House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, want committee Democratic leaders to hold a hearing on ways to improve broadband access, saying the pandemic “amplified the need for connectivity, as millions of Americans transition to working remotely.” The House passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act last month (see 2005180056). HR-6800’s broadband funding includes an $8.8 billion Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund and $5 billion for E-rate (see 2005130059). House Communications examined broadband access during a January hearing (see 2001290052), but an additional hearing is needed “as soon as possible” because the pandemic “brought to light the consequences for the millions of Americans who did not have access to broadband in their communities before the current crisis,” Walden and Latta said Thursday in a letter to House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “It is critical to examine potential solutions to close the homework gap and simultaneously take steps to reduce regulatory barriers to close the digital divide. These actions will promote competition and broadband infrastructure deployment that will long outlast the current crisis.” House Commerce didn’t comment Friday.
Fifteen percent of U.S. broadband households said they used more telehealth or remote doctor services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Parks Associates survey fielded March 8-April 3 found. Parks’ Connected Health Summit, originally scheduled for Sept. 1-3 in San Diego, will now be a virtual event.
Half the readers participating in a poll by technology consultant Shelly Palmer Thursday said it’s “too early to tell” if they will attend CES 2021 “physically or virtually.” Twenty-one percent would go to the Jan. 6-9 Las Vegas and 19% would do so online. Seventy-seven percent back wearing face masks on the show floor. Eighty percent still fear COVID-19 as a health threat, disagreeing with the statement: “I feel safe enough now and do not need to worry about masks or social distancing at a trade show.” CES 2021 is proceeding as planned with masks, social distancing, wider aisles and “options to expand the show digitally" (see 2004210057).
Store closures and supply chain disruptions sent Fossil Group down 16% for Q1 ended April 4. The pandemic diverted traffic to Fossil’s e-commerce sites where visits soared 150% in April and 200% in May compared with 2019, said CEO Kosta Kartsotis on a Wednesday call. Fossil expects its direct-to-consumer channel will be nearly 60% of its global sales in the second half of its fiscal year. E-commerce was about 10% of sales in Q1 and is expected to exceed 30% this quarter, he said. Connected watch sales declined by high-single digits in Q1, said Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Boyer. The company expects Q2 sales will decline 60%-70% with “the majority of our global business effectively closed during April and May,” said Boyer. “Ongoing strength” in e-commerce will “partially offset” brick-and-mortar declines, he said. The stock closed up 14% Thursday at $4.36.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should consider whether its expanded reimbursement of telehealth services during COVID-19, including audio-only telehealth, should be made permanent, FTC staff said in comments posted to docket CMS-2020-0032 Tuesday. "Doing so could benefit patients, practitioners, and the health care system as a whole."
Global smartphone shipments are expected to decline 11.9% this year to 1.2 billion, reported IDC Wednesday. It follows the largest year-over-year Q1 decline in the product's history, it said. “Smartphone shipments are now expected to decline 18.2% in 2020's first half of the year as the macroeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect consumer spending.” IDC doesn’t expect the global market to return to unit growth until after Q1 2021.
ABI Research slashed its 2020 wearables forecast by 27 million. The researcher cited a falloff in consumer demand for nonessential devices in Q1 due to the pandemic and supply chain issues. Shipments of smartwatches and activity trackers -- representing more than half of wearable shipments -- were 26.5 million in Q1, emailed analyst Stephanie Tomsett. For the year, ABI now forecasts wearables shipments of 254 million. That’s 5% over 2019 vs. the previously forecast 17% rise. Wearables shipments grew 23% in 2019.
A slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could combine with rising U.S.-China trade tensions to pose a big risk to U.S. investment-grade tech companies, S&P Global Ratings reported Wednesday. “Unprecedented measures from the U.S. government and Federal Reserve will be sure to mitigate the effects of the sharp decline in economic activity due to COVID-19,” said the debt ratings firm. “But the path to recovery remains uncertain both in terms of timing and trajectory.” Until there’s an effective COVID-19 treatment or vaccine, “significant uncertainties surround the resolution of the pandemic and its effects,” said S&P. The “near-term risk” to the semiconductor industry would be “manageable” amid heightened U.S.-China trade friction, said the report. But it “adds incremental pressure on an industry that we already forecast will shrink by 7% in 2020.”
Seeking to support a rural area amid the pandemic, the FCC Wireless Bureau granted a request for temporary spectrum access to Harlan County, Kentucky, the agency said Tuesday. The FCC gave Harlan two-way access to 2.5 GHz spectrum for 60 days.
The FCC and states will partner to raise Lifeline awareness amid the pandemic, said Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and NARUC President Brandon Presley in a Monday letter to NARUC members. The FCC is expanding access to the national verifier to allow state agencies to help consumers sign up, “much like Lifeline service providers do today,” said the Republican FCC chairman and Democratic Mississippi commissioner. “We hope that state public utility commissions, state departments of health and human services, and state social service agencies will take advantage of this new feature.” Pai and Presley urged state commissions to share Lifeline information with consumers. Industry, policymakers and consumer advocates seek new ways to expand Lifeline enrollment and benefits (see 2004240014).