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FCC Cites Brattle’s Analyses in Landmark Decision for Inmate Calling Rate Fairness

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WASHINGTON, July 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Following a July 18 vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted new rules to enforce the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022. These new rules, which now prevent phone carriers from sharing their profits with the facilities they serve, will reduce the cost of a 15-minute phone call by more than $10 at some facilities. These more reasonable rates for Incarcerated People’s Communications Services (IPCS) will allow incarcerated people and their loved ones to stay connected, preserving families and reducing the chances of reincarceration. 

The FCC order establishing the new rules extensively references Brattle’s analysis. The phone carriers serving this market advocated for higher rates, ones covering costs that went well beyond providing phone and video services in prisons and jails. Brattle’s model carrier approach for setting just and reasonable rate caps for audio and video communications services demonstrated the reasonableness of the FCC’s new rates.

A Brattle team – led by Principals Coleman Bazelon and Paroma Sanyal – served as the pro bono economists for the leading group advocating for the FCC to lower the costs of calls in prisons and jails, the Wright Petitioners. Working with their pro bono counsel, Jenner & Block, Brattle provided independent analysis estimating per-minute costs for audio and video calls in small, medium, and large facilities, drawing on the 2023 ICPS Mandatory Data Collection as well as market data.

“This is a landmark victory for those who have endured exorbitant IPCS rates for an unjustifiably long time. After more than a decade refuting the carriers’ inflated cost analyses, incarcerated people and their loved ones will finally pay rates to talk to each other that are related to the costs of providing service,” said Dr. Bazelon.

According to the FCC’s order, reducing calling rates for the incarcerated population has several positive financial and social impacts. Financially, lower calling rates provide crucial relief to both inmates and their families, easing the strain of exorbitant communication costs. Socially, promoting affordable communication in prisons not only upholds basic human rights but also contributes to lower recidivism rates by helping inmates maintain vital connections to the outside world.

“We applaud the FCC for taking this important and monumental action. This order serves as a transformative win for incarcerated people and their loved ones who for far too long have had to grapple with outrageous IPCS rates,” said Rebekah P. Goodheart, co-chair of Jenner & Block’s Communications, Internet, and Technology practice. “Thanks to the relentless advocacy of various groups and civil rights organizations, much-needed relief will be provided.”

Since 2013, over 30 individuals have contributed to Brattle’s pro bono analysis on this topic, with exceptional contributions from Senior Research Analyst Shea Peretz and Research Analysts Preetul Sen and Natalie Selfe.

ABOUT BRATTLE
The Brattle Group answers complex economic, finance, and regulatory questions for corporations, law firms, and governments around the world. We are distinguished by the clarity of our insights and the credibility of our experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists. Brattle has 500 professionals across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please visit brattle.com.

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SOURCE The Brattle Group

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SuperIT AI Agents Launch in North America With Free Tier To Fix IT Incidents Without Runbooks

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Australian startup brings its self-service platform to North American MSPs ahead of IT Nation Connect. MSPs can have an AI agent working on real tickets within an hour of sign-up, with paid plans starting at US$99 a month.

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — SuperIT, an Australian AI startup whose AI agents investigate and fix end-user IT issues directly on managed devices, today launched its platform for North American managed service providers (MSPs) and IT teams on a self-service basis, as part of global availability. A new free tier with no expiry includes unlimited AI ticket triage and monthly credits for other AI features, and paid plans start at US$99 a month. MSPs and IT teams can sign up at https://superit.ai, connect their ticketing system and have an AI agent working real tickets within the first hour, with no sales call or contract.

“SuperIT investigates problems it hasn’t seen before and fixes them on the device, within limits each MSP sets.” (Sale)

The launch, ahead of IT Nation Connect in Orlando (Nov. 4–6), moves SuperIT from early access with MSPs in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. to general availability worldwide, with North America the company’s focus market.

“This is a new era for IT and MSP software, where products win on technical merit, not contract lock-in. The days of signing a one- to three-year contract just to try a product are over,” said Christopher Sale, CEO and co-founder of SuperIT. “We believe SuperIT is the best AI agent in its class, so we’re making it free to use with no time limit and letting MSPs judge it on their own tickets. Most AI in IT support stops at triage or a pre-written script. SuperIT investigates problems it hasn’t seen before and fixes them on the device, within limits each MSP sets.”

Fixing, not just triage and suggestions

Many AI tools for MSPs classify and assign tickets, suggest knowledge articles or run predefined scripts. SuperIT does those things, and is built to go further: to diagnose and resolve unfamiliar issues without a pre-written workflow. Two proprietary technologies make that possible:

– Digital Twin. An evolving model of each customer’s IT environment, built from managed-device telemetry and third-party integrations. Each new issue is investigated with that context rather than from scratch.

