The U.K. released a General License, "Investments in relation to Russia," that permits an individual to directly acquire ownership in Russian land, directly acquire ownership over a business connected with Russia, directly or indirectly establish a joint venture with a Russian individual and open a representative office or branch located in Russia. The license, effective July 19-26, also permits an individual to provide investment services directly related to the mentioned services and also wind down any transactions involving those activities.
LG Business Solutions’ 75-inch 4K Ultra NanoCell TV received UL 62368-1 certification for use in healthcare, the company said Monday. Hospitality and healthcare integrators can manage the TVs remotely over IP and create customized interfaces using simple on-board editing tools. It has a commercial installer menu with several settings for use in patient rooms, split-screen capability and a software-enabled access point, which provides additional Wi-Fi hot spots for patients and visitors, the company said.
The Commerce Department properly used the expected method to set the non-selected respondents rate in an antidumping duty case by weight-averaging two adverse facts available rates and a zero percent margin, the Court of International Trade ruled in a July 15 opinion. Issuing the ruling following three remands, Judge Mark Barnett said that the plaintiffs, led by Pro-Team Coil Nail Enterprise, did not present enough evidence to show that the mandatory respondents rates were not representative of the non-selected respondents' dumping margins.
Ericsson landed regulatory approval of its $6.2 billion Vonage buy from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S., said Ericsson Friday. “This represents the final requisite approval to complete the deal,” it said. Ericsson and Vonage now expect the transaction to close no later than Thursday, “as provided for” in their November purchase agreement (see 2111220034), under which Vonage will operate as an Ericsson subsidiary under its existing brand, said Ericsson.
Ericsson landed regulatory approval of its $6.2 billion Vonage buy from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S., said Ericsson Friday. “This represents the final requisite approval to complete the deal,” it said. Ericsson and Vonage now expect the transaction to close no later than Thursday, “as provided for” in their November purchase agreement (see 2111220034), under which Vonage will operate as an Ericsson subsidiary under its existing brand, said Ericsson.
IDC has “realistic” expectations of a “consumer-led recession” affecting global economies in the second half of this year and into 2023, Stephen Minton, vice president-customer insights and analysis, told an IDC webinar Thursday on global recessionary scenarios and their impact on information tech spending. “We have reached a point where consumer spending is under a fair amount of pressure for the first six months of this year,” said Minton. IDC’s forecasts are for a “mild” recession, compared with those of the 2008 financial crisis and the dot.com fallout of the early 2000s, followed by a “soft landing” in 2023, he said. “We did have a period where consumers were pretty flush with disposable income” through COVID government stimulus packages throughout the world, he said: “That meant that consumers felt pretty bullish about a year ago.” Consumers to a certain extent were “willing and able to pay a little bit more for certain things, including technology, as prices began to rise,” said Minton. “We’ve kind of gotten to the point now where consumers are no longer willing, or in many cases able, to keep on increasing how much they’re spending as prices continue to rise.” The risk of recession “has clearly increased,” said Minton, but “there are no signs of businesses and service providers yet taking a really sharp knife” to their short-term IT budget planning. “The consumer side is much more vulnerable,” he said. “It’s a different kind of story. We already have pretty solid evidence of a slowdown in shipments of PCs and other consumer devices in the first half of this year, which is likely to get maybe even worse if we continue to head into a more negative economic climate in the next six to 12 months.”
Canada on July 9 announced more sanctions against Russia due to its war in Ukraine, including new restrictions on Russia’s oil, gas and chemical sectors. Canada will ban Canadians from providing certain services that contribute to the “production of goods made by these sectors,” the country said, including restrictions on land and pipeline transport services and activities relating to the manufacturing of metals, transport, computer, electronic and electrical equipment. Canadian companies will have 60 days from the day the sanctions take effect to end contracts with the affected Russian industries.
The FCC has been deluged with comments by SpaceX supporters in recent days on a possible opening up of the 12 GHz band to 5G, but that input likely won't matter in an agency order, administrative law and commission experts told us. The real audience for the comments might be Congress, they said. The commission didn't comment.
Right-to-repair advocates were caught unaware by a June 29 letter we stumbled on Tuesday in which 15 tech groups urged New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to veto the nation’s first digital electronics repair legislation (S-4104/A-7006), after it cleared the New York Assembly on a 145-1 vote more than a month ago (see 2206030034). Hochul’s office largely has been silent about her bill-signing intentions. "The Governor is reviewing the bill," emailed a Hochul spokesperson Wednesday.
Brazil's telecommunications regulator, Anatel, gave OneWeb landing rights there, the company said Monday, announcing the 15-year license. It said Brazil is one of a few nations that will host two OneWeb satellite gateways.