Dish Network joined with Amazon to offer its unlimited Boost Infinite product to Amazon Prime customers for $25 per month. Customers who buy the Boost Infinite Unlimited SIM kit in the Amazon U.S. store will also get 20% off the list price of $25, plus a $25 credit toward their first month of service, Dish said. In June, reports surfaced that Amazon was negotiating a deal with Verizon, T-Mobile and Dish Wireless to offer free or low-cost wireless service, but Amazon denied that (see 2306020055). There were worries Amazon itself would enter the market “and it turns out they’re just going to be reselling … the Boost product,” UBS’ John Hodulik said on CNBC Wednesday. “That was very much a false alarm,” he said.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a proposal among fellow commissioners that would evaluate the state of broadband across the country, per a news release Tuesday. The notice of inquiry would seek comment on broadband deployment, affordability, adoption, availability and equitable access. “In today’s world, everyone needs access to affordable, high-speed internet, no exceptions,” Rosenworcel said: "Anything short of 100% is just not good enough.” The NOI would also propose increasing the national fixed broadband standard to 100/20 Mbps and a "separate national goal of 1 GB/500 Mbps for the future."

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., confirmed to us Tuesday that there are holds on FCC nominee Anna Gomez and renominated Commissioner Geoffrey Starks that prevent the chamber from confirming the two Democrats via unanimous consent (see 2307180073). “I don’t know the particulars of the holds, but that has the effect of slowing things down” and affecting the prospects for Senate Democrats to confirm at least Gomez before the chamber begins the month-plus August recess, said Thune, who’s also minority whip. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a Wednesday news conference the chamber’s “first job” is to finish passing the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (S-2226) and then “we’ll see what … goes from there” on potentially keeping the Senate in session into part of August to confirm additional executive nominees.

ACA Connects has issued an updated version of its broadband equity, access and deployment framework, incorporating actual NTIA BEAD funding amounts. The latest version estimates the number of locations eligible for BEAD funding and how many of those can be covered with fiber and other broadband technologies, ACA said.

The FCC hopes to have a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices in place by late next year, the agency said Tuesday as it announced a draft NPRM being circulated before the regular commissioners. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark would help consumers "make smart choices about the devices they bring into their homes, just like the Energy Star program did when it was created to bring attention to energy-efficient appliances and encourage more companies to produce them in the marketplace." The agency said the draft NPRM lays out a voluntary labeling program that uses National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity criteria. It said the NPRM asks questions ranging from the scope of devices for sale in the U.S. that should be eligible for inclusion in the labeling program and who should oversee and manage the program to developing the security standards and demonstrating compliance. CTIA and its members support “voluntary, flexible and harmonized efforts” on enhanced IoT security based on industry certification programs, such as CTIA’s IoT Cybersecurity Certification Program, CTIA said. “We look forward to working with the White House and other stakeholders to ensure that the White House labeling program is implemented based on the NIST Core Baseline using existing industry certifications, that the program provides a safe harbor for companies that participate, provides a consistent application of IoT security capabilities at the federal level, and enhances consumer understanding of the importance of IoT security,” the group said.

Monday was the deadline for carriers to submit a request to the FCC under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to remove unsecure equipment from their networks. Congress has been examining the issue but so far failed to provide additional money to fund removal of unsecure gear (see 2307130069). The Competitive Carriers Association said the deadline speaks to looming problems for smaller carriers. “Because Congress has not yet fully funded the Program, carriers are forced to undertake the endeavor of removing untrusted equipment with 40% of otherwise approved cost estimates to completely remove, replace, and destroy this untrusted equipment,” CCA CEO Tim Donovan said. “Absent full funding, networks in many rural and sensitive parts of our country are at ever-increasing risk of breaking down and going dark,” Donovan said: “Because of the funding shortfall, impacted carriers must make decisions to ‘rip’ but not ‘replace,’ including in areas where no other carrier provides service. This dire situation ignores our country’s national security and the connectivity of millions of Americans.” Congress’ inaction “has created a scenario that not only risks connectivity across rural America but undermines the nation’s faith in the security of our … networks,” a Telecommunications Industry Association spokesperson emailed. The group called for action. “TIA appreciates Congress’ work on increasing U.S. competitiveness with China and examining the risks posed by Huawei and ZTE equipment, however every day there are U.S. networks operating that contain equipment Congress has determined unsafe, poses a risk to our national security,” the spokesperson said. “It is essential that Congress move swiftly to address the shortfall,” said Jill Canfield, NTCA general counsel. “It is a national priority to remove unsecure equipment from the networks, but without the funding to replace noncompliant equipment, consumers living and working in rural America are at risk of losing service,” Canfield said. “It’s a classical unfunded mandate,” said Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner, who warned some networks may “go dark.”