– SuperIT Endpoint Agent. Runs on managed devices to gather diagnostics, analyze configuration and system behavior, run commands through controlled PowerShell execution, apply fixes and verify the issue is resolved.

Each MSP decides how independently SuperIT works. Within those limits it resolves issues on its own. Outside them, it works with an engineer to plan, approve and carry out the fix. Early customers use SuperIT for triage and first response, routine service desk workflows, technical investigation, and unfamiliar L1–L3 incidents. SuperIT helps with recurring tasks like new user onboarding and offboarding, all the way to the most complex once-off server performance troubleshooting or network incidents, and everything in between.

Early results

In early evaluations across the technician conversations reviewed with SuperIT’s early MSP partners, the technician’s goal was fully or partly achieved in 91.1%, and 74.1% were assessed as clearly useful or decisive, such as finding key information, running diagnostics or performing the fix. Fields written by SuperIT’s AI triage were still unchanged at review in 99% of cases for ticket type, 96% for subtype, 93% for priority and 91% for item.

Usage grew quickly ahead of the launch. Between July and September 2026, the number of customers MSPs have deployed SuperIT to grew 71%, tickets synced more than doubled, and monthly autonomous agent runs more than doubled, including a nearly tenfold increase in ticket investigations. Monthly recurring revenue grew more than sixfold from August to September.

“We’ve tested many ticket remediation solutions, and only SuperIT passed our accuracy tests. It’s also very easy to use,” said Sam Gridley, CEO of Hawaii-based MSP Intech Hawaii.

Availability and pricing

SuperIT’s free tier has no trial expiry. It includes unlimited AI ticket triage, with fair-use limits, and monthly credits (enough for light AI usage), with access to all platform features. Paid plans run from US$99 to US$9,900 a month, month to month contracts, with more credits on larger plans. Tiers are available for IT teams of all sizes, including custom plans for larger MSPs and IT departments with enterprise requirements. Guided onboarding and assisted proofs of concept remain available.

“MSPs shouldn’t have to sit through sales demos, sign long contracts or commit to big minimums just to find out whether an AI tool like SuperIT works in their environment,” said Sale. “Start free, prove it on real tickets and scale when you’re ready.”

Integrations and security

SuperIT integrates natively with ConnectWise PSA, Autotask, HaloPSA and Accelo, with more to come. Its workflow actions feature lets MSPs connect any platform with a public API as a tool the AI agent can use. Every command passes a security pipeline and a three-tier policy (allowed, needs approval, blocked) and runs as the signed-in user, never with system-level rights. Every action is recorded in an append-only audit trail, and MSPs can require engineer approval for any command or category of action.

Growing without hiring at the same rate

MSP growth has traditionally meant hiring more engineers as client numbers rise. SuperIT is designed to break that link, so MSPs can support more clients with their existing teams, cut engineering time per ticket and improve gross margins.

SuperIT also expects the platform to let MSPs offer new AI-first managed services, priced lower because AI agents do much of the technical work and engineers step in when needed. That makes smaller, price-sensitive businesses profitable to serve, an opportunity that also suits office technology dealers building managed IT practices without large engineering teams.

North America

The expansion follows demand from North American MSPs that saw SuperIT’s early results. North American customers will initially be supported by SuperIT’s existing team and global platform, and the company plans to open a dedicated U.S. team in the first quarter of 2027.

SuperIT raised a US$1.7 million (AU$2.5 million) pre-seed round in December 2025 from Hustle Fund, Antler, CoVentures, Top Down Ventures, angel investors, and MSP owners and industry experts.

IT Nation Connect attendees can see SuperIT in the Solutions Hall, Nov. 4–6. MSPs can sign up free at https://superit.ai

About SuperIT

SuperIT builds AI agents that investigate, troubleshoot and resolve end-user IT incidents and service requests, so MSPs and internal IT teams can scale support without adding headcount at the same rate. Its platform combines a Digital Twin of each customer’s IT environment with an endpoint agent that acts directly on managed devices, within limits each MSP sets. Founded in 2025 in Adelaide, Australia, and now operating globally, SuperIT is backed by Top Down Ventures, Hustle Fund, Antler and CoVentures. Learn more and sign up free at https://superit.ai

Media Contact

Christopher Sale, SuperIT, 1 650 466 9762, press@superit.ai, www.superit.ai

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SOURCE SuperIT

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New TELUS collective agreement ratified by the United Steelworkers membership

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Agreement reached ahead of current contract’s expiry provides stability for more than 3,000 team members across Canada

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 2, 2026 /CNW/ — TELUS today announced that team members represented by the Telecommunications Workers Union, United Steelworkers Local 1944 (USW) bargaining unit have ratified the new agreement reached by the parties earlier this month. This new agreement, which has a term of April 1, 2027 to December 31, 2031, will apply to more than 3,000 TELUS team members nationally.

