Telecom/Electric

PHMSA Releases Mobile App for Pipeline Regulations

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has released a new online Code of Federal Regulations (oCFR) mobile application that provides first-ever mobile access to PHMSA’s Pipeline Safety Regulations in 49 CFR parts 190-199, which highlights the f..

Teleste and Antronix JV to Bring Next Gen Cable Technology to North American Markets

Antronix, a manufacturer of broadband products in the United States, and Teleste, a provider of video and broadband technologies and related services in Europe, have entered a joint venture to offer Next Generation Gigabit cable access network solutions to North American broadband markets. The joint..

Peak Utility Services Group Acquires Kelly Cable

Peak Utility Services Group, a utility services provider serving natural gas, telecom, and electric utility markets in the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West regions of the United States, has acquired Kelly Cable of New Mexico. As part of the transaction, Mike Ford, the President of Kelly Cab..

Subsite Electronics Acquires R.S. Technical Services

Subsite Electronics, a Charles Machine Works Company, has acquired the assets of R.S. Technical Services, Inc., an innovator in the design and manufacture of closed-circuit television remote inspection and monitoring cameras. The deal adds proven camera inspection capabilities to Subsite’s line of U..

Every Arkansas Public School to Have High-Speed Internet This Fall

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A project to implement high-speed internet at every Arkansas school is expected to be complete in time for the new school year. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2t9laBq) reports that Arkansas will be one of a handful of states that guarantees high-speed internet..

Digital Divide Affecting Nebraska

GLADBROOK (AP) — On the wide-open plains of central Nebraska, a little more than a mile north of the Logan County line along Avenue 70, Pam Schaeffer can go days without functional internet. On those days, her husband Rodney will walk around the house grumbling about technology as he holds up his c..

Cut Fiber Optic Cable Forces North Carolina DMV Offices to Close

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — An internet network outage in central North Carolina has forced approximately 35 driver license and license plate agency offices to suspend services. The N.C. Department of Transportation said in a news release that Division of Motor Vehicles officials were told by Time W..

New Series Highlights "Utility of the Future" Challenges

The Retail Energy Practice of global economic consultancy The Brattle Group is producing a series of briefs that provide an integrated view into potential utility responses to the challenges and trends associated with the “Utility of the Future” (UoF). “The business model that has worked for utilit..

Comcast Completes $1.7 Million Fiber Optic Expansion

Comcast Business has completed a nearly $1.7 million fiber optic network expansion project in downtown New Haven, Connecticut.  As a result, Comcast’s high-performance network is now delivering up to 10 Gigabits-per-second of Ethernet capacity to more than seven businesses located between Tower ..

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..

TTC Celebrates 10-Year Partnership With China For Trenchless R&D

For 27 years, the Trenchless Technology Center (TTC), an industry/university/government research center at Louisiana Tech University, has served as a global leader for the development of technologies influencing almost every aspect of trenchless construction methods.  In April, the TTC’s Dr. Thomas ..

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..

Updated FTTH Brand Reflects Next-Generation Innovation, Partnership, Energy

Keeping up with the ever-evolving fiber industry, its largest and only trade association has made a big change. Fiber to the Home Council Americas (FTTH) is now the Fiber Broadband Association. While still committed to fiber to the home, the new name reflects the expanded demand for the speed and r..

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..