FCC commissioners and broadcasting and journalism organizations condemned attacks on broadcast reporters by protesters and police in a host of statements issued Monday and over the weekend. Numerous incidents involving police and protesters attacking or accosting journalists were recounted in news reports and on social media during the weekend of protests sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd while being subdued by police.

Marvell Technology achieved Q1 revenue of $693.6 million, about $14 million above the midpoint of its March 4 guidance, despite COVID-19's “massive disruption,” said CEO Matt Murphy on a Thursday investor call. Marvell’s Q1 ended May 3. The March forecast assumed the pandemic would deal Q1 revenue a 5% hit, said Murphy. “The impact of COVID-19 turned out to be greater than expected in our storage business and lower than expected in our networking business.” Marvell experienced stronger than expected demand from its data center and 5G infrastructure “end markets,” he said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would remove liability protections for online platforms that censure or edit content (see 2005270016). There would be a role for antitrust agencies and the FCC, whose commissioners reacted along party lines to the EO. “We’re here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers,” Trump said, claiming tech monopolies have “unchecked power” to censor and restrict human interaction.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would remove liability protections for online platforms that censure or edit content (see 2005270016). There would be a role for antitrust agencies and the FCC, whose commissioners reacted along party lines to the EO. “We’re here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers,” Trump said, claiming tech monopolies have “unchecked power” to censor and restrict human interaction.

A House Communications Subcommittee FCC oversight teleconference Tuesday focused on telecom-related COVID-19 legislative proposals. Chairman Ajit Pai emphasized his FCC's asks for additional funding. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., focused on the importance of broadband funding provisions in the House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act. HR-6800, which the House cleared last week, would authorize an $8.8 billion Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund and $5 billion for E-rate. “We need to do more” to help ensure broadband connectivity now, including for those unemployed because of quarantines, Doyle said. He urged Pai to “move quickly” to implement HR-6800’s proposed broadband funding if it's enacted. Pai believes Congress needs to expand its E-rate mandate because the current statute “restricts” the FCC to use the funding for services delivered directly to classrooms and libraries, he told Pallone. Pai noted FCC desire for funding to implement the unfunded Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act broadband mapping law (S-1822). Rep. Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., criticized the FCC for not moving “more quickly,” citing a “terrible” lack of broadband connectivity on tribal lands within his district. House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, sought information on the FCC’s work on this subject. The agency is “hard at work” to implement S-1822, Pai said. He hopes to “circulate” an NPRM “in the near term.” By Tuesday, the FCC had promised $33 million of congressional telehealth funding to healthcare providers and expects to disburse all the money in subsequent rounds, Pai said. The commission is expected to announce the next round “in the next day or two.” Wednesday, that occurred, bringing the total promised to just over $50 million in the $200 million COVID-19 telehealth program. The FCC moved quickly to begin setting up the disbursal program and tried “do as much work as we can on the front end” to ensure a quick answer, Pai said. He acknowledged to Eshoo that selected providers must submit an invoice and documentation before getting reimbursement, calling it a “critical check against waste, fraud and abuse.” The commission has gotten “only one” certified invoice, Pai said.

A Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee FCC oversight teleconference was far tamer than the subpanel’s other examinations of commission business during this Congress (see 1912050043). Most subcommittee members focused on telecom-related COVID-19 legislative proposals. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai emphasized his requests for additional funding. Pai also got additional support from House Communications Republicans for the commission’s recent approval of Ligado’s L-band plan (see 2004200039).

New Zealand, Australia, Canada and South Korea recently agreed to maintain “unrestricted trade” with Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic, including quick customs clearances and limited export restrictions on essential goods, according to a May 15 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The countries said they will make more use of electronic customs clearance to “fast-track” shipments and agreed to maintain “effective” land, air and sea freight logistics services.

Senate Commerce Committee members signaled interest in including further emergency broadband funding in the next COVID-19 package. Some senators urged their colleagues to think beyond the crisis. The Wednesday hearing featured few references to House Democrats' Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act (HR-6800), which contains substantial broadband funding. The bill also includes language to make broadcasters and other local outlets eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program. Both issues drew increasing support since the March enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (see 2004300058). The House is expected to vote on HR-6800 as soon as Friday.

The FCC approved an order aimed at streamlining rules and procedures for the final stage of the 800 MHz band rebanding, as proposed in a Further NPRM approved 5-0 last year (see Notebook at end of 1910250036). The order, released Tuesday, said the FCC will no longer require the transition administrator give the commission "an annual audit or conduct other financial reconciliation of Sprint’s rebanding expenditures.” The TA no longer must review and approve amendments to frequency reconfiguration agreements “with respect to cost creditability,” the docket 02-55 order said. While eliminating some requirements, “we affirm that the Transition Administrator will continue its tracking, reporting, analytical, and mediation functions as needed to facilitate the rebanding program's goals and assure its successful conclusion,” the order said. Commissioners approved the original rebanding order in July 2004, aimed at addressing interference to 800 MHz public safety radio systems caused by what was then Nextel’s “enhanced” specialized mobile radio system. Nextel was later bought by Sprint and then Sprint by T-Mobile. T-Mobile didn't comment. Also on the 800 MHz band, the FCC approved an order revising parts of the rules for public land mobile radio use of the spectrum, approved 4-0 by commissioners in 2018 (see 1810220050). The Land Mobile Communications Council filed a recon petition seeking modification and clarification of some of the technical rules for coordinating interstitial channel applications and got some of what it sought (see 1812280024). “We allow for some 800 MHz interstitial channel applicants to streamline their applications, clarify standards for calculating interference contours that define the distances that must be maintained between interstitial and incumbent stations, and refine certain technical elements of the interstitial channel rules,” said the order in docket 15-32. LMCC proposed that in calculating the potential for a proposed station to receive interference from an adjacent-channel incumbent, “it should be assumed that the proposed station will operate at maximum effective radiated power for its proposed antenna height,” the FCC said: “We do not agree with this element of LMCC’s proposal, which could artificially constrain the availability of interstitial channels even where applicants propose to operate at less than maximum power.”

Sonos and Tile landed List 4 tariff exclusions for wireless devices imported from China under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 8517.62.0090 subheading. Sonos won exemption for its wireless mesh network audio components. Tile’s exclusion was for a Bluetooth tracking device that meshes with a smartphone app for finding misplaced keys and other common household articles. The exclusions are retroactive to Sept. 1 when List 4 took effect and expire Sept. 1. About 50 exclusion requests were filed for 8517.62.0090 goods, mostly for Bluetooth devices, of which 45 remained in a stage 1 or stage 2 administrative hold when we checked the docket Monday. Sonos landed an exemption on its wireless network speakers in March, as did the Apple Watch and Fitness activity trackers.