The Washington State Broadband Office of the Department of Commerce is giving out $300,000 in broadband access and adoption grants, it said Tuesday (http://1.usa.gov/13jAgjn). The office had received 13 applications asking for $770,000, and ultimately awarded money to six counties and 10 tribal communities, the office said. Grant winners included Washington State University, Lincoln County and the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce. “Successful proposals showed community or region wide collaboration on programs that included everything from training in e-commerce and web site development for small businesses to a region-wide project for underserved tribal lands,” the office said. Grant winners must complete their proposed work by June 30, 2014. The grants come from the federal stimulus money of NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

July 1 is the effective date for reporting rules requiring eligible telecom carriers that serve tribal lands to file documents demonstrating they had discussions with tribal governments, said an FCC notice in Tuesday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1a0W4kS). The FCC had inadvertently omitted the filing deadline from earlier orders, the commission said.

Windstream hires Randy Nicklas, formerly of XO Communications, as executive vice president- engineering, and chief technology officer … RIAA promotes Steven Marks to newly created position of chief-digital business, and he remains general counsel … CableLabs hires Tom Lookabaugh, ex-ViaSat, as executive vice president-R&D … MIPI Alliance, which develops interface specifications for mobile and related industries, promotes Peter Lefkin to full-time managing director, and hires Mike Krell, ex-Alereon, as director-marketing and membership … Tollgrade Communications hires James Andrus, ex-Echelon Corp., as vice president-global smart grid sales … Wohler Technologies promotes John Terrey to vice president-sales … FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee open slots filled by: Sonja Reece, mayor pro tem of Normal, Ill., for municipal seat; and Susie Allen, Colville Confederated Tribes, tribal seat.

FirstNet is kicking off its consultations with state, tribal, territorial and local entities, it said Monday (http://1.usa.gov/18OGlof). The FirstNet board is holding several workshops devoted to consultation and listed the location and dates for several of them on NTIA’s website. Invitations for initial workshops have been sent out, it said. The first will be May 15-16 in Washington, D.C. They'll continue through the end of June. State implementation grant money can go to support these meetings, FirstNet said. “Consultations are an essential step in building working relationships between FirstNet and the thousands of people who are stakeholders in its success,” said FirstNet General Manager Bill D'Agostino in a statement. FirstNet board member Jeff Johnson, a retired fire chief in charge of outreach, described a need to hear from “people on the ground about their coverage and capacity needs” and better determine what assets exist among the states that FirstNet might be able to use. The National Governors Association non-profit Center for Best Practices partnered with FirstNet on the workshops. FirstNet described the first upcoming workshop as a “two-day program beginning with a discussion of the changing nature of public safety since 9/11 and the need for placing next-generation technologies into the hands of first responders,” and said it will feature an update on FirstNet.

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s telehealth network, the Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network, will receive video and collaboration services from Vidyo, the company said Monday (http://bit.ly/10efop4). “By integrating Vidyo’s Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with AFHCAN’s existing tConsult software-based system, thousands of Alaska healthcare practitioners will have the ability to conduct real-time, high-definition video consultations and examinations with hundreds of thousands of patients in more than 200 locations,” Vidyo said.

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s telehealth network, the Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network, will receive video and collaboration services from Vidyo, the company said Monday (http://bit.ly/10efop4). “By integrating Vidyo’s Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with AFHCAN’s existing tConsult software-based system, thousands of Alaska healthcare practitioners will have the ability to conduct real-time, high-definition video consultations and examinations with hundreds of thousands of patients in more than 200 locations,” Vidyo said.

New Mexico’s congressional delegation asked the FCC to preserve broadcast TV and translators in rural areas during the spectrum incentive auction, in a letter to Chairman Julius Genachowski Friday (http://bit.ly/10OTjEO). “It is important that the Commission protect the public’s ability to receive free over-the-air television ... whether that signal is provided by a full power broadcast or a translator,” said the letter, signed by the state’s two senators and five House members. The letter said nearly 600,000 New Mexico residents rely solely on broadcast TV, transmitted by more than 200 translators in the state. The letter said broadcast TV spreads information, especially during emergencies such as wildfires, in New Mexico’s rural areas and tribal lands where cable, satellite and high-speed Internet are less common. “Thus we do not underestimate the enduring value of free broadcast television ... even as new mobile services become more and more essential,” said the legislators.

A group of East Coast states is seeking information about the potential nationwide wireless public safety broadband network, amid concerns about the network processes. The Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Interoperable Nationwide Advanced Communications, known as the MACINAC Initiative, released a 15-page request for information last week. It cited a desire to support FirstNet’s planned nationwide network as well as to look at what Mark Grubb, director of the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security, called a cost-effective and workable solution for the Mid-Atlantic region as a whole.

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said there is “plenty of blame to go around” but the current data on the program “doesn’t paint a picture of success,” in his opening remarks. He said the Lifeline fund grew 226 percent since 2008 and, in 2012, the FCC spent $2.2 billion on the program. “Specifically, it spent $2.2 billion of your money, my money -- virtually every American’s money -- since the Lifeline program and the entire Universal Service Fund is paid for through a charge on phone bills,” he said. “We are spending large sums of money and probably squandering much of it.”

NRTC objected, in earlier comments, saying many of its members hold licenses in the 220-222 MHz band, acquired on the secondary market, located close to PTC-220 operations. “NRTC supports the deployment of Positive Train Control technology but is concerned that a unilateral grant of PTC-220’s Waiver Request will unfairly undercut NRTC’s license rights and degrade its ability to expand its system in the future,” it said (http://bit.ly/17ikQxc).