The FCC voted to revise rules in the wireless communications service band, making 25 MHz of spectrum available for mobile broadband use by WCS licensees more than a decade after the agency first took up the issue. The commission on Thursday also implemented new construction benchmarks for licensees in the band, meant to increase the speed of the service’s deployment. The FCC cited the order as the first step in the National Broadband Plan goal of freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum over 10 years for wireless broadband services. Previous rules for the spectrum limited its use to fixed services.

House Oversight Committee leaders seemed poised at a hearing Thursday to act to accelerate government agencies’ transition to Networx. That’s a General Services Administration program under which federal agencies can buy telecom, network and information services. Agencies must sign on to the program by June 2011, the expiration date for the GSA’s old telecom program, FTS2001. The transition is behind schedule for several reasons, said government and industry officials.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Loosening legal restrictions on carriers and other service providers to take cybersecurity actions is a study goal under a unified federal research and development effort, a Department of Homeland Security official said. Research into improving economic incentives -- one of three broad priorities that the administration has set for funding cybersecurity research -- will include consideration of how the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and other laws can be changed to give providers, broadly defined, increased protection from liability and wider freedom of action before they must defer to law enforcement, said Douglas Maughan, the official in charge of cybersecurity research at the department. He spoke late Wednesday at an event to publicize the broader effort for a federal research agenda and invite ideas from technologists. It was held by the federal National Coordinating Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) in connection with the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said he’s concerned the proposal for a national wireless broadband network outlined in the National Broadband Plan has not won the support of most public safety groups. Copps also said in an interview he has grown increasingly optimistic Congress will approve funding for the network, as proposed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Copps also predicted that compromise is possible among the five commissioners on comprehensive Universal Service Fund overhaul. Bringing in outsiders to oversee “every difficult issue” at the commission isn’t necessarily the way to go, Copps said when asked about the hiring of a head for the review of Comcast-NBC Universal deal. (See separate item in this issue.)

The FCC needs multiple tools for reallocating underutilized spectrum, Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, told the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee during its public meeting Wednesday. The committee released its reports on federal spectrum inventory, transparency, adjacent band interference, dynamic spectrum access and incentives for spectrum sharing.

The two direct broadcast satellite providers slowed their spending on lobbying in Q1, compared with Q4, analysis of public records shows. Dish Network and DirecTV’s combined expenses fell 23 percent to $860,000.

Legislators urged tightened security of veterans’ health and financial information at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In a House Veterans Affairs Oversight Subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans grilled department officials on steps they're taking to prevent breaches. Roger Baker, chief information officer of the department, admitted weaknesses but cited progress shifting the department’s culture to preclude future threats.

Cash and other compensation for carriage of TV stations in more deals between them and pay-TV providers doesn’t mean the FCC needs to change how it handles contractual disputes, many broadcasters said late Tuesday. It’s a sign that additional competition for multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) customers with the addition of subscription-video providers means broadcasters can get fair value for their signals, they said. Cable operators are no longer the only ones consumers pay to view TV, giving broadcasters more leverage, some filings suggested.

Required state approvals in hand and anticipating a nod soon from the FCC, Frontier Communications hopes to close its acquisition of networks and long-distance business from Verizon as soon as June 30, a company spokesman said. Regardless of the timing, for the first 30 to 45 days after the closing, Frontier’s focus will be melding its company culture with Verizon’s, Steven Crosby, the company’s senior vice president for government and corporate affairs, told us. “Systems are very cut-and-dried,” Crosby said. “You work with them, you test them, you get them right. The biggest job here is cultural integration."

A new digital agenda is the “first flagship that is leaving the port” in Europe’s effort to jump-start its economy and catch up with global competitors, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Wednesday. Part of the EU 2020 strategy, the plan focuses on seven priorities, including the promise of broadband for all by 2013 and access to increased online content through changes in copyright licensing and online payment regimes. It won praise, and a few complaints, from industry and rights groups.