"The current state of connectivity feeds inequality,” said National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling Tuesday at a Washington Post event on the country’s lingering digital divide. That sentiment was shared by every official and educator who took the stage, as they struggled with how to increase broadband connection and adoption among those who lack access, can’t afford it, or say they don’t want it.

The FCC should reimburse broadcasters for marketing expenses, learning to use new equipment and other “soft” costs they will incur in the post-incentive auction repacking process, as well as the costs involving physical infrastructure. So said several associations and broadcasters commented on the “Catalog of Eligible Expenses,” the commission’s proposed list of costs broadcasters and others are most likely to incur as a result of broadcast channel reassignments. The proposed catalog “focuses too heavily on certain capital assets to the relative exclusion of significant ’soft’ costs associated with repacking,” said NAB. Costs from renegotiating leases, local zoning fees and staff overtime related to the repacking should all be reimbursable, said commenters. “All costs required for a station to continue providing its current level of service to the public that would not have arisen but for the repacking process should qualify for full reimbursement,” said Hubbard Broadcasting.

It’s important to invest in the future, said Cecilia Muñoz, assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, “especially in challenging economic times.” She was speaking at the State Educational Technology Directors Association conference Monday. “In the same way that a family may go out to dinner less but still keep contributing the college fund,” it’s important for the country to stay focused on long-term goals, she said. “This is all achievable. You can be fiscally responsible and invest in the future."

The FCC launched a rulemaking on Globalstar’s request to use its spectrum to deploy a terrestrial low-power service (TLPS). The timing of the release, before Monday’s swearing-in of Chairman Tom Wheeler, could work in Globalstar’s favor and prevent the item from being held up, some analysts said. The longer comment period could mean the FCC will not issue a speedy decision, some analysts said. Initial comments are due 75 days after publication in the Federal Register, and replies are due 30 days later. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau also released a public notice on Iridium’s petition seeking reallocation of Big low earth orbit (LEO) spectrum from Globalstar to Iridium (http://bit.ly/1aZe6HE).

Intelligence officials cautioned against extensive changes to the government’s surveillance programs that would make the intelligence community what FBI Acting General Counsel Patrick Kelley called “less agile, less informed, less focused and less effective.” The group of lawyers -- representing the FBI, National Security Agency, Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence at a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board public hearing -- did agree Monday that the agencies would be open to what ODNI General Counsel Robert Litt called “a variety of reforms.” He cited issues such as shorter retention periods for data, more oversight measures and greater transparency. The surveillance overhauls proposed in the recently introduced USA Freedom Act are opaquely worded and inherently flawed, both he and Kelley said.

Tom Wheeler was sworn in Monday as chairman of the FCC and Michael O'Rielly to the open Republican slot on the commission. Wheeler, who had all summer to think about first steps as chairman, almost immediately appointed his top staff at the agency, starting with Ruth Milkman as chief of staff (http://fcc.us/HFgesN). Industry observers said the choice of Milkman, who was Wireless Bureau chief, signals continuity on one of the top issues Wheeler faces, the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum. Several of those appointed worked for Wheeler in the past and most came from jobs where past entanglements are unlikely to pose ethics issues.

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general found that a year after the department’s Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C) reorganized its internal structure, it “still faces challenges in sharing cyber threat information with other federal cyber operations centers.” CS&C, part of DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), reorganized in October 2012 to improve the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center’s functionality, the DHS IG said in a report made public Monday. NCCIC has since enhanced partnerships with other federal cyberoperations centers to address specific incidents and increased interagency collaboration, the report said. The NCCIC also collaborated with the FBI and other public and private partners to release Joint Indicator Bulletins related to cyberthreats and conducted drills to improve cyberoperations centers’ capabilities and plans, the report said. But NPPD needs to address tech and workforce deficiencies -- issues NPPD told the IG it is working to improve (http://1.usa.gov/1a3ndpB).

C Spire disclosed nine winners Monday for its “Get Fiber First” challenge to bring gigabit fiber service to communities in Mississippi. Batesville, Clinton, Corinth, Hattiesburg, Horn Lake, McComb, Quitman, Ridgeland and Starkville were selected from the 33 municipalities that submitted formal applications last month. In addition to the traditional request for information process, the municipalities had to show resident demand through rallies, town hall meetings, door-to-door canvassing and social media campaigns (CD Oct 22 p11).

CEA and the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition released a paper Monday from former FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Fred Campbell that says they too have concerns about imposing spectrum aggregation limits in the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum. The fight had mostly been between AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which oppose any limits, and such smaller carriers as T-Mobile and Sprint that say some limits are needed to guarantee a competitive auction.

As the Copyright Alert System is being implemented, CAS operator Center for Copyright Information (CCI) is hoping to get its educational curriculum running sometime this academic year, said the head of CCI in an interview. Questions remain, others told us, about the CAS’s effectiveness and whether some consumers will receive unwarranted alerts. Without hard data to highlight the new system’s strengths and weaknesses, it will be difficult to determine the merits of the CAS, said some who advocate for rules allowing more content to be more freely shared.