As some tipsters had suggested earlier this week, the FCC will be addressing white space broadband at their upcoming September 23 meeting. According to a meeting agenda (pdf) posted to the FCC website, the FCC's September meeting will focus on the E-Rate program (specifically, letting universities and schools purchase dark fiber directly), some E911 issues, and White Space broadband. The FCC announcement says that by creating rules that will allow "unlicensed wireless devices to operate in unused parts of TV spectrum," they'll "create opportunities for investment and innovation in advanced Wi-Fi technologies and a variety of broadband services." Somewhere, Wally the interference demon and Dolly Parton (aka the National Association of Broadcasters) are really pissed off.

If you remember the hysteria that surrounded war driving (people who drive around looking for unsecured hotspots), surely those terrified by the concept will enjoy this. According to Popular Science, a couple of hackers have modified a US Army gunnery target drone, turning it into a flying Wi-Fi sniffer. The WASP (Wi-Fi Aerial Surveillance Platform) is guided by an open source auto pilot system that uses Google Earth, and is capable of 1,000 square feet of "sniffing" at an altitude of about 400 feet. Once the drone finds the hotspot the pilot's looking for, it can be put into a holding pattern. The WASP's website has only the basic construction details if you're looking for a holiday weekend project.

As we've long noted, the FCC has made broadband policy decisions based on flawed and incomplete data for years. Part of the 1996 Telecom Act required that the agency release quarterly reports on the status of broadband deployment.

Verizon's "exclusive" agreement with Skype has created a Skype client that has a number of quirky restrictions -- including the fact that it eats your wireless minutes in some instances (conveniently keeping voice minutes relevant in the age of smartphone mobile VoIP). But Skype's specialized Verizon application also had a fairly nasty bug: Android users who used the Skype app over 3G couldn't turn on Wi-Fi -- at all.

In other words, they couldn't use Skype on 3G and browse the Internet via Wi-Fi. At the time, Verizon gave a roundabout explanation, admitting there was a bug, but also insisting that CALEA wiretap restrictions were partially to blame for the problem, as the Verizon-specific app runs over Verizon's traditional voice network. Whatever the cause, Verizon and Skype have apparently figured it out, and Skype for Verizon smartphones now works with Wi-Fi turned on.

You might recall that former FCC boss Kevin Martin and a company by the name of M2Z Networks had been cooking up a plan for a smut-censored free national wireless service with a free wireless component. We had predicted the plan would never actually leave the ground and that wound up being true, the project derailed by both politics and the fact that the plan itself while creative -- simply wasn't very good.

Back in June broadband streaming video game service OnLive launched, offering users what's essentially a dumb terminal community-driven gaming service for $14.95 a month -- plus the cost of games. Reviews for the service so far have been mixed, and not too surprisingly dependent on the quality and speed of your broadband connection. Currently, the service only operates with an Ethernet connection -- but OnLive's considering adding 802.11n to the unit as a beta product sometime before October. They're also extending their Founding Members program for the second time, offering users a free year of service and a $4.95 monthly rate for life (theirs, or yours) to users who signs up before January 1, 2011.

Just yesterday we were discussing how analysts believe Verizon wasn't truly competing in the prepaid space because they were concerned with diminishing the perceived value of the Verizon brand, and having to engage in price competition with smaller carriers. With a flood of recent new prepaid offers, Verizon has announced a new unlimited data package for select smartphone users priced at $30 per month, and a $10 plan with a 25MB monthly cap and 20 cent per megabyte overage fee. As PC World notes this is a mixed bag on value (see chart), with users paying more for their phone, voice minutes and monthly total bill than postpaid, but with no ETF. By restricting qualified phone models and making users pay a monthly premium for voice and data, Verizon's trying to actually discourage users from going prepaid.

• Cisco to Service Providers: Get Moving on IPv6 [lightreading.com]
• Have we seen the last of M2Z? [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• Rumor mill: AT&T could move to acquire C&W Worldwide [fiercetelecom.com]
• U.S. Broadband Starts To Speed Ahead [forbes.com]
• Former UK Communications Minister: Government was wrong to axe broadband tax [pcpro.co.uk]
• Verizon Wireless Adds $30/Month Prepaid Unlimited Data Plan [foxbusiness.com]
• 90% of UK consumers confused by broadband advertising [theregister.co.uk]
• Skype updates Android app for Verizon users, lets you keep the WiFi on [engadget.com]
• FCC Gets Earful On Further Inquiries On Net Neutrality [multichannel.com]
• IBM Introduces World's Fastest Processor: 5.2GHz Enterprise Chip [hothardware.com]
• Wireless charger standard released [electronicsweekly.com]
• Sony Shows Prototypes of a Planned 3-D VAIO Laptop [mobile-tech-today.com]

Sure, incumbent lobbyists and dysfunctional regulators may have crushed the majority of major, independent, residential broadband ISPs in the United States, but California-based ISP Sonic.net not only survived the indie ISP-pocalypse, but they're busily building their own network. As we've covered for years, Sonic's offering ADSL2+ (bonded, when possible) capable of providing speeds up to 40 Mbps downstream.

While Google's Nexus One phone was supposed to rattle the wireless status quo by offering users unsubsidized phones via a Google store, the promised revolution never arrived. That was due to a number of factors, including the fact that the phone was initially only available via T-Mobile.

