On July 31, the Federal Communications Commission voted on rules that could radically change the type of Internet services and mobile devices available on cellular networks.

This issue has dominated the FCC's agenda throughout 2007, as lobbyists swarmed the agency in hopes of influencing an upcoming auction of airwaves that are ideal for high-speed wireless Internet service. In fact, in the first seven months of the year, lobbyists representing nearly 100 companies, trade associations, and other parties (think tanks and public-interest groups, for example) had nearly 600 meetings or phone conversations with agency officials on proceedings related to the January 2008 auction—far more than any other pending matter, according to an analysis by The Center for Public Integrity.

In the end, the FCC's much-anticipated decision proved to be a victory—at least in part—for Internet giant Google, which is pressing to extend its popular search, video, and mapping tools throughout the cellular industry. Such applications are often blocked by the major U.S. cellular carriers, which tightly control the kinds of devices and applications that customers may use on their networks.

The government has created a $7.2 billion spending program aimed at providing access to broadband for Americans who have missed out on the benefits of the Internet revolution.

The government has also mandated the creation of a national broadband plan, which will provide recommendations on how to make sure that all Americans have access to high-speed Internet service.

In the real world, the plan would usually be completed before the money was doled out. But in Washington, that’s not always the case.

The deadline for applications for those seeking a grant from the broadband spending program was Aug. 14, 2009. The national broadband plan, which is under development at the Federal Communications Commission, isn’t due until Feb. 17, 2010.

The findings and recommendations in the FCC’s plan would no doubt have come in handy for those who sought funding under the broadband grant program — not to mention the government analysts whose job it is to decide who gets the money.

Both the grant program and the mandate for a broadband plan were in President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package.

The timing problem stems from the fact that the primary purpose of the stimulus plan was to pump as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, into the U.S. economy – or in the words of the president, to provide a “direct fiscal boost to help lift our nation.”

Rapid spending is rarely accompanied by careful planning, particularly when it comes to an issue as complex and unstudied as the nation’s access — or lack of access — to high-speed Internet service.

The Center for Public Integrity's efforts to shed light on local Internet availability are having an impact in the legislative and regulatory debate over broadband.

For example, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, last month introduced S. 1492, the Broadband Data Improvement Act. The bill would require the FCC to supplement the information it currently collects about broadband deployment with more localized data, including ZIP code plus four digits. It calls for the creation of online maps showing the availability of high-speed Internet services at the census-block level.

Among the legions of predictable, starched-shirt regulators that populate Washington, outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has been a conundrum.

Martin, who announced this week he will step down from the commission on inauguration day, is a self-described free-market Republican. Yet he has nevertheless used his considerable power to push consumer-friendly policies that angered cable television companies, like "a la carte" pricing that would allow customers to select and pay only for the channels they really want. In addition, he pried open wireless networks, protected Internet users from unequal treatment by service providers, and paved the way for a new generation of wireless Internet devices.

But Martin has also toed the deregulatory GOP line by backing major corporate mergers, removing regulations on giant telecommunications companies, and enforcing strict limits on racy content on television.

While those positions may seem contradictory, telecommunications veterans say there is a common thread — he has fought consistently to open markets to new competitors. That may be the most important legacy of Martin's almost four years as chairman. Whether anyone remembers it, though, is another question.

What will be remembered is Martin's controversial bedside manner. A congressional report depicts Martin as running the FCC in a Machiavellian fashion, fostering a climate of "deception and distrust." The report blasted the chairman for creating a "climate of fear" at the agency and withholding information from other commissioners and staff to further his agenda. In his almost four years at the helm, in fact, the chairman managed to aggravate a remarkable cross-section of politicians, consumer advocates, industry lobbyists, and agency employees.

"People," said Martin, "have a tendency to remember all the things they are mad at you about."

Samuel Zell, real estate mogul, billionaire and the prospective new owner of the Tribune Co., has given more than $100,000 in political contributions since the 1998 election cycle, most of it supporting Republican causes according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records by the Center for Public Integrity.

His wife Helen, however, stands on the other side of the political divide, giving almost entirely to Democrats and abortion rights groups. Together, the Zells give generously to candidates from both political parties.

Samuel Zell, 65, a native Chicagoan who built his fortune in real estate, landed an $8.2 billion private bid for the Tribune Co., one of the country's top media companies whose holdings include leading daily newspapers such as The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The (Baltimore) Sun, 23 television stations and the cable Superstation WGN. Tribune Co. announced the deal on Monday.

The Center's Media Tracker offers users a complete list of Tribune media properties, as well as political contributions by the company and its employees.

The Center for Public Integrity is leading an effort to find out more about which companies are providing high-speed Internet access throughout the United States so that citizens have a better understanding of their service options.

A Center lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act is attracting industry-wide interest.

The Center wants to make data about these companies publicly available online through Well Connected's Media Tracker, a free, Internet-based database of the radio, television, newspaper and cable companies that is searchable by ZIP code. Media Tracker was first released in 2003, and updated and expanded in October and November 2006.

Publicly identifying the companies that provide broadband service would help give citizens a more complete understanding of who they could turn to for high-speed access — which is becoming increasingly important in economic development and the spread of information. The availability of competitive broadband service is an issue involved in a range of telecommunications policy debates, including Net neutrality, universal service and video competition.

Well Connected also tracks the political influence of the major players in the telecommunications, media and technology industries, supplying information on the companies culled from the Center's lobbying, campaign contribution and privately sponsored travel data.

AT&T, Verizon Communications and three leading telecommunications trade groups filed court papers seeking to intervene or comment on the Center's lawsuit last week. The top cable association is also seeking to weigh in. (Links to each of the documents in the official court docket are provided in the box to the right. It will be updated as further documents are filed.)