Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut led a Thursday push with 23 other Democrats for the FCC to “take immediate steps to open” Lifeline program “assistance to more households, and ensure that its services meet the pressing needs of families during” the COVID-19 pandemic. House Commerce Committee Democrats also pressed for Lifeline improvements (see 2008130053). “We are alarmed that as students head back to class … there is still no national plan from the FCC to secure families’ access to their educational future,” Blumenthal and the other senators said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The FCC under Pai “actively worked to undermine and destabilize the Lifeline program, which has left more families vulnerable during the pandemic.” A draft order Pai circulated last month would reduce a Dec. 1 increase of Lifeline’s minimum service standard for mobile broadband (see 2007300064). “We appreciate that the FCC issued and extended the temporary waivers in response to the pandemic to pause usage and subscriber documentation requirements,” but “by the benchmark established during previous crises, such as Hurricane Katrina, the FCC response falls far short,” the senators said. They urged the FCC to extend all current Lifeline waivers until at least August 2021 and “provide additional financial support to Lifeline providers” to support recipients’ access to unlimited mobile data and voice minutes during the pandemic. Other signers included Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz of Hawaii. Pai “for months has made clear that Congress needs to step up to the plate and make more funding available for connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a spokesperson emailed. “It’s therefore disappointing that Senate Democrats have failed to do their job and are refusing to find common ground with the Administration and Senate Republicans on broadband funding and other core national priorities unless they get their demand for special-interest giveaways that have nothing to do with the pandemic.” Some lawmakers and advocates believe Capitol Hill’s inability to agree on an additional COVID-19 aid bill that includes broadband funding presents an opening for the issue to become a focus during the presidential and congressional campaigns this fall (see 2008210001).
Congress will never act on a stand-alone bill that would block the FCC from making public safety vacate the 470-512 MHz T band, Enterprise Wireless Alliance President Mark Crosby told the virtual IWCE conference Thursday. The House Commerce Committee approved the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (HR-451) in July (see 2007150068). Crosby said the bill can get through only if appended to a COVID-19 stimulus package.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission sought to retain telecom authority while agreeing Thursday to propose changes to some state rules to reflect changing competition. “We can improve our regulatory construct while continuing to exercise our jurisdiction responsibly,” said Vice Chairman David Sweet before commissioners voted 4-0 for an amended NPRM at the PUC’s teleconferenced meeting. Later in Wyoming, CenturyLink said it’s complying with a 2019 agreement to get landline deregulation in rural areas of that state. California and Texas commissions also mulled telecom matters at Thursday meetings.
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign appears unlikely to deviate in any substantive way from the administration’s existing stances on 5G and broadband policy, despite questions about whether language in an agenda outline released earlier this week (see 2008240056) was a callback to past nationalization proposals. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden cited broadband and other infrastructure during the party’s convention last week as part of “a new foundation for economic growth" (see 2008210001).
The FCC extended temporary waivers through Nov. 30 for telecom relay service providers, citing the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2005140056), said an order from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Wednesday. The waivers apply to the speed-of-answer requirement, at-home video relay service (VRS) call-handling rules, VRS subcontracting restrictions, and provisions of the emergency call handling rule, the order said.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the value of traditional landline voice calls, said Parks Associates Wednesday, saying voice and video calls tripled during the pandemic. Some 30% of U.S. broadband households reported one remote worker, and 22% reported another adult was working remotely in the household, it said, contributing to recorded increases in voice and video calls reported by Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. The combination of shelter-in-place, work-from-home and other “from home” lifestyles “led many consumers to rediscover the value in voice," said analyst Brad Russell, causing many mobile networks to struggle to keep up with the increased usage. “A renewed concern for the elderly, vulnerable, and socially isolated will drive appreciation of technologies that keep loved ones connected, cared for, and safe,” Russell said, citing telemedicine, remote patient monitoring and independent living solutions requiring fixed-line calling. The fixed telephone line is still an important lifeline for the elderly, rural residents and lower income households, Parks said.
The FCC’s May order reallocating a 6 GHz swath of spectrum in 900 MHz for broadband could be a game changer for utilities (see 2005130057), speakers said Wednesday at IWCE. Most are still watching, they said. On another panel, experts said despite the growth of FirstNet many public safety agencies remain committed to land-mobile radio (LMR).
The FCC should reject proposals to reallocate the 4.9 GHz band, long dedicated to public safety use, recommended former FirstNet Chair Sue Swenson in a keynote speech at the virtual IWCE Wednesday. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is considering another look at the band (see 2005040061), the subject of a 2018 Further NPRM. Swenson is the founder of the recently formed Public Safety Spectrum Alliance, which is pushing to keep the band in public safety’s hands (see 2008170023).
Smartphones aren’t sharing in the successful run on COVID-19 connectivity tech tools, as global shipments declined 20.4% to 295 million units in the second quarter, reported Gartner Tuesday. Samsung experienced the largest decline among the top brands, with shipments down 27.1% from the 2019 quarter, said Gartner: "“The COVID-19 pandemic continued to negatively affect Samsung’s performance in the second quarter of 2020. Demand for its flagship S Series smartphones did little to revive its smartphone sales globally.” IPhone sales were down 0.4% year over year, it said. Though Huawei shipments fell nearly 7% from a year earlier, its 27.4% increase sequentially from Q1 pushed it into a virtual tie with Samsung for top share.
Best Buy posted better-than-expected revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 3, but shares tumbled 4.1% Tuesday to $112.64 on second-half economic and pandemic concerns. Total revenue was $9.9 billion vs. $9.5 billion in Q2 2019; domestic sales were $9.1 billion vs. $8.8 billion, said the company. Comparable domestic sales rose 5% vs. 1.9% a year ago. With stores reopened mid-quarter after COVID-19 lockdowns, e-commerce sales jumped 242% as customers turned to Best Buy.com for computers, tablets and appliances, said CEO Corie Barry on a Tuesday investor call. Online sales growth continued to be robust in Q2 after stores reopened in June, with online revenue growing 180% over the same period last year, Barry said. Domestic online sales have remained strong, up 175% in the first three weeks of August, she said, but supply hasn't kept up with demand: “We don't have as much inventory as we would like to have right now,” Barry said in Q&A. Best Buy is focused on the customer experience before fall handset launches, including 5G, and will make it possible to trade in connected devices online. It expects higher revenue than in Q3 2019, but not at the 20% level seen in the first three weeks of the quarter. Barry noted two-thirds of U.S. children are schooling at home in the fall semester, which drove back-to-school demand for computers, networking gear and webcams. The pandemic forced Best Buy to change its operating model, and customer shopping behavior will be “permanently changed in a way that is even more digital,” Barry said. Customers will be in control of how they want to shop; the company’s workforce will have to evolve to meet their needs, she said. Employees in some 200 stores are now doing same-day deliveries, which meets customer expectations while reducing third-party shipping costs.