Open radio access networks are making progress but have a way to go, especially for more advanced networks, speakers said during TelecomTV's virtual Open RAN Summit Tuesday. Speakers said 4G and earlier markets could get virtualization first. A lot of work has been done, “but there’s still a hell of a lot to do,” said Neil McRae, BT chief architect.

YouTube, TikTok and Snap agreed to share internal research with the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee, the companies' representatives told a hearing Tuesday. Chair Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us he’s going to hold them to that promise and use the findings to develop a full picture in pursuit of legislation.

A three-month delay in T-Mobile's CDMA shutdown isn’t long enough, and T-Mobile should delay until 2023, a Dish Network official said Monday. Experts said the delay until March 31 likely won’t be enough to mollify other critics or California regulators. Dish bought Boost from T-Mobile to partially resolve regulator concerns about T-Mobile buying Sprint and has raised concerns many of the prepaid service’s customers use 3G phones.

Collecting regulatory fees from tech companies and users of unlicensed spectrum would be a huge task, outside FCC authority, and hamper broadband adoption, said trade associations and others in comments posted to docket 21-190 by Thursday’s deadline.

Smartphone shipments, which grew year on year in Q2 despite the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant and component shortages, will turn negative in Q3 due to continued supply shortages and reduced demand, said Omdia analyst Jusy Hong in a Monday report.

The promise of scale is the main benefit behind Azione Unlimited’s joining with Nationwide Marketing Group, Azione President Richard Glikes told Consumer Electronics Daily Friday. The buying groups said Wednesday they're combining to create a "whole-home platform" for the custom integration channel.

Intel expects its plans to build new chip fabs will “benefit from investments from governments" that understand that a "healthy semiconductor industry is vital to their economic well-being and national security,” said CEO Pat Gelsinger on a Q3 call Thursday. With bipartisan congressional support, “we’re hopeful the Chips Act will be passed by the end of this year, allowing us to accelerate decisions for our next U.S. site,” he said. Intel broke ground on two new fabs last month in Chandler, Arizona (see 2109240043).

There’s rich historical precedent showing government subsidies can nurture private-sector tech growth, said panelists from some of the world’s biggest chip companies on a Semiconductor Industry Association webinar Thursday. But they agreed lack of high-skilled U.S. talent is a worrisome gating factor to growth, even if Congress ultimately votes to fund the Chips Act, as the industry vehemently wants.

Facebook was the top lobbying spender from tech and telecom in Q3, supplanting Amazon, the leader in recent quarters (see 2107210049). NCTA and Comcast again rounded out the top four. Most major tech and telecom companies' lobbying spending rose in Q3 compared with the same period in 2020; Huawei, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, IBM and Dell had the largest percentage increases. Apple, Broadcom and T-Mobile outlays dropped.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is looking to advance the discussion on a measure that would prohibit online platforms from self-preferencing their own products (see 2110140068). He told us he’s in discussions with ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., about a legislative hearing for the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. “I’m discussing it with both of them,” said Durbin. “We haven’t made a final decision.”