Adam Bender

Vice President Joe Biden announced Thursday $182 million in broadband grants for 18 projects, in the first round of NTIA and RUS funding under the stimulus law. The grants benefit projects in 17 states and are matched by more than $46 million in private capital, Biden’s office said. A report by the president’s National Economic Council highlighted some of the winning projects, which aim to build last- and middle-mile infrastructure, connect community institutions and promote digital literacy and economic development.

Wireless microphones would have to clear out of the 700 MHz band by June 12 if the FCC adopts an order circulated late Thursday by Chairman Julius Genachowski, an FCC staffer told us. The draft order includes a temporary waiver authorizing microphones’ use until the DTV transition’s one-year anniversary, and also sets up an extensive outreach program to educate what the FCC believes is a significant number of affected users, the staffer said. The outreach effort would include requiring manufacturers and retailers to give consumers clear notice about how microphones are licensed, the staffer said. The draft order also includes a further notice of proposed rulemaking on the long-term of status of wireless microphones both within and outside of the TV bands. The order is “necessary and essential” to finish the DTV transition and “ensure public safety and commercial users don’t experience interference in the 700 MHz band,” the source said. Commissioners have been briefed on the item, but it’s not yet clear if they will vote on the item at the FCC’s Jan. 20 meeting or earlier, the staffer said.

The FCC tentatively concluded that the timing of the National Broadband Plan makes it impossible to overhaul the Universal Service Fund high-cost support mechanism for non-rural carriers like Qwest “at this time.” The commission had committed to answer a remand by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the subject by April 16. In a further notice of proposed rulemaking released late Tuesday, the commission sought comment on specific “interim changes” to address the court’s concerns and marketplace changes. While voting for the order, Commissioners Meredith Baker and Robert McDowell expressed some disappointment that the notice didn’t say more.

FCC commissioners agreed an open Internet has been key to promoting free speech but voiced sharp divisions on possible consequences of federal network neutrality rules, in an FCC net neutrality workshop Tuesday. Meanwhile, AT&T sent Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter highlighting areas of consensus it sees between advocates and opponents of new rules. Officials from CTIA and Public Knowledge also cited some conditional agreement.

ISPs resisted proposed rules requiring them to disclose more data about broadband speeds and other characteristics, urging an industry approach instead, in comments this week on an FCC National Broadband Plan public notice. But Google and public interest groups said transparency is lacking and rules are necessary. Some fixed broadband providers said any new rules applying to them should also apply to others in the broadband ecosystem.

A fight over call routing services that reduce the cost of prisoner phone calls but are allegedly unsafe flared this week and last in industry communications with the FCC. In meetings last week, VoIP provider Millicorp told the FCC its service ConsCallHome poses no security risk to jails, and prison telcos’ blocking of the service violates federal law. Prison telco Securus disputed the statements in an ex-parte letter to the FCC late Monday. Securus and many prisons back a federal ban (CD Sept 14 p8) of call routing services like ConsCallHome, while Millicorp wants an Enforcement Bureau investigation of ongoing call blocking by Securus and others.

Using the Internet for elections raises serious security and privacy concerns, said technologists and others in comments at the FCC on a National Broadband Plan public notice on digital democracy. While many supported webcasting of government meetings, some warned that putting any government process on the Web risks disenfranchising people without broadband access. And counties said they opposed national mandates.

Governments of all sizes must come together to bridge the digital divide, said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at an FCC workshop Wednesday on spurring broadband use among minorities and other underserved communities. Federal, state and local governments each do certain things right, Clyburn said. “If we recognize where our strengths are, where our abilities are, and recognize that no man is an island [and] it’s going to take all of us to uplift all of us, then indeed we have an opportunity to get it right,” she said.

The FCC broadband task force is considering some cuts for the Universal Service Fund that it will recommend in the National Broadband Plan due in February, a commission official said Wednesday. The FCC wants to change the focus of USF to broadband, but realizes simply adding broadband as a supported service would raise the already exorbitant contribution factor that carriers use to pay into the fund, the official said. Commissioners haven’t seen the proposals, but some industry players are already sounding alarm bells. FCC eighth floor staff were briefed on several aspects of the broadband plan as it is evolving late Wednesday, but were asked not to share the details.

Network management will be critical for dealing with network congestion for the foreseeable future, broadband industry officials told the FCC at an all-day workshop Tuesday. The forum was the commission’s first for its network neutrality rulemaking. Academics said the FCC may need to watch how ISPs use management tools. The FCC should avoid “heavy-handed regulation,” but it shouldn’t encourage anti-competitive technologies and business practices, said K.C. Claffy, a professor at the University of California, San Diego.