Telecom

Maine Regulators, FairPoint Agree on $175K Settlement

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine utility regulators and FairPoint Communications are in agreement on a $175,000 settlement after the company failed to meet performance benchmarks from 2014 to last year. The state Public Utilities Commission’s staff had recommended $500,000 in fines after FairPoint..

Avanti Creates New Online Video Series to Solve Sewer, Water Problems

After years of collaboration and development with multiple authorities, Avanti International today announced that Fundamentals of Municipal Grouting, a 16-module video series designed as an interactive learning experience for solving Infiltration and Inflow (I&I) issues in sanitary sewer and storm w..

Improvements In HDD Technology Over Last 50 Years

by Robert Carpenter Editor-in-Chief It is said that the last 50 years have seen more accumulation of knowledge and technological developments than in all the previous history of mankind. Today, technology, on an annual basis, is advancing geometrically. It has changed our lives in ways we cannot ev..

How To Get The Most From Your PACP-Certified Software

By NASSCO Member Ronnie Flannery-Guy, Business Development, Aqua Data Software certified by NASSCO’s Pipeline Assessment Certification Program (PACP) is required to generate and import a standard database file that is fully compatible with PACP. Contractors and system owners across the country have..

Technology Helps Utility Reduce Methane Emissions from Pipeline

Southern California Gas Co. recently used innovative gas capture technology to empty natural gas from a permanently abandoned pipeline in Santa Clarita, Calif.  The special process enables gas to be saved for later use while eliminating noise and emissions that occur in the traditional venting metho..

Frontier Communications Makes Leadership Change

Frontier Communications Corporation today announced that John Maduri, a telecommunications expert with 30 years in the industry, has been named to the position of Executive Vice President, Consumer Sales, Marketing & Product. Maduri will join the company on July 24 and succeed Cecilia McKenney, who ..

Southwest Research Institute Patents New Pipeline Inspection Technology

The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has patented a new technology to inspect coatings of pipelines installed through horizontal directional drilling. The technology can identify both the extent and the configuration of any damage to the coating that occurs during HDD installation,” said Dr. Pav..

Rice Electronics Launches Connected Worker Solution

Rice Electronics has launched the Connected Worker Solution with Intel® IoT technology. Designed to improve the safety and productivity of field workers in industrial environments, the end-to-end IoT solution using Rice Electronics smart devices along with Intel-based IoT gateways provides robust co..

McElroy Releases New DataLogger® 6

McElroy has released the new DataLogger® 6, an Android-powered tablet that makes collecting and analyzing data on fusible pipeline projects easier than ever before. The DataLogger® 6 offers a modernized touchscreen interface and easy-to-navigate software system with on-screen instructions. Fusion o..

Corning Launches Multi-use Platform to Make Launching Fiber Networks Easier

Corning Incorporated has launched its multiuse platform, the industry’s first solution to offer a combination of multifiber and single-fiber connection points, making it easier for carriers, operators, and municipalities to quickly deploy fiber-deep access networks. The multiuse platform will be fea..

Viavi Introduces Innovative Fiber Optic Cable Technology

Viavi Solutions has released the SmartClass™ Fiber MPOLx optical loss test set, the first Tier 1 certification test solution for cabling systems that utilize ribbon fiber with multi-fiber push on (MPO) connectivity The MPOLx can perform all MPO Tier 1 (basic) test and certification requ..

Rural Alaska Gets High-speed Internet In Europe-Asia Project

By installing 900 miles of fiber-optic cable connecting Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope, Anchorage-based telecommunications company Quintillion Holdings is bringing broadband internet to the Arctic for the first time. Marking the first phase of a larger project to lay a fiber-optic..

ECI Upgrades Rainier Connect's Optical Transport Network to 100G

ECI® has successfully upgraded Rainier Connect’s optical transport network to 100G using the company’s Apollo family of products. The project was funded in part, by the Rural Utilities Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers programs providing ..

Report: Water Utilities Must Embrace Innovation

More than half of water utility leaders globally have yet to embrace innovation and risk missing out on important “sustainability dividends,” according to a new Arcadis report, “Empowering Water Utility Innovation, which builds on a 190-page industry guidance manual, “Fostering Innovation Within Wat..

TRC Companies to Supply Real-Time Data for Pipeline Construction Project

TRC Companies, Inc. has received a $2.5 million contract to provide engineering and construction support to PSNC Energy for its 40-mile Franklin and Wake County Extension Project in North Carolina. “TRC has been honored to serve PSNC Energy for several years, and we are excited to support its work ..