With earnings season getting underway and the major wireless carriers set to report results starting with Verizon July 25, AT&T was down 4.10% Friday to $14.50/share after J.P. Morgan analyst Philip Cusick downgraded the company. "Based on recent commentary from management lowering estimates for wireless (in May and again in June) and broadband (in June), we believe AT&T is facing marginally more pressure in Mobility (from Verizon, T-Mobile, and cable) and Consumer Wireline (from cable, [fixed wireless access]) as well as ongoing pressures in Business Wireline," Cusick told investors. He predicted AT&T will grow its postpaid subscriber base by 2.5% this year, compared with 4.7% in 2021 and 3.5% in 2022. Cusick lowered his rating on AT&T to neutral from overweight and cut his per-share price target to $17 from $22. AT&T Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches warned last month the carrier expects net postpaid phone adds in the 300,000 range this quarter, compared with 424,000 in Q1 (see 2306200026). Meanwhile, Finland's Nokia cut its annual outlook Friday, and Sweden’s Ericsson reported lower quarterly profits due to a slowdown in consumer spending. Nokia now projects $26 billion-$27.6 billion in sales this year, down from $27.6 billion-$29.4 billion. “The weaker demand outlook in the second half is due to both the macro-economic environment and customers’ inventory digestion,” Nokia said: “Customer spending plans are increasingly impacted by high inflation and rising interest rates along with some projects now slipping to 2024 -- notably in North America. There is also inventory normalization happening at customers after the supply chain challenges of the past two years.” Ericsson reported overall sales dropped 9% year-over-year as it lost $67.2 million, primarily due to restructuring charges. The company cited a “sharp decline in sales in North America … partly offset by strong sales" in India, which is now deploying 5G. “As we've said before, 2023 is a choppy year and Q2 developed much in line with our expectations and what we have said to the market,” CEO Borje Ekholm told analysts. India “continued its strong development and network rollout, and by delivering a record build-out, we now have the leading market share” there, he said: “As expected, we saw a softening in other markets, primarily front-running 5G markets and that includes, of course, North America.” Ekholm noted world data traffic continues to grow. “In addition, we see that 3/4ths of all base station sites outside of China are not yet updated with 5G mid-band, so this, in combination with the migration to 5G stand-alone, will basically continue to drive the need for investments in 5G networks,” he said. Ericsson expects a “gradual recovery” in late 2023, with improvements next year.

Incompas held Wednesday's webinar on international Section 214 licenses (see 2307120069).

Residential phone service costs in the U.S. in June rose 5.9% over last year, and cable, satellite and livestreaming TV service costs were up 4.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index unadjusted data out Wednesday. Wireless phone service costs were down 0.7% year over year, but internet was up 3.3%. Smartphones prices dropped 16.1%, and computers, peripherals and smart home assistants fell 5.2%, it said. June prices overall were up 3% year over year before seasonal adjustment, BLS said.

Astound Broadband is expanding the footprint of its Astound Mobile service to cover roughly 4 million homes in 12 states, including the Greater New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston and Dallas markets, it said Wednesday. Astound Mobile operates via a mobile virtual network operator agreement with T-Mobile. The company said it plans to launch Astound Mobile Business later this year.