MI-Connection Communications System is forecasting revenue of $20.95 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2015, about 5.5 percent more than this year’s originally approved budget. The spending plan also calls for another reduction in the cash the system needs from its owners, the towns of Mooresville and Davidson. MI-Connection’s board of directors will hold a public hearing and vote on the 2015-16 budget at its quarterly meeting Thursday night. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

In a pair of votes Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission approved a big shift in the way high-speed internet providers are regulated, and one ruling could have an effect on municipally owned services such as MI-Connection in the Lake Norman area. Read the full story

Financial trends at MI-Connection. Click to enlarge. (SOURCE: MI-Connection Communications System reports)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Second-quarter revenues at the town-owned MI-Connection Communications System rose 7.8 percent from a year earlier as the cable and internet company continued to add customers. MI-Connection is benefiting from a rebound in residential growth around Lake Norman as well as by winning customers from competitors, CEO David Auger said.

Meanwhile, the company also announced it plans to increase the Local Broadcast Fee, which pays for local broadcast channels on the system. Read the full story

Google Fiber. Click to go to the Fiber homepage.

By JONATHAN COX
DavidsonNews.net/CorneliusNews.net

CHARLOTTE – Google Inc. confirmed Tuesday that Charlotte will be one of the next cities to receive its super-fast Google Fiber internet service. Some analysts think Google’s Charlotte network could reach the Lake Norman area, though the company isn’t tipping its hand yet.

The announcement makes Charlotte one of just nine metropolitan areas around the country slated to receive the service, which promises download and upload speeds 100 times faster than other internet providers.

Asked if Google planned to bring the service to Lake Norman, Google Director of Expansion Jill Szuchmacher said only: “It is too early to say. Right now we’re focusing on Charlotte itself … and then we will figure out from there when [expansion] makes sense, if it makes sense.” Read the full story

The MI-Connection Communications System Board of Directors holds its quarterly meeting Thursday night at Davidson Town Hall, with an update on the system’s operations and finances. Read the full story

Financial trends at MI-Connection. See text for further explanation. (SOURCE: Report to MI-Connection board, Oct. 31, 2014.)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

MI-Connection Communications System’s switch to new billing and technical support systems this summer negatively affected service for many customers, officials said last week. But the problems didn’t keep the town-owned company from adding customers and growing revenues in the fiscal 2015 first quarter that ended Sept. 30.

“We had great financial growth, great subscriber growth – the same or higher than prior years, and that’s despite all the turmoil over the past 90 days,” Chief Executive David Auger told board members at their quarterly meeting Thursday.

• Also at the meeting, auditors gave a mostly clean report to MI-Connection’s fiscal 2014 year-end financial statements. See below.

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MI-Connection Communications System customers lost TV, internet and phone service in an outage Wednesday afternoon. Read the full story

About 171,000 customers with Time Warner Cable phone lines were unable to receive inbound calls, make outbound calls, or dial 911 Thursday morning between 10:13am  and 10:39am, due to an outage that spanned parts of the Carolinas and Midwest. Read the full story