The Obama administration plans to announce about $975 million in health information technology grants on Friday.

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Consumers' rush to buy the data-hungry iPhone and similar devices is beginning to strain the wireless system -- and could force the Federal Communications Commission to purchase network resources from broadcasters, according to media reports.

An unnamed FCC official told BusinessWeek on Thursday the agency was considering the move in order to avoid a communications crisis that would ultimately mean more dropped calls and slower connections for customers nationwide.

The arrangement would require congressional approval, and its funding would come in part from the FCC's plan to auction off those open wireless airwaves, which could net the agency billions

Still, it remains unclear whether the FCC might actually propose it as part of its National Broadband Plan, due to Congress in March, much less whether lawmakers might be willing to spend any money to support it.

At the very least, FCC officials have openly recognized a wireless spectrum crisis lingers in the not-distant future.

At a conference this year, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski described the situation as "a looming crisis," noting the spectrum would soon be "overloaded" by data-driven wireless devices.

He and his colleagues repeated that concern following Apple's decision to launch the iPad, which FCC officials predicted in a telling blog post would create "even greater demand for mobile broadband on the horizon."

But those concerns may not translate into sufficient support on Capitol Hill. Among other concerns, some experts fear the lack of clarity about how much the FCC might make off bandwidth auctions could prompt lawmakers to grow skittish about committing funds to the proposed purchase plan. Skepticism about any spending persists in both chambers, and it will only grow as November elections draw near.

Conversely, the networks too might reject the idea, deciding instead to hold onto spectrum space they know to be incredibly valuable, according to BusinessWeek.

The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy now has a Web site that -- in their own words -- isn't "so 1990s."

OSTP officials unveiled their new Web presence in a semi-humorous blog post on Wednesday, which admits the new site is far easier to navigate and use than its predecessor. (Check the link for a before-and-after shot of the site.)

Most of the Web site's key features remain the same -- it still has a blog, contains a forum, features a pressroom and details relevant budget data. There are some new features too: namely, a rotating news carousel on its home page.

However, this weekend's snowstorm has prevented the staff from completing the entire site, explained OSTP's Phillip Larson in a blog post.

A number of documents available on the old site have not yet been migrated to the new site, he explained. Additionally, comments on the blog remain disabled, as the OSTP switches from Wordpress to Drupal.

Spending on wireless data is likely to double over the next four years, from about $43 billion in 2009 to nearly $93 billion in 2013, industry experts predict.

The Telecommunications Industry Association's (TIA) latest market review, released Thursday, also forecasts mobile internet use on smartphones to grow exponentially over the next few years.

Combined, that could create the need for more communications infrastructure -- including the construction of new, efficient reception towers -- that could ultimately spur more innovation in the industry, and more economic growth writ large, analysts said.

“In business, information is the most precious commodity,” TIA President Grant Seiffert said in a statement, reaffirming the importance of spending on cell phones and their internet services.

The TIA's report spells good news for the telecommunications industry, specifically those who innovate in the smartphones market. Penetration of mobile devices now hovers at 90 percent, and experts -- including the TIA report -- expect that number to surge to an unprecedented 95 percent by 2013.

The shift is further correlated with the increasing popularization of the Blackberry, iPhone, Android and other advanced phones. More than ever, users are connecting with each other using their phones' Internet plans, accessing Web sites like Facebook and even purchasing goods on mobile Web -- creating new opportunities for businesses.

The Iranian government reportedly plans to begin blocking its citizens' access to Gmail, Google's popular e-mail service.

In its place, Tehran's state-owned telecommunications agency intends to establish its own, national e-mail service, though it is not immediately clear when.

The decision arrives in response to the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the country, all stemming from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election last year. Organizers have frequently taken to such services as Twitter and Gmail to spread word of upcoming demonstrations, and Thursday's move is perhaps Iran's first attempt to stifle such dissent on the Web.

Google executives first noticed a problem earlier this week, when Gmail traffic dropped manifestly, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first noticed the discrepancy.

However, a spokesperson for the company declined to confirm to reporters whether the staggering halt to activity signaled Iran had blocked access to the site.

"We have heard from users in Iran that they are having trouble accessing Gmail," a Google spokesman told Reuters. "We can confirm a sharp drop in traffic, and we have looked at our own networks and found that they are working properly."

The State Department was similarly mum, but spokesman P.J. Crowley did reprimand the Iranian government for denying "its citizens access to information, the ability to express themselves freely, network and share ideas."

"Virtual walls won't work in the 21st century any better than physical walls worked in the 20th century. The Iranian people are dynamic and determined and will find a way to overcome the obstacles the Iranian government puts in their way."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also demurred the likelihood of such a block during his press briefing on Thursday.

"I think the president was very clear in his speech in Oslo, that he stands by the universal right of Iranians to express themselves freely," he said, adding that a number of states have similarly tried to quiet protestors by limiting access to social media.

Nevertheless, Iran's decision to block access to Gmail bears an eerie similarity to a similar dispute between the behemoth Internet company and China.

