Good morning tech

Executive notes

Report shows telecom revenue flat, wireless revenue up. The FCC’s annual report on telecommunications industry revenue for 2008 was released on Friday and largely confirmed existing trends. Telecom revenue was down slightly in 2008, with wireless providers stealing market share from long-distance providers. Total telecom revenue for 2008 was $297 billion; that figure has remained largely flat since 2000. http://bit.ly/aKnlRq

DHS to test iris scanners on illegal aliens. The Department of Homeland Security is planning a two-week test of commercial iris-scanning technology at a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, according to a report from USA Today. The test will determine whether new technology featuring cameras capable of scanning an individual’s eye from six feet away is viable for government use. The ACLU has raised fears the cameras could be used covertly. http://bit.ly/8X2uAk

Locke announces new broadband stimulus projects. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Monday announced 35 Recovery Act projects worth a total of $482 million aimed at expanding public computing centers and broadband Internet access. http://bit.ly/9oOjdo

Industry notes

Wal-Mart debuts branded wireless plan. Wal-Mart announced its first branded wireless plan in partnership with T-Mobile on Monday and will offer families unlimited calls and text messages for $45. Additional lines will cost $25, while data usage will cost $40 per gigabyte. The service will be cheaper than T-Mobile’s existing rates and marks Wal-Mart’s first entry in the market for traditional, post-paid cell-phone users. http://bit.ly/boF4JD

Microsoft struggles to gain in mobile search. “One third of its way into a five-year deal to make its Internet search and advertising services the default option on Verizon Wireless cellphones, Microsoft is still struggling to make headway in a market that continues to be dominated by Google,” The Wall Street Journal reports. http://bit.ly/di3xlI

Verizon has changes at the top. Verizon said Chief Financial Officer John F. Killian “plans to retire around the end of the year, after 31 years with the second-largest U.S. phone company,” Bloomberg reports. “A successor will be named shortly, and Killian, who has been finance chief since March 2009, will work on the transition with Verizon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg.” http://bit.ly/9ENaFb

@Israel returns to Jerusalem. The country of Israel has purchased the Twitter handle @israel from Israel Meléndez, the Spanish owner of a pornographic website. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the purchase to The New York Times but declined to specify the price paid. The transaction is part of an ongoing effort by the Israeli government to improve its image on the Web. The account has just over 5,600 followers. http://nyti.ms/9KDwYX

SAID

“It’s part of our political culture now.”

—Sophie in ’t Veld, a Dutch-Euro parliamentarian who tweeted 96 times between Monday and Friday of last week. The FT reports that tweeting is wildly popular in the Netherlands but that “politicians were rebuked by the leader of the Dutch parliament earlier this year for tweeting too much during debates.” http://bit.ly/9oYWYn

WATERCOOLER

SEARCHING — NPR reports that search engines are cropping up to serve particular religions. SeekFind.org, for instance, “is a unique ‘Christian-content-only’ search engine,'” according to the site. “The major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask often produce quality results for searches related to Christian terms. However, mixed in with these search results will be results from pages attacking the Christian faith and/or presenting unbiblical views.” Won’t find those here. “The mission of SeekFind.org is to provide God-honoring, Biblically-based, and theologically-sound Christian information in a highly accurate and well-organized format.”  Jewish and Muslim search engines are also available. http://n.pr/cnmsvd