The scarcest commodity during the global chip shortage is “access to good information,” Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told analysts and reporters in Tokyo Wednesday: “We have been able to control the situation, but going forward, we cannot remain complacent” on supply. In consumer electronics, “we do use a lot of semiconductors in various areas, so some availability of parts and components is a source of concern,” he said. Sony reported selling 2.3 million PlayStation 5 consoles in fiscal Q1 ended June 30, 30% fewer than in Q4 and down 49% from peak shipments of 4.5 million in Q3 when the PS5 was introduced. “We are beginning to see a decline in the stay-at-home demand that has continued since last fiscal year in the market for low-priced, small- and medium-sized products,” the CFO said.

Microsoft’s petition for reconsideration of FCC ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission system rules doesn’t make a legitimate case, commented NAB and America’s Public Television Stations by Tuesday's deadline in docket 20-74. Microsoft and TV white space advocates “have simply failed to deploy the technology at scale to provide any meaningful level of service,” the groups said. Allowing the DTS order to move forward would undercut FCC efforts to pave the way for white space devices, said the Wireless ISP Association, the only other commenter by Wednesday afternoon. The DTS order runs counter to statements from acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks that support the waiver process for DTS pushed by Microsoft, WISPA said. “The Order authorizes significant 'spillover'" of DTS "signals into adjacent white space areas, increasing the potential for harmful interference and limiting the areas where white space devices can be deployed.” Microsoft’s argument the new rules would let stations use DTS to provide service equivalent to the largest station in a market is “incorrect,” NAB and APTS said. Reconsideration would prioritize the unlicensed white space tech over 3.0 efforts of licensed broadcast spectrum holders, said NAB and APTS. Microsoft grossly inflated the use and efficacy of white space devices, they said. “There are slightly over 300 actual white spaces devices operating in the entire United States,” said the broadcast groups. “Many states do not have even a single white space device operating.” Microsoft didn’t comment.

The FCC early and unanimously approved an NPRM on political advertising record-keeping and a reconsideration order on the personal radio service rules, deleting them from Thursday’s meeting agenda, said a deletion notice Wednesday. The political advertising NPRM seeks comment on allowing social media and campaign websites to be considered among criteria for whether a write-in candidate is eligible for lowest unit pricing and other candidate benefits. It also seeks comment on changing the language of the FCC’s rules to formalize provisions on keeping records on issue ads in station public files, which the Media Bureau already requires. The political ad proposals were considered administrative and uncontroversial, and aren’t expected to lead to practical changes in how stations handle political ads (see 2107290053). The approved NPRM didn't appear to have been changed from the draft version. Commissioners also OK’d 4-0 a docket 10-119 personal radio services order addressing three petitions for reconsideration of a May 2017 order revising the rules. The order wasn’t controversial, FCC officials said, and was approved as circulated, based on a side-by-side comparison. None of the commissioners released statements. The order acts on long-standing petitions by Cobra Electronics, Motorola Solutions and Medtronic (see 2107150066).

The Q4 USF contribution factor will “plummet” to 28.5% from 31.8% during Q3, analyst Billy Jack Gregg emailed Tuesday. Universal Service Administrative Co. projected USF-applicable telecom revenue will drop $188.9 million to $2.12 billion in Q4, with quarterly demand decreasing due to “major reductions” in demand for high-cost and low-income funds. Despite the decrease, projected demand for 2021 is the “largest annual demand on the USF since 2012” at $9.3 billion, he noted. Projected USF revenue for 2021 will be $9.66 billion, Gregg said.

AT&T's spinoff of its U.S. video distribution business and TPG Capital's investment in that spinoff is completed, they said Monday, announcing finalization of creating a stand-alone DirecTV that owns and operates the DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services. They said the New DirecTV finished Q2 with roughly 15.4 million subscribers. AT&T said the $7.1 billion cash it received as part of the deal would go toward debt reduction. They said New DirecTV will continue to offer HBO Max to subscribers along with any bundled wireless or broadband services and associated customer discounts. AT&T announced last month that Grupo Werthein is buying its Vrio video operations in Latin America. The spinoff deal was announced in February (see 2102240046) and got FCC OK last month without conditions (see 2107160069).

The monthly Lifeline minimum service standard for mobile broadband data capacity will increase to 18 GB Dec. 1, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Friday in docket 11-42. The monthly minimum service standard for mobile voice service will stay at 1,000 minutes. Monthly fixed broadband data usage will be 1,229 GB. The factors depend on the FCC not acting before then; in some past years, it has made changes. The indexed budget for 2022 will be $2.46 billion.

