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As part of its bid to acquire the assets of T-Mobile, AT&T made the case earlier this year that consolidation through mergers were the only way for nationwide carriers to inexpensively (the euphemism here being "horizontally") piece together a 4G network.

Today, Verizon Wireless demonstrated that is clearly not the case, in a deal which enables it to manage the block of spectrum that was the subject of the best-placed bid in the big FCC 700 MHz auction of 2008, even though VZW was already the clear winner of that auction already.

Last week's issuance by the Federal Communications Commission of rules to protect what some still call "net neutrality" was destined to be legally challenged by someone, on some grounds - that's the nature of regulatory government. (In a pre-emptive strike, Verizon filed its challenge last January.) But in the first of what will probably be several challenges since the order, the advocacy group Free Press makes one and only one argument.

It cuts to the quick, and then stops: The FCC can't adopt two sets of rules for a "mobile Internet" and a "fixed Internet," while pretending to uphold "one Internet" to the public.

The then-newly installed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, said in October 2009, "We are fast entering a world where mass-market mobile devices consume thousands of megabytes each month. So we must ask: What happens when every mobile user has an iPhone, a Palm Pre, a BlackBerry Tour or whatever the next device is? What happens when we quadruple the number of subscribers with mobile broadband on their laptops or netbooks? The short answer: We will need a lot more spectrum."

Yesterday, a systematic and mathematical analysis of U.S. spectrum allocation blatantly called Genachowski's statement to the 2009 CTIA Wireless conference flat wrong.

Last Monday's suspension by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission of the 180-day countdown clock for the review of AT&T's proposed purchase of wireless spectrum from Qualcomm, was another signal that regulators for the current administration may not be as permissive about acquisitions as those for the prior one. Now, as The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday afternoon, AT&T has hired Bank of America to help it consider, and perhaps execute, a sale of certain assets, in hopes of appeasing regulators who continue to look askance at its proposed acquisition of the U.S. assets of T-Mobile.

Qualcomm reached an agreement with AT&T to sell its remaining share of the D block of 700 MHz spectrum in the U.S. last December. In an effort to convince regulators they may be holding up the innovation process, late Monday, Qualcomm issued a statement on behalf of the corporation that made a bold, but unusual, claim: It would only have the resources to build services such as FLO TV using that spectrum, if it could sell that spectrum to AT&T first.

When the FCC unveiled its National Broadband Map, it was hailed as a move that would highlight the different levels of broadband penetration in the country. Indeed, when Curt Hopkins covered the story here at ReadWriteWeb, he noted that the government's broadband map revealed an "unconnected nation."

The FCC's map was part of a larger government effort to help boost broadband availability and was hailed as a marker of industry transparency. However, although the map does answer a lot of questions - what providers are operating in an area and what speeds do they promise - it really doesn't paint a complete picture.

That's where Bandwidth.com has stepped in, with its own broadband map - available at Broadband.com - that offers a lot more of those missing details, including some crucial ones: how much does broadband cost and what speeds do you actually get.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is set to unveil a $9 million pilot program aimed at making sure students have access to mobile broadband not just when they're in the classroom, but when they leave for home.

At an event in New York City today, Genachowski will announce a list of 20 schools and libraries that the FCC plans to connect to the wireless Internet so that students can use Internet-ready devices on and off school campuses.

The Federal Communications Commission will announce plans to begin converting the $8 billion fund that subsidizes rural telephone services into one that will help pay for broadband in underserved areas. According to The New York Times, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is set to outline the proposal in a speech today.

The plan will involve reshaping the Universal Service Fund, a decade-old subsidy which is paid for by fees added onto most consumers' phone bills. That money is then disitributed among phone companies to help subsidize the costs of providing services to rural areas.

The FCC has released a report on the state of broadband connectivity at those schools and libraries that receive funds from the federal E-rate program. The E-rate program provides more than $2.25 billion in funding annually in order to offer discounts for schools and libraries so that they can obtain affordable telecommunications services and Internet access.

The report is based on data from a survey conducted in 2010 that looks at broadband usage in schools and libraries. The survey found that almost all respondents have some form of broadband connection to at least one facility. Just 2% use satellite and 3% use dial-up in order to access the Internet.

The Federal Communications Commission has opened a Notice of Inquiry, seeking public comment on how best to update the nation's 911 services. The FCC wants to expand 911 beyond the phone call for help, bringing advanced communication technologies to the decades old emergency program.

According to the FCC, there are more than 650,000 911 calls made daily, and nearly 70% of those come from mobile devices. However, "right now you can't text 9-1-1," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, noting that during the Virginia Tech school shootings in 2007, some witnesses tried to text 911 but the texts simply never went through and the messages weren't received by dispatchers.

If, as some say, a deal can only be called successful when everyone involved leaves the table unsatisfied, then the net neutrality rules approved at a meeting this morning by the Federal Communications Commission may be a success.

Under the rules, two years in the making, no provider may block another company's traffic, however, it may offer "faster" access to companies willing to pay more.