NASHVILLE -- Much of what’s in the National Broadband Plan has been well-known, FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Sharon Gillett said as the CompTel convention got underway. FCC Strategic Planning Chief Paul de Sa said part of the plan’s value is “saying what’s part of our vision and what’s not part of our vision.” The commission will set a period to carry out the plan’s recommendations, to make the process open, Gillett said. The intent also is “to give the feeling of knowing when your stuff is going to be addressed,” she said. “People understand you can’t do everything on the first day of the National Broadband Plan.”

The most connected societies aren’t the major sources of growth of the Internet economy, said a report (www.xrl.us/bgymnd) Monday by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation on the growth and future of the 25-year-old .com domain. The media fixation on social networking has obscured much more important growth mechanisms whose success can’t be reduced to universal broadband, foundation President Robert Atkinson told reporters Monday. “It’s a mistake to put so much emphasis on broadband” and less on the applications that make the Internet useful, as the FCC seems to be doing, he said.

The significant time devoted by many FCC staffers to work on the National Broadband Plan the past year, and the commission’s attention to the subject, cut into the time and energy available for more routine matters, said broadcast and cable lawyers. That leaves some items languishing, causing some licensees regulatory confusion and leaving complaints unresolved, they said. “While the task Congress assigned to the FCC was enormous, all of the effort and energy the commission put into creating the plan will reap many benefits in the years to come,” said an agency spokesman.

Cable operators support seven principles to let subscribers buy video devices from retailers that could connect to any pay-TV provider’s service, NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow said Friday. The plan could be the base for FCC inter-industry efforts on retail video devices, he wrote Chairman Julius Genachowski at http://xrl.us/bgyb38. The National Broadband Plan will recommend a move toward so-called gateway set-top boxes (CD Feb 22 p4). CEA said the principles are “good."

The proposed Universal Service Fund contribution increase to 15.3 percent for the 2010 second quarter is no surprise, but continues to show the need for reform, said Steve Berry, CEO of Rural Cellular Association. “We knew it was coming,” he said in an interview. “But the commission has to reform the current process and restructure USF.” Berry said wireless carriers, whose contributions are capped, are not to blame: “The issue is you have a wireline component that loses subscribers every year but their contributions increase every year.” There’s “an antiquated system that supports an antiquated technology and we haven’t figured out a way to reduce that support as people choose to go with different technologies."

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission voted unanimously Thursday to allow at least 10 more months of study on a proposal to impose toll-free calling intrastate, citing the need for accurate communication and as much public involvement as possible. It’s key that all stakeholders address issues that could affect the availability of phone service throughout the state, the commission said. The proposal, previously in line to be forwarded to the Legislature April 1 (CD Mar 11 p12), won’t see action before Jan. 19.

Advances in ad technology and Internet connectivity could within years bring more money into targeted advertising from major brand marketers, a category that has kept most of its major outlays with mass media outlets, a panelist said at the Media Summit in New York Thursday. “With everything IP-enabled, everything is addressable,” said Brandon Berger, vice president of digital innovation for MDC Partners, a holding company for marketing firms. “We as marketers will be able to deliver our message to the right customer in the right mindset that will get them to be an advocate and extend the brand’s value."

FCC program access rules withstood Cablevision’s legal challenge. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday denied the company’s petition to throw out the rules barring cable operators from withholding programming networks they own from competing distributors. “We will not substitute our judgement for the agency’s, especially when, as here, the decision requires expert policy judgement of a technical, complex and dynamic subject,” Chief Judge David Sentelle wrote. Judge Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

The Rural Utilities Service funded as part of its broadband stimulus program a project in Bretton Woods, N.H., which primarily will provide fiber to 400 ski chalets. That example is starting to make national news and was the basis of a CNN report last week. Some who have followed the NTIA and RUS programs tell as that with a second and final round of applications due starting Friday, many questions remain about the program. Meanwhile, a Treasury Department decision that grants will be subject to taxes is said likely to discourage some applicants.

The four co-chairs of the Congressional E-911 Caucus are introducing bipartisan legislation to upgrade 911 call centers nationwide and toughen penalties for states that divert 911 funds for other purposes. The bill also would move the national E-911 Implementation Coordination Office to the NTIA. Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and John Shimkus, R-Ill., introduced the 2010 Next-Generation 9-1-1 Preservation Act (HR-4829) in the House on Friday. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., plan to introduce a Senate version on Monday, said an Eshoo spokesman.