls for tougher fines when individuals intentionally violate the law.
The state saw immediate results when the do-not-call law went into effect in 2002, but advances in technology are allowing telemarketers to find loopholes.
The buzzword in mobile is 5G—the newest generation of wireless service that promises more speed and better connectivity for smartphones, internet-connected devices and even autonomous cars.
Operating as T-Mobile, the company would have about $74 billion in annual revenue and 70 million wireless subscribers.
The state will instead pursue individual leases of state cell towers.
The Pence administration in September said it had agreed to lease the state’s existing cell towers to help the state fund its bicentennial projects and expand broadband capacity.
After 13 years working his way through positions spanning several divisions, Stanley Chen became CEO in October when his father retired.
The new area code will “overlay” the entire 317 region, which means existing numbers won’t change but new ones could get the 463 code starting this fall.
The FCC awarded three telecommunications companies $51 million per year in grants for six years to help bridge the urban-rural digital divide.
Albert Chen, founder and CEO of Telamon Corp., made lots of course corrections during his decades-spanning career.
U.S. cable company Charter Communications Inc. is in talks to acquire Bright House Networks, people with knowledge of the matter said. Bright House has more than 120,000 customers in central Indiana.
Metronet, a cable provider based in Evansville, has agreed to buy Inside Connect Cable and plans to spend $17 million to construct a fiber-optic network in Westfield.
Opponents of the bill say it would give big companies more leverage in negotiating connection agreements with smaller firms. Supporters say it just reduces redundancy in laws already on the books.
The telecommunications industry wants to add a new area code for the parts of central Indiana covered by 317. The bottom line for all residents: 10-digit dialing would be required for local calls.
The lawsuit alleges AT&T’s Indiana subsidiary “has a practice and policy” of suspending employees for at least one day after they report work-related injuries.
An executive for the phone service company told regulators Wednesday that the firm's depth of experience—not fraudulent tactics—led to the creation of 30,000 federally subsidized accounts last year.
State officials want to know how an Oklahoma City company managed to set up 30,000 Indiana accounts for a federally subsidized phone program in less than a year. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has launched an investigation into whether TerraCom LLC is repeating federal violations it allegedly committed in Oklahoma.
Unusual merger of Hancock Telecom and Central Indiana Power is paving the way for network deployment in rural areas.
