Daily Digest 8/25/2020 (COVID-19 Impact on Telecom)

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Table of Contents

Broadband/Internet/Telecom

MoffettNathanson: COVID-19 Impact on Telecom Business Revenues Not So Bad, But Worst is Yet to Come  |  Read below  |  Joan Engebretson  |  telecompetitor
The Daily Charge Podcast | Why closing the broadband gap is more critical than ever  |  C|Net

Wireless

WISPA FYI - COVID-19's Effect on Fixed Wireless Network Use  |  Read below  |  Mike Wendy  |  Research  |  Wireless Internet Service Providers Association
CISA 5G Strategy  |  Read below  |  Analysis  |  Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
What the advent of 5G—mmWave and otherwise—will mean for online gaming  |  Ars Technica

Platforms

Apple Judge ‘Inclined’ to Unblock Epic’s Unreal Engine But Not Fortnite  |  Read below  |  Malathi Nayak, Mark Gurman, Olga Kharif  |  Bloomberg
Social Media Offered Bannon’s Group a Tool to Promote Ties to President Trump and Raise Millions  |  New York Times
Zoom Restored After Outage Brings Down Virtual Meetings, Classrooms  |  Wall Street Journal
Op-Ed: A new idea for social media rules  |  Hill, The

Health

Chairman Pai Continues to Ask Congress for $430 Million for FCC Teleheatlh  |  Read below  |  John Hendel  |  Politico
Google is investing $100 million in telehealth provider Amwell, which will use Google Cloud  |  CNBC
Telehealth has a hidden downside: Privacy  |  Fast Company

Education

Ed Sec DeVos Issues New Distance Learning Regulations to Spur High-Quality Distance and Competency-Based Programs  |  Department of Education

Elections

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Defends Changes as President Trump Continues to Attack Voting by Mail  |  New York Times
Networks’ Challenge: Covering a Live Convention When Falsehoods Fly  |  New York Times
Twitter Flags President Trump Tweet for Dissuading Voting  |  New York Times

Ownership

General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital Are Key Drivers in Oracle Bid for TikTok  |  Wall Street Journal

Security/Surveillance

TikTok Sues US Government Over President Trump Ban  |  New York Times
CISA Warns of Vulnerabilities in Popular Domain Name System Software  |  nextgov
Military Surveillance Planes Didn’t Spy on Protesters, Pentagon Report Finds  |  New York Times

Privacy

Bridgefy, the messenger promoted for mass protests, is a privacy disaster  |  Ars Technica
Telehealth has a hidden downside: Privacy  |  Fast Company

Policymakers

FTC Announces Tara Isa Koslov As Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition  |  Federal Trade Commission
Chairman Pai Appoints Tricia Paoletta And Bryan Tramont Chair And Vice Chair Of The World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory  |  Federal Communications Commission
Today's Top Stories

Broadband/Internet/Telecom

MoffettNathanson: COVID-19 Impact on Telecom Business Revenues Not So Bad, But Worst is Yet to Come

Joan Engebretson  |  telecompetitor

The COVID-19 impact on telecommunication business revenues hasn’t been as bad as financial analysts at MoffettNathanson expected it to be. But the worst is yet to come. While US gross domestic product dropped at a 32.9% annualized run rate between the first and second quarters of 2020, US telecom wireline business revenues dropped at only a 0.4% annualized rate during the same timeframe. “[S]ociety has relied heavily on telecom services to remain economically productive, educated and entertained, helping to insulate service providers’ results from the broader turmoil,” the researchers observe. The researchers argue, however, that “we don’t think results in the first half of 2020 are illustrative of the full impact of the COVID crisis.” They note, for example, that telecom providers saw a spike in voice revenues and collaboration revenues as employees worked from home. Collaboration offerings may remain more popular than they were before COVID-19 but usage will decline from Q2 levels as employees return to offices, the researchers predict. For 2020 overall, the MoffettNathanson researchers expect to see telecom wireline business revenues decline by less than the 5% to 7% that the researchers initially forecast.

Wireless

WISPA FYI - COVID-19's Effect on Fixed Wireless Network Use

Mike Wendy  |  Research  |  Wireless Internet Service Providers Association

In early Aug, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) surveyed its WISP providers on the effect the pandemic has had on network use, changes in download and upload traffic, and network responses, among other matters. Usage remains highly asymmetrical during COVID, with only a small minority of customers citing faster upload speeds as a reason for upgrading their service packages where requested. As a consequence of [COVID-19], download traffic and upload traffic surged, pushing our members to upgrade both last-mile and backhaul capacity.   Finally, though customer bandwidth needs have seemingly increased during the pandemic, the most popular service package for consumers is Federal Communications Commission-benchmarked broadband, even where symmetric gigabit services are available.  
 

CISA 5G Strategy

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads 5G risk management efforts so the US can fully benefit from all the advantages 5G connectivity promises to bring. In support of CISA’s operational priority to secure 5G, as outlined in the CISA Strategic Intent, the CISA 5G Strategy establishes five strategic initiatives that stem from the four lines of effort defined in the National Strategy to Secure 5G. Guided by three core competencies: Risk Management, Stakeholder Engagement, and Technical Assistance, these initiatives include associated objectives to ensure there are policy, legal, security, and safety frameworks in place to fully leverage 5G technology while managing its significant risks. With the support of CISA and its partners, the CISA 5G Strategy seeks to advance the development and deployment of a secure and resilient 5G infrastructure, one that enables enhanced national security, technological innovation, and economic opportunity for the United States and its allied partners

Platforms

Apple Judge ‘Inclined’ to Unblock Epic’s Unreal Engine But Not Fortnite

Malathi Nayak, Mark Gurman, Olga Kharif  |  Bloomberg

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is “inclined” not to order Apple to immediately reinstate the Fortnite app as the companies faced off in their first courtroom showdown. Judge Gonzalez Rogers said that the dispute over Apple’s App Store isn’t a “slam dunk” for either side. She was sympathetic to the game developer’s argument that Apple retaliated against it by threatening to cut off Epic’s graphics technology, known as Unreal Engine, a suite of software used by millions of developers to build 3-D games and other products. She will issue a temporary order soon and will hold a Sept. 28 hearing on a longer-term solution.

Health

Chairman Pai Continues to Ask Congress for $430 Million for FCC Teleheatlh

John Hendel  |  Politico

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is pushing Congress to make “more funding available for connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic — including at least $430 million in funding for the highly successful but underfunded COVID-19 Telehealth Program,” a spokesperson said, noting that the FCC has conveyed these requests for months. Congress in March slated $200 million for the Covid-19 Telehealth Program, and the FCC has since awarded that cash to subsidize connectivity for 539 health care entities across the country. Chairman Pai’s office mentioned his requests in response to a letter on Aug 21 from 16 Democratic Senators who lashed out at him in unusually harsh terms over how he’s handled telehealth during the outbreak.“It's disappointing that Congressional Democrats continue to prioritize partisan politics over legislative action that would give the FCC the funds it needs to extend its record of success,” the FCC spokesperson added.

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Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.


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