Samsung today unveiled their response to the Apple iPad: the Galaxy Tab. Unlike the iPad, the Android-powered device has two cameras, is a bit smaller (7.5 by 4.7 by .5 inches) and lighter (13.4 ounces), and actually operates as a phone.

Consumer group Free Press is apparently hitting some of AT&T's buttons this week, if this missive from AT&T lobbyist Hank Hultquist is any indication. Hultquist this week attacked the consumer group as a purveyor of "Da Vinci Code conspiracy theories" for a recent letter the group wrote to the FCC that points out how AT&T's long-standing dream of "paid prioritization" could be bad for consumers.

While that new Virgin Mobile $40 unlimited prepaid data plan looks great on the surface, users in our forums note that they're having a lot of problems not only ordering the plan, but actually using the plan for web browsing. Not only did Virgin Mobile botch the initial launch, but users are reporting inconsistent and often pathetic speeds with the service (as in, sometimes struggling to best dial-up era speeds).

For many people in our forums, Verizon's new announcement of 15 Mbps ADSL2+ service doesn't mean a whole lot, given they're beyond the 7,000 foot range the service is restricted to. Many are already barely able to get 1.5 Mbps downstream; Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post tested the addresses of thirteen friends in the DC area, none of which are able to get the upgrade.

Verizon has so far shrugged off the idea of offering unlimited, pre-paid broadband service, and their recently unveiled $80 for 5GB prepaid plan looks ridiculously uncompetitive next to new offers from Virgin Mobile, Clearwire's new Rover prepaid brand, Millenicom and soon, MetroPCS' looming prepaid LTE services. One analyst tells Light Reading that Verizon's reluctance to compete in the space is because once they begin competing on price -- they'll have to continue to do so: story continues..

• Google Sued Over Nexus One 3G Connectivity Issues [ubergizmo.com]
• Should public Wi-Fi access be 'free'? [zdnet.com]
• Global broadband cost disparity must be addressed [itpro.co.uk]
• NJ Transit hoping to add Wi-Fi to commute [northjersey.com]
• Apple's iOS beats Android 6:1 on the Web [networkworld.com]
• Is Falsely Being Accused Of File Sharing With An Automated Pre-Settlement Letter A Form Of Harassment? [techdirt.com]
• AT&T calls net neutrality advocate a conspiracy theorist [theinquirer.net]
• Intel goes all in on wireless with Infineon deal, but will it pay off? [fiercewireless.com]
• Rumor Mill: Verizon bringing prepaid to Blackberry. Android phones [fiercewireless.com]
• (Not so) Crazy Microsoft Rumors: A new Zune HD? [zdnet.com]

The FCC yesterday issued a public notice today (pdf) that claims to be looking to clarify several definitions in the network neutrality debate. Of course what the agency is really doing is delaying any real decision on new network neutrality rules -- given they lack the proper authority to enforce them after their court loss to Comcast. Instead, the FCC's working hard behind the scenes on their effort to partially reclassify ISPs as common carriers, after which (assuming they can navigate the gauntlet of deep-pocketed carrier lobbyists fighting the idea) they'll be able to craft traffic non-discrimination rules they can actually enforce. In other words, sometime around 2027.

• FCC Strikes Down M2Z Free Broadband Plan [pcworld.com]
• U.S. weighing wireless Web traffic rules [reuters.com]
• Portable Hotspots are the Future of Mobile Broadband [pcworld.com]
• Comcast Takes 100-Meg Internet Down Jersey Shore; DOCSIS 3.0 Priced at $369.95/Month [multichannel.com]
• Cable's set-top duopoly rose to the top by doing the things cable operators want [fiercecable.com]
• EBay To Ban Google’s Checkout Service From Its Sites [investors.com]
• Dissecting wireless carriers' capex [fiercewireless.com]
• Hardware hackers defeat quantum crypto [theregister.co.uk]
• Rumor Mill: T-Mobile USA to eliminate $5 fee for adding a line [fiercewireless.com]
• Microsoft releases FixIt for critical flaw in 100 apps [theregister.co.uk]

Back in July, slides shown at a T-Mobile manager's meeting suggested the company wanted to push their 3G HSPA network toward downstream speeds of 42 Mbps. T-Mobile today confirmed those ambitions. T-Mobile's busily deploying HSPA+ upgrades capable of 21 Mbps downstream speeds (though users see half that), and 42 Mbps speeds will arrive sometime in 2011. While technically still just 3G, the company will be offering speeds as fast as fourth-gen services, including Verizon's upcoming LTE service (5-12 Mbps) and Clearwire (3-6 Mbps). Granted, many users are more interested in coverage and reliability above of a few extra megabits per second.

Apple today unveiled their new Apple TV device, which as rumors had suggested costs $99, tops out playback at 720p, and is focused on renting TV episodes for a dollar or new films for five dollars. There's no hard drive in this incarnation, with everything streamed via either 802.11n Wi-Fi or Ethernet connectivity. The unit also comes with Netflix streaming service embedded. As rumors also suggested, broadcasters are still afraid of cannibalizing their traditional TV cash cow, so Apple scrapped a more interesting subscription-based TV service for this fairly standard rental model, which only features content from ABC and Fox.