Wireless has a big role to play in infrastructure building and looks like it will be part of bipartisan legislation, Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein told a Media Institute virtual event. "Fiber-only” may be “well-intentioned” but would “crash on the messy rocks of reality in rural America,” he said. At another event Thursday, Commissioner Nathan Simington raised concerns about how far the FCC can go on data security and privacy.

Amazon and Facebook are attempting to “bully” the FTC by seeking recusal of Chair Lina Khan (see 2107140036), Senate Democrats said in interviews. Republicans were more hesitant to dismiss the filings but credited Khan’s approach. A former FTC general counsel and a legal scholar told us it’s unlikely the companies will succeed.

Summit Wireless CEO Brett Moyer pushed product breadth and a low barrier to entry for the company’s Wireless Speaker and Audio Association home theater technology, on a Thursday virtual investor road show. Summit hopes to broaden the customer base for the 24-bit/96kHz surround-sound standard to the entry level, pitching ease of setup in a wireless configuration.

Demand for technology for work, school and lifestyle will drive a 7.5% increase in retail tech sales this year to a record $487 billion, said CTA Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic “strengthened consumers’ relationship with technology forever,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro.

Opposing sides in the Section 301 litigation appeared from Thursday’s status conference at the U.S. Court of International Trade to be inching toward a compromise that would spare Customs and Border Protection the administrative burden of complying with the court's July 6 preliminary injunction (PI) order freezing liquidation of many thousands of unliquidated customs entries with Lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure. The court called the conference to gauge progress in creating the order's “repository” for importers to seek the suspension of entries due to be liquidated during a 28-day temporary restraining order period that expires Aug. 2.

Savant’s 15,000-square-foot showcase in Henderson, Nevada, unveiled to the media on a Zoom call Wednesday, was 15 years in the making, said Blair Piersall, vice president-sales, calling the experience “the very edge of what is smart home today.” The goal of the house, dubbed Vegas Modern 001, was to define what’s on trend in smart home technology today “and where we feel it’s going in the next five years."

Commissioners will vote on a follow-up open radio access network order at their Aug. 5 meeting, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the FCC ORAN showcase. Commissioners will decide on designating Boston and Raleigh as innovation zones for testing 5G and ORAN technologies, she said. Rosenworcel laid out the rest of the meeting agenda in a blog post later Wednesday. It includes items on robocalls, updating political programming regulations and recordkeeping rules for low-power radio services.

Comcast's supporting only Dolby Vision HDR in its Tokyo Olympics coverage reinforces that not all HDR formats are “created equally,” Colliers' Steven Frankel wrote investors Wednesday. Comcast said Tuesday it will deliver the Tokyo Olympics to X1, Flex and Stream customers in Dolby Vision and Atmos. The games open July 23 for a two-week run.

The audio market has experienced parts shortages in the past, but “I don’t think we’ve seen situations like this before,” said Voxx CEO Pat Lavelle, commenting on a Tuesday earnings call on the widespread COVID-19 impact. “I’ve been doing this for 40-plus years: I don’t believe I’ve seen anything as problematic as this," he said.

The Commerce Department is prioritizing regulation that protects intellectual property, human rights and privacy without slowing innovation, Secretary Gina Raimondo said Tuesday. Various legislators and officials at a National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence summit called for international cooperation, investment and for setting artificial intelligence standards.