The $100 billion in capital expenditures that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to make over the next three years to expand capacity to help relieve the global chips shortage (see 2104150034) will include $30 billion in spending for 2021 -- 74% more than in 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined, said a Form 20-F annual report for 2020 filed Friday with the SEC. TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, after announcing the $100 billion investment on Thursday's Q1 earnings call, also said he isn't worried about TSMC customer Intel’s recently announced plans to jump into the competitive foundry business in a big way.

The FCC Wireless Bureau created a new docket Friday, 21-154, for C-band transition relocation dispute referrals. The bureau directed transition relocation coordinator RSM US to notify the FCC of disputes on "comparability of facilities, workmanship, and preservation of service” by submitting them in the docket.

House Commerce Committee Republicans urged acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Friday “not to impose stringent net neutrality regulations that may result in Americans losing their internet services.” The FCC has been expected to try to bring back some form of its rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules once President Joe Biden names a third Democratic commissioner (see 2101060055). Congressional Democrats are eyeing legislative options to restore the 2015 rules or require the FCC to go even further (see 2103300001). Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and the committee’s other GOP members invoked the recent start of enforcement of California’s net neutrality law, as expected. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ review on whether California’s law negatively affects VA partnerships with wireless carriers, which help veterans “with limited data plans connect with their healthcare services” (see 2103250027), is a sign of “the negative effects that burdensome utility-style regulations would have on American consumers,” the Republicans said in a letter to Rosenworcel. California’s law “declares unlawful the zero-rating of Internet applications under certain circumstances. What those circumstances are, however, is far from clear under the law -- which nonetheless threatens violators with state [attorney general] enforcement, private rights of action and potential fines.” The Republicans believe “we must avoid state-by-state regulation as well, which would increase burdens and introduce inconsistencies that ultimately would jeopardize further investment and innovation, and in turn harm consumers. Our current regulatory environment was proven successful as our broadband networks excelled under unprecedented pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The other Republicans signing the letter include House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta of Ohio and Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana. The FCC didn’t comment.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to invest $100 billion over the next three years to increase capacity and support “the manufacturing and R&D of leading-edge and specialty technologies,” said CEO C.C. Wei on a Q1 earnings call Thursday. The world’s largest pure-play chip foundry expects the increased capacity to “improve supply certainty for our customers and help strengthen confidence in global supply chains that rely on semiconductors,” he said.

Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC will “re-establish” the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, with a new focus on 5G network security. Rosenworcel also asked the group Thursday to “review software and cloud services vulnerabilities and to develop mitigation strategies.” CSRIC will now include members from “the FCC’s federal partners with similar interests,” she said. Former Chairman Ajit Pai rechartered the group four years ago, with less emphasis on cybersecurity, which had been a focus under former Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1704100059). “The damage from recent supply chain attacks, like the SolarWinds software breach, demonstrates our need for a coordinated, multifaceted, and strategic approach to protecting our networks from all threats,” Rosenworcel said. The FCC asked for nominations for membership by June 1, with a planned first meeting in September.

Frontier Communications expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy “in the coming weeks,” the carrier said Thursday after resolving outstanding issues at the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC at a livestreamed meeting Thursday unanimously adopted a proposed decision to clean up lingering issues in the state’s Frontier reorganization OK. The CPUC last month gave Frontier the last regulatory clearance needed to close the carrier’s reorganization, but a controversial, late-added condition prevented it from emerging right away (see 2103250059). Frontier earlier this month supported a proposed revision to that condition (see 2104060033). The CPUC this week rejected other suggested tweaks (see 2104130027). Also at the California commission meeting, members unanimously approved a resolution to adopt a settlement requiring Sprint to repay $41.7 million to California LifeLine for erroneously received reimbursements (see 2104020033).

In an interview scheduled to air Saturday on C-SPAN’s The Communicators, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wouldn't say whether he supports acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel being nominated as the permanent chair. "I'm not sure my endorsement of a Democrat chair would help or hurt them at this point, so I'll refrain from weighing in on that," Carr said, "but it's been great having her reach across party lines and compromise." Carr said President Joe Biden's infrastructure package ignores the "billions of dollars that we already have in the pipeline to further close the digital divide." The FCC should be allowed time to disburse existing funds before additional funds are approved, he said (see 2104080059). The challenge is coordinating those efforts because "money at this point is not the problem," and it comes down to administering existing programs, Carr said. The commission's current broadband maps are also "outdated," he said, and "we can't take $100 billion without knowing where there is still a problem." Efforts to create broadband price regulation could disincentivize private investment, Carr said: "There's nothing that's going to scare those dollars away more quickly than the threat of rate regulation." There could be a lot of common ground on net neutrality if rate regulation is taken off the table, he said: "I'm still hopeful we can have an objective conversation." California's net neutrality law is "pretty remarkable," he said, and "an example of the real harms that come from those extreme approaches." Another pressing challenge is addressing the "spiraling" USF contribution factor, Carr said (see 2103230032). "I think that's an issue that is going to demand the attention of Congress in pretty short order." He also said the FCC made the "right call" in freeing up prime spectrum, and he's "very worried that there could be some backsliding with respect to those initiatives." Carr said he's still "very much open and interested" in Communications Decency Act Section 230 reform, citing Twitter's decision to block former President Donald Trump (see 2103300074). "The reasons that they articulated for kicking the president off the platform didn't really seem to line up with the actual tweets that they were referencing."

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved waivers sought by six companies wanting to use the 57-64 GHz band for vehicular safety technologies. The waivers were approved in a single order for Vayyar Imaging, Valeo North America, Infineon Technologies Americas, Tesla, IEE Sensing and Brose North America. OET said granting the waivers, in coordination with NTIA, “will bring immediate relief to the industry and the public in this area.” The technologies all involve detection of children inadvertently left in vehicles in hot weather “and other related passenger safety functions at higher power levels than specified in the rule,” OET said Wednesday. The waivers “will enable important in-vehicle sensing technology to further the auto industry’s goal of saving lives,” Auto Innovators President John Bozzella said in a statement. “The industry is working to reduce pediatric heatstroke fatalities through advanced technology, public awareness efforts, and a 2019 commitment to equip vehicles with rear seat reminder systems by Model Year 2025,” he said.

Belgium-based management consultancy Arthur D. Little acquired U.S.-based management consultancy MAG as part of the expansion of its telecom, IT, media and electronics practice and its U.S. presence, Little said Tuesday. Terms weren't disclosed.

Dish Network and designated entities Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless should be able to submit briefs separately because a shared one would create the appearance Northstar and SNR are under Dish control, which is a key issue in their court challenge of the denial of AWS-3 auction bidding credits (see 1807130003). That's per the appellant DEs, the appellee FCC and intervenors Dish, AT&T, T-Mobile and VTel Wireless in a proposed briefing format and schedule filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (docket 18-1209, in Pacer). The parties said Dish also will raise issues that are independent of the DEs' issues.