"Doubling down” on the move toward an all-digital economy is the fastest way to drive economic growth and increase the standard of living of all Americans, Blair Levin, principal author of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, said at a New America Foundation event Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bnoirt). He and former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt discussed their upcoming e-book, “Faster, Better, Cheaper,” which focuses on opportunities for economic growth enabled by technological change. Set to be published the day after the presidential election, the book will offer advice to the new administration. Other panelists encouraged public investment in broadband infrastructure in order to buoy every other industry in the American economy.

Few if any changes were expected to be made to a draft FCC order granting the NCTA’s request for forbearance from certain rules related to cable operators buying CLECs, agency officials said Wednesday. A draft granting the NCTA petition for forbearance from Section 652(b) of the Communications Act circulated last month (CD Aug 23 p2) and would let cable operators and CLECs combine when they have operations in the same area without needing FCC waivers. The petition will be deemed granted Sept. 19 should the commission fail to act before then.

The FCC announced Wednesday it is developing a process for measuring the speeds of wireless broadband connections. The FCC will build on its experience gained from its program for testing wireline speeds, the agency said in a news release. That program has run into data collection problems and the process has proved contentious (CD Aug 6 p5). Some industry observers questioned Wednesday why the FCC is in the data collection business.

The White House is not expected to issue any policy documents endorsing the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) spectrum sharing report, which was finalized more than three months ago and released in late July (CD July 23 p1). But after offering notably visible support for PCAST’s spectrum sharing report -- in part by lending a White House venue and a number of high-level administration officials for its release in late July (CD July 23 p1) -- the White House is moving ahead on a number of fronts to study and in some cases implement a number of the report’s recommendations.

Videogame consoles in the next cycle will offer “new opportunities” for developers and function as the “starting point” for a network of devices that also include smartphones and tablets, David Grijns, general manager of developer Avalanche Studios, said Wednesday at the NY Games Conference. He predicted that gamers will be able to play a console game no matter where they are via the use of other devices, vastly expanding on the capabilities now offered by current-generation consoles.

A start-up turnkey systems provider is heading to the CEDIA Expo this week in Indianapolis with an ambitious plan to take on interactive service providers ADT and Comcast and a coming product from AT&T, a key executive told us. Jeff Zemanek, ex-president of Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association, also said CEDIA members have been “doing things the same way since 1989.” Now sales and marketing vice president of start-up G2i (Generation 2 Interactive), he’s joined with CEO Reed Stevens, son of CEDIA founding chair Chris Stevens, to form what G2i hopes will usher in the next era of the CEDIA market.

Only Harris County, Texas, and two other local government groups asked the FCC for special temporary authority (STA) to operate an early public safety network in the 700 MHz band. Charlotte, N.C., which is considered to be among the furthest toward completion of a network, has yet to apply for an STA, FCC officials said Monday. The additional two applications were filed by the San Francisco-based Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications System Authority (BayRICS) and by Adams County, Colo.

Democrats on Tuesday touted their work to modernize, expand and secure the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure in the party’s 2012 national platform. Their plan offered sharp contrasts to the GOP’s platform positions on political advertising, cybersecurity and online privacy, while presenting similar commitments to protect Internet freedom and U.S. intellectual property (CD Aug 30 p1). Democrats did not offer any positions on Internet gambling, online pornography, cellphone tracking or online sales taxes. A copy of the 40 page platform circulated on Monday evening but was not ratified until after our Tuesday deadline.

ViaSat’s Excede satellite-based broadband service will embark on a brand advertising campaign in Q4 in an effort to raise awareness of a high-speed network that’s competing against DSL in metro markets, Lisa Scalpone, vice president of marketing, told us.

Wisconsin’s “broadband playbook” received both positive and concerned industry feedback Friday, as entities like AT&T, CenturyLink and the Wisconsin Cable Communications Association (WCCA) weighed in on the Aug. 31 commenting deadline. The PSC on Aug. 8 released a draft of the playbook it had developed throughout the spring and summer (CD Aug 24 p6). Federal grant money fuels the PSC’s buildout efforts, which include LinkWISCONSIN and the hiring of state Broadband Director Tithi Chattopadhyay, who started in early August. The playbook outlines broad strategies on leveraging resources, streamlining regulations and creating incentive for investment in Wisconsin. PSC staff will integrate feedback into the draft and then present it to the commission and then the Wisconsin Legislature, Chattopadhyay told us in August.