U.S. regulators will announce a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours.

Dramatically increasing Internet speeds to 25 times the current average is one of the myriad goals to be unveiled in the National Broadband Plan by the the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.

The highly anticipated plan will make a series of recommendations to Congress and is aimed at spurring the ever-changing communications industry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as they increasingly turn to the Internet to communicate, pay monthly bills, make travel plans and be entertained by movies and music.

Google Inc (GOOG.O) told communications regulators on Tuesday the fee assessed on customers who end their service contracts for its Nexus One mobile phone has been slashed to $150 from $350.

The U.S. telecommunications regulator asked Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc (T.N), Google Inc (GOOG.O) and other mobile companies to explain how they tell their customers about early termination fees due when they bow out of service contracts early.

U.S. judges questioned the FCC’s authority to punish Comcast Corp for blocking online file-sharing services on Friday in a case that could wind up curbing the regulators’ campaign for a free and open Internet.

The Federal Communications Commission staked out new ground nearly three months ago when it began drafting rules that would require Internet providers to give equal treatment to all data flowing over their networks.
Now the FCC hopes to use a dispute with the nation’s largest cable TV and Internet provider to establish its legal authority to [...]

The Federal Trade Commission assures that cell phone numbers will not be released to telemarketers at any time in the near future despite the claims made in e-mails circulating on the Internet.
In addition, according to the agency, it is not necessary to register cell phone numbers on the DNC Registry to be protected from most [...]

AT&T Inc told U.S. telecoms regulators that it should set plans for phasing out older telephone networks if the government wants to make high-speed Internet access available across the country.
AT&T, the original U.S. phone operator, described older voice-based “circuit switched” telephone systems and service as “relics of a by-gone era” in [...]

Wireless devices such as Apple’s iPhone are transforming the way we go online, making it possible to look up driving directions, find the nearest coffee shop and update Facebook on the go. All this has a price – in airwaves.
As mobile phones become more sophisticated, they transmit and receive more data over the airwaves. But [...]

(Openinternetcoalition) A new public letter signed by 30 business investors in technology companies was sent today to the Chairman of the FCC and released by the Open Internet Coalition.
Prominent venture capitalists –including five of the top ten ranked investors on the 2009 Forbes Magazine “Midas List” – support “the Commission’s ongoing efforts to adopt rules [...]

With Democrats in charge in Washington, supporters of so-called “net neutrality” rules seem poised to finally push through requirements that high-speed Internet providers give equal treatment to all data flowing over their networks…….