The COVID-19 pandemic has nearly two-thirds of Americans trading in public transit for personal vehicles and more than a third believing commuter life has “changed forever” because they plan to telework permanently, a Cars.com survey found. The website canvassed nearly 3,100 respondents Aug. 13-14.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai believes Congress “needs to step up to the plate and make more funding available for connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic -- including at least $430 million in funding for the highly successful but underfunded COVID-19 Telehealth Program,” a spokesperson emailed. 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 provided some related funding in March via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, including $200 million for the FCC’s telehealth program (see 2003250046).
Local governments relied on funding models based on “business as usual” with normal sales, gas and other taxes, but everything changed with COVID-19 pandemic, speakers said at the virtual International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) Monday. Public safety communications and other local government costs will be under continuing pressure, they said.
Two big issues dominated discussions at the virtual International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) on its first day Monday: the promise from 5G and the continuing threat from the COVID-19 pandemic. Both still have many unknowns, speakers said.
Lifeline providers are looking to FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly as a potential avenue for shifting a draft order circulated last month (see 2007300064) that would change the formula setting the minimum service standard to produce an MSS of 4.5 GB per month, said an industry attorney and an FCC official. That’s lower than the 11.75 GB the MSS will require starting in December without FCC action but higher than the freeze at the current 3 GB requested by virtually all Lifeline docket commenters. “We want them to do something, but we want it to be something that won’t harm Lifeline subscribers," said Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff. “Vulnerable low-income Americans shouldn’t be left behind during this COVID-19 pandemic,” said attorney Judson Hill, who represents Lifeline provider TruConnect.
The FCC has the authority to keep regulatory fees the same as last year, said NAB in calls with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel, Mike O’Rielly, and Geoffrey Starks last week, said an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 20-105. The regulatory fee NPRM’s “blind adherence to the full-time employee model undermines its ability -- and responsibility -- to assess fees fair and equitably,” said the filing. The agency shouldn’t raise regulatory fees for radio stations when there hasn't been any change in the amount of agency attention radio requires, and when radio is disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, NAB said.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and more than a dozen other Democrats urged the FCC Friday to increase funding to the Rural Health Care Program and improve its operations, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. "Cash-strapped health care providers are looking to the RHC Program for help to defray these costs, but you have so far not taken steps that would allow health care providers to receive additional support through the program,” the senators said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “We urge you to address these issues as soon as possible.” Pai "has made telehealth a priority under his watch, taking actions like increasing funding for [RHCP] for the first time in its history and launching the COVID-19 Telehealth Program in a matter of weeks," a spokesperson emailed. "The FCC's record of decisive, bipartisan action to benefit consumers stands in stark contrast to the signatories of this letter." It's "disappointing that Congressional Democrats continue to prioritize partisan politics over legislative action that would give the FCC the funds it needs to extend its record of success," the spokesperson said.
All companies face uncertainties from the global pandemic, but also increasing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, said Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang on a fiscal Q1 investor call Thursday: “As the world's largest e-commerce platform, Alibaba's primary commercial focus in the U.S. is to support American brands, retailers, small businesses and farmers to sell to consumers and trade partners in China as well as the other key markets around the world.”
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, they told us. Congress provided some related funding in March via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (see 2003250046).
Nvidia’s gaming business finished Q2 “significantly ahead of our expectations,” said Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress on a Wednesday investor call. Revenue of $1.65 billion was up 26% year on year and a 24% increase sequentially from Q1, she said: “The upside is broad-based across geographic regions, products and channels.” Gaming’s growth amid COVID-19 “highlights the emergence of a leading form of entertainment worldwide,” said Kress. The number of daily gamers on Steam, an online gaming distributor, is up 25% from pre-pandemic levels, she said. NPD reported U.S. consumer spending on videogames grew 30% in Q2 to a record $11 billion, she said. “We ramped over 100 new models with our OEM partners focused on both premium and mainstream price points.” In Nvidia’s “mainstream” segment, “we brought the GeForce GTX to laptop price points as low as $699,” she said. The explosive growth in gaming demand isn't temporary, said CEO Jensen Huang. The pandemic made gaming “the largest entertainment medium in the world,” he said. Huang thinks “this way of enjoying entertainment digitally has been accelerated as a result of the pandemic,” and it’s not “going to return” to pre-COVID-19 levels, he said. COVID-19 office closures dealt a significant Q2 blow to Nvidia’s professional visualization business, said Kress. Revenue in the segment was down 30% from the 2019 quarter and off 34% sequentially from Q1, reflecting broad-based demand declines in mobile and desktop workstations, she said. Work-from-home initiatives drove enterprise demand for Nvidia “virtual and cloud-based graphic solutions,” and Q2 bookings in those segments jumped 60% from the 2019 quarter, she said. The pandemic will have a “lasting impact on how we work,” said Kress. Nvidia’s revenue mix going forward “will likely reflect this evolution in enterprise workforce trends, with a greater focus on technologies such as Nvidia laptops and virtual workstations that enable remote work and virtual collaboration,” she said. Vehicle factory closures sent Nvidia’s Q2 automotive revenue tumbling 47% from the 2019 quarter and down 28% sequentially from Q1, said Kress. Factory production volume got progressively better in the quarter “after bottoming in April,” she said. Mercedes-Benz, starting in 2024, will launch “software-defined intelligent vehicles” across its entire fleet using Nvidia’s “full technology stack,” said Kress.