Against strong Q2s from rivals, T-Mobile reported adding a net 1.3 million wireless connections, which it said led industry, and 627,000 postpaid phones. Postpaid adds were below the nearly 800,000 by AT&T (see 2107220058) but above Verizon’s 197,000 (see 2107210054). T-Mobile reported 76,000 prepaid net adds. T-Mobile emphasized its “consistent and profitable customer growth.” T-Mobile said one-third of Sprint customers have moved to its network. “We have a lot of work left to do” on integration, said CEO Mike Sievert. Analyst reports show “T-Mobile customers get the fastest 5G speeds and spend the most time connected to 5G,” Sievert said. T-Mobile plans to increase its network by another 100 MHz by year-end “about what AT&T and Verizon will light up sometime next year with C band, combined,” he said. “We have a massive lead” on spectrum, said President-Technology Neville Ray. “That lead is there and it’s durable.” Revenue of $20 billion was up 13%. Postpaid churn was 0.87%. Sievert said the net effect of Dish Network’s network deal with AT&T (see 2107190003) is still to be seen. T-Mobile’s five-year plan factored in rapid declines for Dish revenues” though “it could go a little faster than we had thought,” he said. “We like and respect the Dish team and we’re here for them.” T-Mobile took Dish “at their word that they would build a facilities-based network and vacate ours as fast as possible,” he said. To the extent Dish’s departure opens up network capacity, T-Mobile can use it for its home broadband, he said: “There’s an opportunity to go faster.”

New York is enjoined from enforcing its broadband affordability law, in a stipulated final judgment (in Pacer, docket 21-CV-02389) approved Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Denis Hurley in Central Islip, Long Island. Hurley ruled last month that ISPs would likely succeed on conflict and field preemption arguments, and granted a motion for preliminary injunction by the New York State Telecommunications Association, CTIA, ACA Connects, USTelecom, NTCA and the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (see 2106110064). Under the stipulated final judgment, the sides agreed to a final judgment in favor of the ISP interest plaintiffs conceding that the state law is preempted by federal law. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) reserves the right to appeal the stipulated final judgment, declaration and permanent injunction. Her office didn't comment. For our report on the sides settling this case that may go to an appeals court, see here.

Two companies participating in an FCC auction of FM construction permits could face consequences over prohibited communications, said letters from the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics in Tuesday's Daily Digest to Upbeat Frequency and Max Frequency. A July 19 meeting between principals of the two companies to discuss a possible deal to have better bidding eligibility in Auction 109 appears to violate rules on prohibited communications, the nearly identical letters said. The companies disclosed, and though they argued they didn’t discuss bidding strategies, their discussion must have implicated them, the letters said. The companies remain qualified bidders, but “further participation in Auction 109 by you could exacerbate this violation and may increase the likelihood and severity of possible sanctions,” staff said. “We are unable to fully investigate the facts underlying your report prior to the start of bidding, and will refer this apparent violation to the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau for further investigation.” The companies didn’t comment.

The FTC lacks authority and resources to properly enforce against consumer protection and competition violations, the commission tells the House Commerce Committee in testimony prepared for Wednesday’s House Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing (see 2107210061). In a joint statement, the commission highlighted its weakened authority to obtain monetary relief, resulting from the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital Management v. FTC (see 2106210054). The commission is “facing extremely severe resource constraints,” commissioners wrote, citing a heavy surge in global “mergers and acquisitions.” The pandemic also is causing more complaints about marketplace abuse, the commission said. It cited bipartisan support for some of the legislative proposals the committee is considering at the hearing. It cites the agency’s call for Congress to repeal the telecom common carrier exemption, which it said impedes enforcement against activity like illegal telemarketing. The commission notes broad support for enforcement against nonprofits and for rulemaking and civil penalty authorities, “although some Commissioners would support such measures in more limited ways.” Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote Tuesday against several recent measures from FTC Chair Lina Khan. He raised concerns about the “diminished role” of minority commissioners and allowing public input only after commissioners voted on agenda items at recent public meetings. He criticized the FTC’s “refusal to grant early terminations of the waiting period for mergers that pose no threat to competition under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act.” Restoring FTC’s authority to “force lawbreakers to return money to scammed consumers and disgorge ill-gotten gains" should be a key priority, says ex-FTC official David Vladeck, now a Georgetown law professor, in prepared remarks. He seeks adequate funding, saying the FTC has “barely” two-thirds of the personnel it had in the early 1980s.