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).
Sensory developed a face and voice biometric platform to recognize users wearing masks, it said Tuesday: With the “new normal” requiring people to wear masks to avoid spreading the coronavirus, many smartphones’ facial recognition systems can’t detect the user’s face.
April's $34.4 billion of global semiconductor sales was 1.2% lower sequentially, 6.1% higher than April 2019, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. COVID-19 disruptions “have so far not substantially impacted overall global sales.” The monthly sequential decline was “in line with seasonal trends,” SIA said. Despite the industry’s “early signs of resilience," it said that “significant uncertainty remains."
Canon USA introduced video content analysis software that can measure crowd size in real time. “With the current COVID-19 pandemic, it has become extremely important to be able to monitor the density of crowds,” said the vendor Monday. The software “can help to manage crowds in real time and will provide valuable data to help keep people safe once large gatherings and events return,” it said.
The FCC eased Lifeline applications on tribal lands, citing COVID-19, the Wireline Bureau ordered Monday. Until Aug. 31 a carrier may provide Lifeline service to a consumer living in a rural tribal area and unable to provide documentation after a failed automated check. Consumers get 45 days to submit documentation. The order extended to Aug. 31 waivers of the program’s recertification, reverification, general de-enrollment, usage, and income documentation requirements (see 2004290060).
Public access restrictions and mask rules at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' Powell Courthouse Complex in Richmond remain in effect through Aug. 31, the court said Monday.
Consumer revenue at Dell Technologies for Q1 ended May 1 was down 5%, “as we shifted supply to direct from retail” with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Chief Financial Officer Tom Sweet on a Thursday investor call. Dell’s consumer-direct orders were up nearly 40% in the quarter, while consumer retail orders were down 37%, he said. April visits to Dell’s online store were up 77% from a year earlier, “driven largely by interest in remote work offerings,” said Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke. In the “new normal,” society is realizing “that work isn't a destination, rather it's something many of us can do anywhere, anytime,” he said. “We are solving customer issues remotely with great success.” The stock closed 8.9% higher Friday at $49.64.
A chip company that supplies carriers and others expects 5G and bandwidth demand to keep increasing post-pandemic, its CEO said. Marvell expects the demand for bandwidth “to continue to grow stronger,” said CEO Matt Murphy on a Thursday investor call. “Major cloud and service providers are facing unprecedented demand for their services as a result of so many people working from home and are scrambling to add capacity to their networks. 5G has become a strategic priority for many nations.” Quarterly sales rose about 5% to $693.6 million from the year-ago period. That's about $14 million above the midpoint of its March 4 guidance, despite COVID-19's “massive disruption,” Murphy said. Q1 ended May 2. “The impact of COVID-19 turned out to be greater than expected in our storage business and lower than expected in our networking business,” he said. Marvell experienced stronger than expected demand from its data center and 5G infrastructure “end markets,” he said. The company just started shipping 5G products to Samsung. “We are still at the very beginning of the industry transition from 4G to 5G,” Murphy noted. His company's stock closed up 8.8% Friday at $32.62.
Disney+ has 25% adoption among U.S. broadband households after six months in the market, reported Parks Associates Friday, while Apple TV+, launched around the same time, has nearly 10% penetration. They rank fourth and fifth in subscription VOD service adoption, said an March 8-April 3 survey of more than 10,000 consumers. Nearly three in 10 say their use of online video services rose during the period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight in 10 Disney+ customers also subscribe to Netflix; 72% of Apple TV+ users are Netflix customers. “We will see, as household budgets tighten up, if Disney+ has done enough to become an 'essential service' for its subscribers," said analyst Steve Nason. Parks said Thursday consumers subscribing to an over-the-top video service grew 6 points to 76%, due to COVID-19. “While use of existing video services is increasing, consumers are also looking to new services to access new content,” blogged David Drury. The "severe" economic impact of COVID-19 will exacerbate cord cutting from MVPDs “and their higher-priced offerings,” said the analyst: “Consumers are putting their personal finances to much tighter scrutiny, leading to the potential further widening of the already-sizeable gap between OTT and pay-TV.”
E-commerce order fulfillment and delivery “worked pretty smoothly during the quarter despite dramatic volume increases,” said Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti on a fiscal Q3 call Thursday. E-commerce sales soared 64.5% from the year-ago quarter, said Galanti: They rose 90% in the final four weeks of the most recent period, which ended May 10.