BOSTON (Reuters) – Oracle Corp (ORCL.O), the world's No. 3 software maker, posted lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, sending its shares down 4.3 percent and suggesting that technology spending remains weak.

New license sales fell 17 percent, steeper than the 4 to 14 percent decline that Oracle forecast three months ago.

Investors closely watch those sales because customers generally sign maintenance contracts when they buy software, which locks in predictable, recurring revenue.

"Just because investor sentiment is improving about the economy, that doesn't mean people are signing purchase orders," said JMP Securities analyst Patrick Walravens.

WASHINGTON -The national stimulus package passed by Congress in February may have been too enthusiastic about spending money on one particular project: figuring out where broadband Internet access is available and how fast it is.

The $787 billion stimulus bill championed by the Obama administration set aside up to $350 million to create a national broadband map that could guide policies aimed at expanding high-speed Internet access. That $350 million tag struck some people in the telecommunications industry as excessive, compared with existing, smaller efforts. The map won't even be done in time to help decide where to spend much of the $7.2 billion in stimulus money earmarked for broadband programs.