COVID-19 amplified the need to address broadband gaps, said members of NARUC’s broadband task force in interviews Tuesday. Cable, wireline and wireless networks are holding up to the surge in traffic during the pandemic, but industry agrees with policymakers on the heightened need to expand access, NCTA, CTIA and USTelecom panelists told state regulators' virtual summer meeting.
The FCC regulatory fee process “does not pass muster under the Administrative Procedure Act and raises serious constitutional questions,” said NAB in calls with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai and staff from the Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director, per a filing posted Monday in docket 20-105. “The FCC’s regulatory fee process remains a frustrating, impenetrable exercise despite repeated calls for more transparency and justification of how the fees are calculated." Freeze regulatory fees at 2019 levels, “because there has been no increase in the amount that the Commission is required to collect for FY2020” and because of COVID-19, NAB said. “These are extraordinary times that more than justify a slight deviation from the Commission’s usual approach to regulatory fees,” it said. “The pandemic has devastated many industries, none more than radio.” The group suggested simplified information collection and streamlined processes for hardship waivers to provide fee relief.
Samsung is gearing up for Galaxy Unpacked, its annual summer mobile launch event. The Aug. 5 reveal is the first to be broadcast live from South Korea. New York was Samsung's pre-COVID locale of choice for such events. Innovation, collaboration and mobile agility are Samsung's top priorities in the new era it's calling the “Next Normal,” blogged Mobile Communications Business President TM Roh Monday. He cited roles mobile tech has played during the pandemic in distance learning, at-home fitness and online concerts. Samsung plans to bow five new “power devices” next month, said the executive, referencing handsets, hearables and wrist-worn products. Next-generation mobile solutions will have features that improve video-chat technology and help frontline workers “stay safe on the job,” he said. Roh referenced more personal, intelligent, useful and secure technology and a next-generation of foldable phones. The “wide range” of Galaxy 5G devices, available in more markets, will enable experiences “we can’t even imagine yet.” Samsung is continuing to collaborate with partners Google, Microsoft, Netflix and Spotify, and expanded its relationship with Microsoft so Galaxy smartphones and Windows PCs can share messages, photos and calendar reminders in real time, Roh said. Samsung will expand the Microsoft relationship through a gaming partnership with Xbox, he said.
Brands that used technology to transfer the in-store experience online more smoothly during the pandemic “reaped the rewards of customer loyalty,” reported KPMG Monday. It canvassed 11,000 U.S. consumers online. "With the move to online accelerating due to COVID-19, the nature of the relationship between brands and their customers has changed, bringing the need for commercial cadence to the forefront,” said KPMG. Respondents voted USAA their top brand, Costco No. 7. No tech brands made the top 10.
Small and medium businesses (SMBs) in “consumer-focused” sectors appear to “have been hit hardest” in the global COVID-19 pandemic, said a Facebook report co-authored with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank. They canvassed more than 30,000 Facebook-member owners, managers and employees in 50 countries late May, finding 54% of consumer-focused SMBs were shuttered between January and May, compared with 26% of SMBs at large that closed down. Micro-businesses, defined as SMBs owned and operated by a single individual, closed “to a greater extent than those with multiple employees,” it said. “Female-led SMBs have been disproportionately impacted,” said the report. They were seven percentage points “more likely to be closed” than their male-owned counterparts, it said. A “greater proportion of female business leaders operate micro-businesses with no employees” by a margin of 37% to 24%, it said. Female-led SMBs “are also concentrated in the sectors that have been most affected by lockdown measures,” it said.
Retail consumer tech sales this year will fall 2.2% from 2019, the first decline since 2009, said CTA’s biannual forecast Monday. Tech industry sales revenue is projected to be $406.8 billion in 2020 “as consumers struggle with economic uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the association. The segment’s largest category -- smartphones -- will take a 6% hit this year, dropping to 153 million shipments worth $72 billion, said CTA. More than 14 million 5G smartphones are seen shipping in 2020, generating $11 billion in revenue. Software and streaming service categories are on track to reach a record of $86 billion, 14% growth, benefiting from stay-at-home orders, said CTA. Consumer spending on video streaming services is expected to hit $27 billion, up 23%. Audio is tracking toward $8 billion, up 21%.
