OAKLAND, Calif. -- The U.S. should lead the world in developing technologies and devices to improve healthcare and reduce its costs, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday. “There are many areas in which we need to lead,” he said in a discussion of telemedicine at Children’s Hospital Oakland. “This is absolutely one of them.” The opportunity is great to improve services, reduce costs and create new jobs, he said, calling it a “triple win.” Genachowski said seizing this chance is one of his priorities. Under an expanded health-connectivity subsidy that will provide $400 million to help connect hospitals to broadband, the FCC will give the California Telehealth Network a $22.1 million grant, he said. The first installment, $2.5 million, is being approved to be spent as soon as possible, he said.

Applicants have tempered their optimism about Google’s ultra-fast fiber-to-the-premises project, and many are looking for alternatives, said lawyers who advise municipalities. In February, Google said it would build a 1 Gbps broadband network in one or more cities (CD Feb 11 p1). Nearly 1,100 U.S. communities applied for the testbed program, but for many of them disillusionment has begun to set in, said municipal lawyer Nicholas Miller of Miller & Van Eaton. Google hasn’t changed the terms of the offer, and no one we talked with is contending otherwise.

The FCC could use auction proceeds to pay spectrum users that voluntarily give up their frequencies, under bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. The narrowly written, three-page bill would help the U.S. achieve the National Broadband Plan’s goal of finding 500 MHz of spectrum for broadband in the next 10 years, said Boucher. “It’s great to see the movement in Congress we're seeing on incentive auctions,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in an interview.

Equipment makers could seek grants to develop public-safety devices that support voice, data and video communications in the 700 MHz spectrum, under a bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. HR-5907 would set up a $70 million competition, run by NTIA, for research and development grants. “This process will produce devices ready for first responders’ use within five years -- hopefully sooner,” Harman said Wednesday on the House floor.

British Sky Broadcasting will begin to offer its first 3D channel, 3D Sky, in October, the company said Thursday. The channel won’t require a set-top box upgrade and will be free to BSkyB customers already subscribed to the company’s top HD and channels package, it said. The immediate financial effect on the U.K. direct broadcast satellite provider remains unclear, CEO Jeremy Darroch said on an earnings teleconference.

Comcast executives have become happier with their deal to buy control of NBC Universal since the it was disclosed in December, they told investors Wednesday on an earnings teleconference. The strong rebound in advertising at NBC Universal’s programming networks and Comcast’s cable systems and programming assets bode well for the union, executives said. They project ads will make up about $10 billion of the company’s annual revenue after the deal closes, up from $2.5 billion today.

Almost all commenters predicted that CenturyTel’s proposed acquisition of Qwest would hurt broader wireline competition, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates said in reply comments on an FCC public notice about the merger. But the association said it has little hope from the commission’s track record that the deal will be rejected. The Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance urged approval. The $10.6 billion deal was announced in April.

Small businesses face barriers to selling cybersecurity services to the federal government, managers of such companies said at a hearing Wednesday of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities. Chair Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., agreed it’s tough for companies with limited money to break into the Washington government market and asked for specific suggestions “about what we might change."

The Universal Service Fund must be revamped to maximize the deployment of broadband and minimize the financial burden on consumers, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday. “When up to 24 million Americans don’t have access to a communications technology that is essential to participation in our 21st Century economy and democracy, I think that is unacceptable.” Speaking in Seattle to a conference of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies, Genachowski laid out five USF reform principles.

The FCC doesn’t seem close to additional large payola settlements after the commission and Department of Justice settled a two-year investigation late Monday (CD July 27 p12) with Univision Radio and its former music label, said agency and industry officials. They said the Enforcement Bureau doesn’t appear to have other cases set to be settled after entering a consent decree with Univision Radio that included a $1 million payment to the U.S. Treasury. The broadcaster’s former music label, now owned by Universal Music Group, agreed to pay a $500,000 fine to settle a department lawsuit, court documents show.