Even After NAB Pulls Plug on Vegas, Coronavirus Continues Causing Major Upheaval
A day after NAB canceled its April show at the Las Vegas Convention Center (see 2003110036), the coronavirus continued turning life upside down Thursday for many in various business and public sectors. In excess of 1,500 U.S. cases of COVID-19 were confirmed through Thursday afternoon, including 39 deaths. The spread was on pace to surpass 2,000 confirmed U.S. cases by the start of the weekend.
Several agencies told employees to work from home, and the FCC imposed strict new visitor restrictions for the “foreseeable future” (see 2003120063). Here are several of the coronavirus-induced restrictions, disruptions and developments that became known Thursday:
• Various groups asked for a delay in comment deadlines in the FCC’s net neutrality refresh, due April 29 in docket 17-108. Industry officials told us the early read is the FCC isn’t likely to grant delays at this point. The FCC didn’t comment. “There is an especially critical need for an extension to enable state, county and municipal governments to be able to respond adequately to the Commission’s questions relating to the overwhelmingly important issue of how the Commission’s reclassification of Broadband Internet Access Service affects public safety,” said a filing posted Thursday. “The staff, officials and line level first responders who possess the knowledge necessary to respond to these questions are preoccupied with preparing for, and conducting, emergency responses to a public safety crisis of unprecedented magnitude brought on by the rapid spread of COVID-19.” The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, California Public Utilities Commission, city of Los Angeles, Center for Democracy and Technology, Common Cause, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Incompas, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Next Century Cities, Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge were among the requesters.
• Sony Electronics supports “the difficult but important decision” of not holding the NAB Show in April, said the vendor Thursday. It plans to go ahead with a virtual news conference April 20 at 9 a.m. PDT in its original NAB time slot, it said. “Sony continues daily monitoring” of the global “escalation” of COVID-19, and “is taking various precautionary measures,” it said.
• Verizon said its networks are ready for increased traffic due to the coronavirus. The carrier said it's increasing capital expenditure guidance, from $17 billion-$18 billion in 2020 to $17.5 billion-$18.5 billion. That will accelerate its transition to 5G “and help support the economy during this period of disruption.” Since the first U.S. outbreaks, Verizon “has not seen a measurable increase in data usage -- despite some businesses, schools and other organizations now asking employees to work remotely and students to take classes online,” the carrier said Thursday.
• Citing the growing number of people staying home due to the pandemic, Comcast said it will offer 60 days of complementary service for new customers of its Internet Essentials low-income broadband service. It also said it will increase Internet Essentials speeds from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks applauded the moves and tweeted it's "time for other ISPs to follow suit."
• The Library of Congress is closing all buildings and facilities to the public through March 31 “to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19,” it said Thursday. Employees, contractors, authorized visitors and credentialed Capitol Hill staff will continue to have access, but all public programs are postponed or canceled through March, it said. It promised “regular public updates on the operating status of Library facilities.”
• The National Labor Relations Board is imposing a telework policy for several floors of its Washington headquarters at least through Monday to accommodate a "deep cleaning" of the facilities, it said Thursday. That’s because an employee who had close contact with a patient who tested positive for COVID-19 is now experiencing "cold-like symptoms," it said.