“Many affordable broadband plans are not meeting the needs of Californians impacted by this pandemic,” California Public Utilities Commission President Marybel Batjer wrote Friday to state ISPs. Providers should provide 25 Mbps free or up to $15 monthly with no data caps or overage charges, she said. Broaden eligibility requirements, make sign-up easy and remove barriers, said Batjer: “Eligibility can be verified at a later date.”
Face masks or coverings are now required at the Prettyman Courthouse and Bryant Annex, said U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit Chief Judge Beryl Howell in an order Monday. Howell said court staff should wear masks or face coverings when in common or public areas of the courthouse and in nonpublic areas where social distancing isn't practical such as corridors and elevators. The courthouse also houses the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
ICANN's board is acting to minimize risks associated with coronavirus, Chairman Maarten Botterman blogged last week. It's working to reduce the possibility that directors might contract the virus. This includes avoiding all ICANN-related travel through September and canceling a planned in-person May workshop, a spokesperson told us Monday. To ensure decisions and progress continue, directors are holding weekly information calls and special virtual meetings, he said. Directors also are prioritizing work to ensure that what must be done under the bylaws or on time-sensitive issues can be handled, the spokesperson said. "The overall expectation is that output/productivity will be reduced because of the pandemic-related causes, such as illness, family commitments, etc. They're hoping the prioritization will ensure focus." The work plan includes "hot topics" such as the proposed sale of .org registry Public Interest Registry, how best to support the next ICANN remote meeting, and domain name system abuse, Botterman wrote. The board will now generally concentrate on bylaw-mandated responsibilities such as the FY 2021 budget and developing a policy for generic top-level domain name registration data that complies with the EU general data protection regulation.
Intel finished Q1 with $19.8 billion revenue, $800 million better than forecasts, partly from a 14% COVID-19-induced increase in its “PC-centric” business, said CEO Bob Swan on a Thursday investor call. Profit of $1.45 per share exceeded projections by 15 cents, he said. The forecast is for Intel’s Q2 PC revenue to be “flat or slightly up” compared with Q2 2019, said Chief Financial Officer George Davis. PC unit volume in Q1 was up 13% year over year “on higher notebook demand and increased supply,” he said. “Notebook demand strength is expected to continue into Q2 with more people working and learning from home due to COVID-19-related shelter-in-place orders.” Intel isn't releasing full-year 2020 guidance “with limited visibility due to the uncertainty driven by COVID-19,” said Davis, noting a "demand bump" so far from the virus' effects. Throughout the pandemic, “the world’s cloud and network infrastructure has delivered massive scaling to support vital workloads for businesses and consumers,” said Swan. “Cloud-delivered applications seen as conveniences a quarter ago, such as online shopping and video collaboration, have now become indispensable.”
The Audio Engineering Society launched an effort to raise $500,000 by June 1 to sustain the organization through the pandemic. Its next big convention is scheduled for Oct. 21-24, collocated for two days with NAB Show New York at the Javits Convention Center, which currently is a COVID-19 Army field hospital. The May 25-28 and July 23-25 events are canceled. AES isn't “immune to the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking,” said the society Thursday. It draws its “traditional cashflow” from events, and those have been “severely disrupted,” it said. President Agnieszka Roginska asked, “If it is within your ability, may we ask that you make a financial contribution to help see your AES through these unprecedented times?"
“More jurisdictions across the country have adapted their processes to continue reviewing applications via online portals, submittal via email, or setting up a physical drop box to abide by social distancing, in order to ensure that applications are processed on a timely basis,” the Wireless Infrastructure Association said Thursday in FCC docket 17-79. WIA had phone meetings Monday with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, Tuesday with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, and Wednesday with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.
The FCC COVID-19 telehealth program made more awards (see 2004230052), Chairman Ajit Pai announced at the end of the commissioners' meeting Thursday. They're medical centers and health clinics in Annapolis, Maryland; Newark, Delaware; Monterey Park, California; Baton Rouge; New York and White Plains, New York. FCC COVID-19 telehealth funding reached $2.56 million Thursday for a total of $9.5 million to date. The program budget is $200 million.
Congress should include a moratorium on takeovers in the upcoming COVID-19 stimulus package, said House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I. He and “several colleagues” are pushing for a moratorium on “all transactions that do not involve firms that are truly failing or in bankruptcy,” he said in prepared remarks for Thursday's Open Markets Institute event. This is “outdated antitrust agenda,” NetChoice President Steve DelBianco said in a statement: The proposal “would leave small businesses with no choice but to let go their employees and declare bankruptcy.”
The FCC should join attorneys general from 27 states and territories urging the telecom industry to make further commitments to protect consumers during the public health crisis, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said Wednesday. Add another 90 days to the 60-day Keep Americans Connected pledge, said California, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and other AGs of both parties in a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai. Telecom companies should give customers fair payment plans for bills accumulated during the emergency, reconnect disconnected customers for at least 90 days with no fees, expand data caps and waive wireless overage charges for at least 90 days, and educate customers about COVID-19 services and scams, the AGs said. The FCC didn’t comment.
Emergency 911 calls are down in Washington, D.C., despite the pandemic, said D.C. Office of Unified Communications Director Karima Holmes on FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s podcast released Wednesday. Calls from people who are sick may go up, but other kinds of calls are decreasing with people staying home, she said. Nationwide, calls to 911 surged in COVID-19 hot spots but are low elsewhere (see 2004130032). The district hasn’t had a drop in staffing, Holmes said. She and Rosenworcel supported the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act. HR-1629/S-1015 would change the federal government's classification of public safety call takers and dispatchers to "protective service occupations” (see 2002120051).