Even consumers more inclined than others to return to stores during COVID-19 are buying online more than ever, Sucharita Kodali, Forrester Research vice president-principal analyst, told the National Retail Federation Monday. Forrester estimates about 40% of U.S. consumers are in that category, compared with 53% who prefer to continue sheltering at home and are fearful the economy is reopening too quickly. Of those who say they want to go back to stores, 30% "are choosing to purchase online,” said Kodali. “Almost half of them are purchasing their groceries online. This is an important observation because among people who may want to go back to stores, you’re still seeing them consuming online.” That’s the factor that’s “certainly driving e-commerce forward, but continues to be a challenge for physical stores,” the analyst said. Forrester found 37% of consumers “don’t want to pay anything” even for a same-day transaction. Another 22% said they are willing to pay $3-$6 for same-day delivery. With the e-commerce supply chain stretched to the limit during the pandemic, Forrester estimates 22% of consumers experienced late deliveries during the crisis, said Kodali. “That has also led to greater dissatisfaction with players like Amazon.” Of the Amazon Prime members Forrester canvassed, 24% said they were “frustrated” with the service, she said. Dissatisfaction was 10 points higher among Generation Z respondents, she said. Amazon didn’t comment Monday. Consumer resentment toward Amazon during the crisis “has provided oxygen” for other e-commerce giants like Walmart and Target, said Kodali. Though Amazon’s Q1 e-commerce sales were 25% higher than in the 2019 quarter, Walmart’s were up by 77% and Target’s 141%, she said.
Some in the tech sector backed fighting Nokia’s July 2 International Trade Commission complaint on banning imports of Lenovo laptops, tablets and desktop PCs for allegedly violating five patents. That would block access to affordable Lenovo Chromebook computers, said Google Friday (login required): As most schools worldwide “have begun adopting online learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, demand for mobile computing devices from many countries’ K-12 education sectors has been rising with Chromebooks currently seeing the highest shipments.” The Computer & Communications Industry Association commented against Nokia’s assertion that excluding Lenovo PCs won’t harm the public health and safety. “That does not reflect modern society,” said CCIA. “Computers are no longer optional entertainment devices.” They're the “main or even exclusive portholes through which nearly every American interfaces with nearly every aspect of modern life,” especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. Four of Nokia’s “asserted” inventions on video compression are H.264 “standard-essential patents” (SEPs), wrote Lenovo in docket 337-3466. The fifth describes user interfaces for better information searches through communications devices. Nokia committed to license SEPs to anyone on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, said the PC maker. The FTC warns such SEP-based exclusions “may adversely affect competitive conditions and harm consumers,” said Lenovo, citing a March 2011 FTC report on the “evolving” intellectual property marketplace and the need to align patent "remedies" with competition. The report recommended the ITC “consider these adverse effects in evaluating the public interest impact of proposed remedial orders,” said Lenovo. Nokia didn't comment Monday.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urged NARUC and state regulators to help lower inmate calling services rates for calls within states, in a letter Monday (see 2007200050). The federal commission is to vote Aug. 6 on whether to cap interstate and international ICS rates (see 2007160072). "Given the alarming evidence of egregiously high intrastate inmate calling rates and the FCC’s lack of jurisdiction here, I am calling on states to exercise their authority and, at long last, address this pressing problem," Pai wrote. He seeks "action on intrastate inmate calling services rates to enable more affordable communications for the incarcerated and their families. Prompt and meaningful state action on intrastate rates will provide much-needed relief to inmates and their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond." Pai noted NARUC opposed FCC action on intrastate rates. “Action to curb the sky-high rates that the families of the incarcerated pay for phone calls to their loved ones is long, long overdue,” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel emailed. Other FCC commissioners didn't comment. An FCC spokesperson declined further comment. NARUC, which is holding a conference this week (see 2007200054), didn't comment. The Florida Public Service Commission doesn't have authority to set telecom industry rates, a spokesperson emailed. The Oregon PUC doesn't have any dockets scheduled on ICS rates, its spokesperson emailed. Other states' commissioners didn't comment. CenturyLink and an attorney representing Pay Tel Communications declined to comment, and other lawyers for ICS providers didn't comment. Consumer advocates suggested last week legislation might be necessary on high intrastate ICS rates (see 2007150066). Some tweeted Monday that Pai didn't do enough in the past to safeguard the agency's authority over intrastate ICS rates (see 1701310061).
Advanced communications allowed by 900 MHz spectrum cleared by the FCC for broadband 5-0 in May (see 2005130057) will be only one part of the answer for electric utilities as they move toward smarter grids, speakers said during a panel Monday at NARUC. The FCC approved 6 MHz in the band for broadband, reserving 4 MHz for narrowband.