Reports earlier this year that Chinese officials hacked into e-mail accounts of the state's most well-known human rights activists prompted an international uproar, and later led Google to threaten to cease all operations in China.

An investigation into the alleged hacking is still underway, but the United States has nonetheless criticized the Chinese government for trying to stamp out dissent.

(This post was updated at 2:30 p.m.)

The White House's annual economic report received a bit of an upgrade (of sorts) this year.

The more than 400-page tome on the country's fiscal outlook, released Thursday, is far more accessible and portable than its predecessors, said Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers.

Some of the upgrades are slightly less high-tech than one might expect. "So for the first time it's been printed in color," Romer said during Thursday's press briefing, amid a few chuckles.

Others, however, are a bit more promising.

"It's going to be the first time, staying with our accessibility and transparency [theme] -- it will be available in electronic form for your Kindle and your Sony Reader, and whatever," Romer explained.

Added Romer: "So, you know, everybody on the beach will be reading the economic report of the president."

Even Silicon Valley -- once an innovative, lucrative tech hotbed -- has struggled to weather last year's economic recession.

A new report, released Thursday, finds that the 2009 downturn has left many of the region's top businesses hampered by a "new era of uncertainty, with vulnerabilities that could compromise our long-term prosperity."

Silicon Valley thus faces immense challenges, some not too unlike what the rest of the country is experiencing as it emerges from last year's Great Panic, reports the 2010 Silicon Valley Index, a briefing released ahead of the annual "State of the Valley" conference.

Those obstacles include withering investment, dwindling finances and increasing competition from other countries, not to mention slimming support from California government and growing unemployment, the report finds. All of those challenges, the Index concludes, have put the region "at risk" and in many ways threatened future innovation.

"2009 was a rough year. We learned the hard way that Silicon Valley is not immune to the larger forces at work in the global economic recession," wrote Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, and Emmett. D. Carson, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Community foundation.

"Like other regions, we have lost tens of thousands of jobs, absorbed thousands of home foreclosures, and seen our incomes decline," they added. "Despite our many strengths—from talented people to world-class technology—we could not insulate ourselves from the larger economic downturn."

Ultimately, the two trade groups stressed in their report that Silicon Valley businesses still "have many strengths," and they emphasized that the region competes on a "very-high level" with other, similarly advanced tech hubs throughout the world.

But the tone of their latest report was unmistakeably dismal. The Index noted that the region was struggling to attract new workers, as many bright tech minds from other countries were remaining there, as their local economies grow more competitive. At the same time, the state of California was cutting funds to higher education programs that could normally churn out talented workers -- all the while quabbling over already sparse resources that could help Silicon Valley thrive.

While the Index characterized those problems as concerning, they implored other members of the Silicon Valley community to reject "complacency" and begin to innovate new solutions that keep the region competitive.

"From the rise of Asian economies to California’s budget meltdown, our future will in many ways depend on how we respond to forces emanating beyond our region," the report stressed.

The Senate's jobs bill circulating around Washington is now the vehicle for the much-delayed renewal of DISH Network's and DirecTV's licenses to reach 1.7 million people.

If passed by the Senate, the bill would renew satellite providers' ability to import distant TV network affiliates to viewers who can't receive their local affiliates through broadcast or cable service.

So if someone lives in a mountainous region of Colorado and can't get the local network's signals, satellite companies could send them the signal from another market -- say, Phoenix -- in its place.

Satellite companies' right to send these signals to customers were set to expire at the end of 2009. But in December, Congress extended The Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) by 60 days. The satellite licenses have to be reauthorized by Congress every five years.

Congress is running out of time to approve the provisions in the jobs bill. If the licenses expire, about 1.7 rural satellite customers could lose access to programming from the likes of NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX.

The current version of the bill would allow DISH Network to once again offer out-of-town signals to customers.

DISH lost that right when a court ruled it overstepped the law by sending distant signals to homes already served by local signals. Under the proposed legislation, DISH would be able to once again deliver distant signals in exchange for agreeing to deliver local TV signals in all 210 markets around the country. (DISH currently delivers local signals in around 180 markets.)

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, and other Republicans on the panel, had initial concerns with making that deal with DISH, leading to the legislation's delay.

The current bill also allows viewers in smaller markets to receive missing networks from an adjacent market. Previously, DISH and DirecTV were not allowed to offer distant signals to those customers.

The negotiations between broadcasters, satellite providers and Congress have been ongoing over the past year. K Street and Congressional sources say all parties are, for the most part, satisfied with the compromises reached in the Senate bill.

Citing "SHVERA fatigue," the sources said they simply want to put the law's renewal behind them.

The Senate still plans to plow ahead with talks on the jobs bill Thursday, but a vote is unlikely. Congress will be in recess next week.

That leaves just one week for the Senate and House to approve the jobs bill before the satellite licenses expire at the end of the month.

The Justice Department on Friday will begin making its case for new standards allowing law enforcement to use cell phone data in criminal investigations.

Its case before the U.S. 3rd Court of Appeals in Philadelphia could provide more clarity to a bevy of murky cell phone location tapping laws, but it is sure to upset those who dread any federal encroachment in the realm of digital communications.

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