South Dakota Working to Be Among First to Get 5G Technology

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — When Scott Sandal is talking to potential clients, he seems to always get the same question about the speed and bandwidth of the internet he relies on for his business. “They’re like, ‘in South Dakota?'” he said. Sandal is Sunbird Software’s director of service a..

Carolina Underground Solutions Acquired by Ex-CEO of South Carolina Telecom Contractor

Carolina Underground Solutions, a contractor providing drilling, boring, and trenching services for the installation of underground telecommunications cabling, has been acquired by Braddock Cunningham, former CEO of Network Controls and Electric, a telecommunications contractor in South Carolina. “..

Pipeline H2O Announces 2017 Winners

Pipeline H2O, a water technology commercialization program managed by The Hamilton Mill, has selected PowerTech Water and Searen as the winners of its inaugural competition, with each company receiving $25,000. The winners were selected using the Village Capital Enterprise Framework and its Peer Re..

City of Atlanta, AT&T Launch Competition to Solve Infrastructure Challenges

AT&T, in collaboration with the City of Atlanta and Code for Atlanta, today announced the launch of the Atlanta Civic Coding Competition (C3), which offers the public an opportunity to help solve some of Atlanta’s toughest challenges through an app challenge. The C3 program will allow individua..

Report Calls for “Internet of Water” for Sustainability

The Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University and Redstone Strategy Group have released Internet of Water: Sharing and Integrating Water Data for Sustainability, a Aspen Institute Dialogue Series on Water Data report ..

Navigant: The Utility Value Chain to Change Significantly by 2030

Navigant Research has released a new whitepaper, Defining the Digital Future of Utilities, highlighting the opportunities and challenges that the utility industry will face during the transition to an intelligent and distributed future. According to Navigant, significant change is already underway ..

The Great Lakes Water Utility Energy Challenge Announces Finalists

The Great Lakes Protection Fund and American Water Works Association have announced the finalists in the Water Utility Energy Challenge, an innovative program which engages water operators in a competition to reduce the emissions sourced in their energy generation. The inaugural 2017-2018 competitio..

A. O. Smith, The Water Council Announce 2nd-Annual Water Technology Challenge

For the second consecutive year, A. O. Smith Corporation and The Water Council have agreed to partner together to identify and support entrepreneurs and start-ups developing innovative freshwater technologies through a global technology challenge, BREW Corporate: Powered by A. O. Smith. The challen..

PG&E Wins Award for Innovative App

InformationWeek has named Pacific Gas and Electric Company as the winner of the 2017 IT Excellence Award in the Data and Analytics category. The annual award program recognizes leaders and companies that demonstrate outstanding innovation in information technology. PG&E was recognized for its Mobile..

Fluke Unveils New Gas Leak Detector

Fluke Corp. has released the Ti450 SF6 Gas Leak Detector, which combines a high-quality infrared camera with an SF6 leak detector that visually pinpoints the location of SF6 leaks without shutting equipment down. The Ti450 SF6 allows utility crews to include it as a normal part of their maintena..

Companies Join Forces to Help Utilities Better Design Sewer, Water Systems

The SUEZ Group has agreed to provide increased capital funding to Optimatics, a company specializing in technology that optimizes the design of water and sewer networks. “We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Optimatics and to support the development of this young digital innovative compa..

The Evolution Of Grouting Solutions

Injection grouting is described by its proponents as the first trenchless technology to repair leaks in underground pipes. First used for municipal applications more than 50 years ago, injection grouting has advanced to become the most economical and reliable method for controlling infiltration in ..

Do Manhole Rehabilitation Technologies Perform as Expected?

Spending for manhole structure rehabilitation has grown due to increased deterioration and collection system infiltration control. It is important to understand how the manhole structure functions, and how the deterioration and corrosion mechanisms are affecting the structures. Should the structures..

Xylem: Improving Infrastructure Can Make Cities More Resilient

Xylem Inc. has released a whitepaper outlining strategies to increase the resilience of cities around the world. According to the United Nations, 66 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, posing a distinct and urgent need to create more resilient urban centers, capable o..

Company Develops New Fiber Optic Installation Tool

Panduit has released a new tool for fiber-optic cable installers, the OptiCam 2.0 Termination Tool. The tool delivers an immediate calculated insertion loss, which improves productivity by shortening the time installers spend on the jobsite and increases contractor profitability by decreasing projec..