“Thank you to our team members for supporting this agreement and to both bargaining teams for their constructive work,” said Victor Dodig, President and CEO of TELUS. “Reaching an agreement well ahead of the current contract’s expiry provides stability for our team members and our business, allowing us to focus together on delivering the reliable service and outstanding experiences our customers count on.”

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a leading Canadian communications technology company operating in more than 45 countries and generating over $20 billion in annual revenue with more than 17 million customer connections through our advanced suite of broadband services for consumers, businesses and the public sector. TELUS is passionate about putting our customers and communities first, leading the way globally in client service excellence and social capitalism. The TELUS PureFibre and 5G networks connect Canadians at home, at work and in the communities where they live.

TELUS Health is enhancing approximately 159 million lives across 200 countries and territories through innovative preventive medicine and well-being technologies. TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods utilizes digital technologies and data insights to optimize the connection between producers and consumers. TELUS Digital specializes in digital customer experiences and future-focused digital transformations that deliver value for their global clients.

Since 2000, TELUS and our team members have contributed more than $1.85 billion in cash, in-kind contributions, time and programs to communities across Canada and around the world.

For more information, visit telus.com.

For more information, please contact:
Chelsey Higdon
TELUS Public Relations
chelsey.higdon@telus.com 

SOURCE TELUS Communications Inc.

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USI Unveils Wi-Fi 8 SiP Module for Enhanced AI Device Connectivity

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SHANGHAI, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — USI today announced its Wi-Fi 8 (IEEE 802.11bn) roadmap, with product launch planned for the first quarter of 2027. Building on its Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 with System-in-Package (SiP) technology, USI is positioning itself to help customers capture the next wave of wireless innovation.

Wi-Fi 8 shifts focus from peak data rates to Ultra-High Reliability (UHR), efficiency, and consistent user experience. This matters as devices shrink, from smartphones and AI laptops to smart glasses, smart rings, and TWS earbuds, and must maintain stable connections despite limited antenna space, constrained battery capacity, and complex RF environments.

Key Wi-Fi 8 technologies include:

Multi-AP Coordination: Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF) and Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR)Dynamic Spectrum Optimization: Dynamic Sub-channel Operation (DSO)PHY enhancements: Distributed Resource Unit (DRU), Enhanced Long Range (ELR), and Unequal Modulation (UEQM)

Together, these advances enable smarter, more coordinated wireless networks and extend advanced connectivity to wearables and next-generation robotics.

Shrinking form factors bring tighter space, battery, thermal, and power demands. USI draws on deep expertise in SiP design, RF engineering, wireless module integration, advanced packaging, and high-volume manufacturing to help customers reduce product size, optimize power consumption, and simplify system design. Its Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 SiP miniaturization, combined with advanced RF and shielding technologies, provides a strong base for the Wi-Fi 8 transition.

Wi-Fi 8 is also expected to drive deeper system-level integration across wireless ICs, RF front-end components, antennas, power management, and advanced packaging, so that wireless performance and miniaturization evolve together in wearable, mobile, and IoT products.

“Wi-Fi 8 is about more than faster speeds. It is about enabling devices to maintain reliable, consistent, and predictable connections in complex wireless environments. USI will combine its capabilities in wireless connectivity, RF design, SiP integration, and advanced process technology to help customers overcome the challenges of product miniaturization and rising system complexity, accelerating the time to market for next-generation smart devices.” said Jessica Yu, Associate Vice President of Wireless & Wearable Miniaturization Solutions at USI.

Wi-Fi 6 and 6E improved network efficiency and expanded available spectrum, and Wi-Fi 7 significantly raised throughput, bandwidth, and responsiveness. Wi-Fi 8 goes further, delivering greater reliability, predictability, and efficiency in increasingly complex wireless environments.

About USI (601231.SH)

USI, Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., is a global leader in electronic design and manufacturing as well as a leader in the field of SiP (System-in-Package) technology. Our production and service locations span four continents: Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa, offering customer diversified electronic products with D(MS)2 services: Design, Manufacturing, Miniaturization, Industrial software, and hardware Solutions, as well as material procurement, logistics and maintenance Services. USI is a subsidiary of ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. (TWSE: 3711, NYSE: ASX). To learn more, please visit www.usiglobal.com and engage with us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/usi-unveils-wi-fi-8-sip-module-for-enhanced-ai-device-connectivity-302924735.html

SOURCE USI

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