AT&T designates Kentucky's Mt. Sterling Industrial Park as fiber ready; Australia NBN connects 1,000 homes with FTTN service

Wireline news from across the web:

> The FCC has authorized more than $5 million in funding for three more rural broadband experiment awardees. Telecompetitor article

> Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) said that 51 days since it launched, 1,000 homes have been connected via fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) technology. TeleGeography article

> AT&T announced that Kentucky's Mt. Sterling Industrial Park has been designated AT&T Fiber Ready. Release

> Bel Air Internet, a California-based communications provider, donated their Pop Up Temporary Internet to the Hustle N' Code Hackathon at the Slauson Community Center in South Los Angeles. Release

Cable News
> Comcast has agreed to pay the state of California $25.95 million to settle a dispute in which the MSO is accused of unlawfully disposing of remote controls, modems, routers, power adapters, splitters and other electronic waste. Article

> Lawyers for Adelphia Communications founder John Rigas, 91 and suffering from terminal cancer, have submitted papers to a federal court judge asking for the imprisoned cable pioneer's early release. Article

Installer News
> Lawyers representing the employees of Florida-based DirecTV installation contractor MasTec Inc. filed a brief with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that  that waivers in employment agreements that call for arbitration in the event of disputes violate workers' rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Article

Online Video News
> AOL, which has redoubled its online video strategies alongside the launch of its multiscreen automated ad-buying platform ONE, is more tightly integrating with online video provider Dailymotion in an expansion of the relationship the companies have had since 2012. Article

Wireless News
> Shares of Sprint were up more than 4 percent Wednesday afternoon after the carrier said it will give away 32-inch Samsung TVs to users who buy or lease certain Samsung phones during the holidays. Article

> T-Mobile capped its holiday-season promotional campaign with an offer packaging a $100 discount and a free year of Netflix with the sale of some new Samsung smartphones. Article

And finally@BellLabs study: SPs can reduce operating costs by up to 40% through virtualizing residential gateway functions. Release