AT&T Fiber pushed speed, reliability and security in a virtual event Monday announcing advanced speeds, new pricing plans for multi-Gbps and initiatives to address the digital divide. It announced new no-contract 2- and 5-Gbps plans for residential and small-business customers.
Though the overall Netflix business in Q4 was “healthy,” with subscriber retention strong, churn down and viewing engagement up, “we didn't grow acquisition quite as fast as we would have liked to see on our large subscriber base,” said Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann in a quarterly YouTube earnings interview Thursday. The stock plunged 21.8% Friday, closing at $397.50, after hitting its 52-week low earlier in the day. Analysts said Netflix lost about $50 billion of its value in the 24 hours after Thursday's earnings announcement.
President Joe Biden and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger used Intel’s announcement Friday of its $20 billion investment to build two semiconductor fabs in central Ohio as an appeal for congressional enactment of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) and its authorization of federal funding under the Chips Act for domestic semiconductor R&D and manufacturing incentives.
Conn’s HomePlus is rebranding as part of a three-year strategy to grow its e-commerce business, enlarge its retail footprint and expand its reach to upscale customers, said executives on the company’s virtual investor day meeting Thursday. It’s in the “research and discovery” phase of the rebranding project, with an update expected in six months, said Chandra Holt, former chief merchandising officer at Walmart who joined Conn's as CEO in August.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 16-6 Thursday to advance to the floor a bill that would ban Big Tech platforms from self-preferencing products (see 2201140049). Despite calls from tech companies and Republicans for a legislative hearing, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told us she’s focused on getting the bill to the floor.
Thirteen licensors populate the one-stop patent pool for ATSC 3.0 technologies that MPEG LA launched Thursday, as was expected recently after about three and a half years of development (see 2112100004).
A new-look Washington state Senate privacy bill took fire from all sides at its first hearing Thursday. Business groups at a Senate Technology Committee virtual hearing said they prefer the 2021 Washington Privacy Act (SB-5062) by Chairman Reuven Carlyle (D) to his pared-down SB-5813 this year. The American Civil Liberties Union, a SB-5062 opponent, said SB-5813 is better but still wouldn’t meaningfully protect privacy. Two state government offices also raised concerns.
ATSC 3.0's backers need to focus on attracting consumers, advertisers and consumer tech OEMs to the new technology, said executives from E.W. Scripps, Sinclair, Nexstar, and BitPath in a virtual panel Thursday. “A lot of these OEMs need to understand in a much deeper way what’s in it for them,” said Kerry Oslund, Scripps vice president-strategy and business development. If broadcasters don’t ensure that ATSC 3.0 early adopters see “a tangible difference,” 3.0 “will be 3DTV all over again.”
The Food and Drug Administration was right to propose setting a maximum output level of 115 dB of amplification on over-the-counter hearing aids, with a 120 dB maximum permitted on devices with a user-adjustable volume control, commented Bose in docket FDA-2021-N-0555 in the agency’s rulemaking to create a category of affordable OTC hearing aids for U.S. adults with mild to moderate hearing loss (see 2112060002). Tuesday was the deadline for comments.
Their agencies hope to issue joint takeover guidelines this year, DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter announced with FTC Chair Lina Khan Tuesday. The rise in mergers and acquisitions has been a key driver in consolidation, including in tech, and the M&A guidelines should reflect modern challenges, they told a livestreamed news conference.