Netflix “came pretty close” to its Q3 forecast of 2.5 million net paid additions (see 2010200056) “to land within 300,000 members on a member base of roughly 195 million,” said Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann Tuesday evening. “It's super difficult to forecast with perfect precision given all the unknowns,” he said. “Retention trends in our business are healthy.” The company is forecasting slower first-half 2021 growth due to the tough comparisons, said Neumann. “We grew by 26 million members in the first two quarters of 2020. That's more than twice the level of growth we had in 2019.” Since the COVID-19 shutdowns, Netflix has completed work on more than 50 productions, “and we expect another 150 before the year is over," said co-CEO Ted Sarandos. “All that ramp-up puts us back to nearly fully operational in most parts of the world.” Consumers’ desire to watch films at home has been growing during lockdowns, “and we've been satisfying it,” he said. “I think at some point theaters are going to reopen and people are going to go back out to the theaters. I hope so.” People crave “the social interaction to go out and see a film with an audience,” he said. “I don't doubt that is going to come back in some capacities.” Theaters just reopened in Japan at 100% capacity, and people are "looking at the impact of that around the world," he said. The stock closed down 6.9% Wednesday at $489.05.

Netflix “came pretty close” to its Q3 forecast of 2.5 million net paid additions (see 2010200056) “to land within 300,000 members on a member base of roughly 195 million,” said Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann Tuesday evening. “It's super difficult to forecast with perfect precision given all the unknowns,” he said. “Retention trends in our business are healthy.” The company is forecasting slower first-half 2021 growth due to the tough comparisons, said Neumann. “We grew by 26 million members in the first two quarters of 2020. That's more than twice the level of growth we had in 2019.” Since the COVID-19 shutdowns, Netflix has completed work on more than 50 productions, “and we expect another 150 before the year is over," said co-CEO Ted Sarandos. “All that ramp-up puts us back to nearly fully operational in most parts of the world.” Consumers’ desire to watch films at home has been growing during lockdowns, “and we've been satisfying it,” he said. “I think at some point theaters are going to reopen and people are going to go back out to the theaters. I hope so.” People crave “the social interaction to go out and see a film with an audience,” he said. “I don't doubt that is going to come back in some capacities.” Theaters just reopened in Japan at 100% capacity, and people are "looking at the impact of that around the world," he said. The stock closed down 6.9% Wednesday at $489.05.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association spoke with aides to all five FCC commissioners to argue for approval next week (see 2010060060) of the compound expansions draft order, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-250. The order “will promote broadband deployment and provide greater certainty,” WIA said. CTIA also supported the order: “By revising its Section 6409(a) rules to streamline review of site expansions of up to 30 feet, the Commission will facilitate the collocation of antennas and associated ground equipment on existing towers to enable 5G, advancing the Commission’s longstanding policy to promote more intensive use of existing infrastructure, while recognizing localities’ role in local land use decisions.” NATOA spoke with aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks about concerns (see here and here). “While we continue to believe that Section 6409(a) of the Spectrum Act cannot be reasonably read to allow for new deployment outside the tower site, should the Commission nevertheless amend its rules to this end, the permitted distance of the excavation or deployment from the site should be relative to the size of the existing tower site,” NATOA said. The group criticized the lack of a cap on the allowed size of deployments: “It could allow additions to tower sites of unlimited size -- an outcome that cannot be reconciled with a statute requiring approval only of modifications that are not substantial.”

The Lifeline national verifier fully launches Nov. 18 in Oregon and Texas, the FCC Wireline Bureau said Monday. For years, the states managed eligibility verification and duplicate checking for the federal program along with their own low-income programs, and they will continue to play a role, said the bureau, noting states have waivers from national Lifeline accountability database participation. “The National Verifier will leverage the states’ existing processes (and automated database connections) so that Lifeline consumers in Oregon and Texas can continue to apply using a streamlined state application process for both federal and state benefits,” it said. “This partnership is contingent upon the continued good faith cooperation by the states in providing necessary data and information for" Universal Service Administrative Co. to validate eligible telecom carrier "reimbursement claims and ensure consistency between state eligibility determinations and Commission rules.” The launch means the start of the Oregon Public Utility Commission handling eligibility verification for new enrollments of consumers living on tribal lands. Previously, they enrolled through ETCs. The PUC will also reverify existing subscribers on tribal lands, the bureau said. The NV soft-launched in the two states and California in December (see 1912180046). “The Bureau will issue a separate Public Notice announcing full launch of the National Verifier in California,” said a footnote.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company CEO C.C. Wei declined to comment on the “unfounded speculation” that it landed a Commerce Department license to ship to Huawei. “We are complying fully with the regulations,” he said during an Oct. 15 investor call. The company also won’t comment “on our status right now” with Huawei, he said. TSMC is “evaluating the impact to the semiconductor industry” from new export restrictions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International, China’s largest chipmaker (see 2009280022), Wei said. Its factory “capacity planning” is based on “the long-term demand profile” in 5G and high-performance computing as a hedge against unexpected disruptions, he said.

Q3 revenue increased 16.9% in U.S. dollars sequentially from Q2 at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., “as we saw strong demand for advanced technologies and special technology solutions” in 5G smartphones, high-performance computing (HPC) and IoT applications, said Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang on a Thursday investor call. Smartphone revenue increased 12% from Q2 and was 46% of third-quarter sales, he said. TSMC continues to expect “faster penetration” of 5G smartphones compared with 4G, he said. “For this year, we still forecast a high-teens penetration rate and next year even higher, much higher.”

The FCC doesn’t “really believe” public safety agencies will ever leave the 470-512 MHz T band, despite the 2012 Spectrum Act's mandate, Enterprise Wireless Alliance Regulatory Counsel Elizabeth Sachs told the EWA’s virtual wireless leadership summit Wednesday. Congress “adopted legislation without really understanding what it meant or who was involved or what the impact would be,” said Sachs, of Lukas LaFuria.

Verizon, competing with AT&T and FirstNet on the first responder market, launched “Push-to-Talk Responder,” saying it “delivers a more efficient way for first responders to seamlessly share and receive data, voice, and, in the future, video.” Push-to-talk is a recurring issue for public safety (see 2008260065). The offering is “built and secured to international standard and complements the capabilities provided by Land Mobile Radio networks, and expands those networks to a greater number of users,” Verizon said.

Verizon, competing with AT&T and FirstNet on the first responder market, launched “Push-to-Talk Responder,” saying it “delivers a more efficient way for first responders to seamlessly share and receive data, voice, and, in the future, video.” Push-to-talk is a recurring issue for public safety (see 2008260065). The offering is “built and secured to international standard and complements the capabilities provided by Land Mobile Radio networks, and expands those networks to a greater number of users,” Verizon said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 2 announced new export controls (see 2008100013 and 2005190052) on six emerging technologies. The controls, which were agreed to by Wassenaar Arrangement members during its 2019 plenary, include: