Missouri’s telecom relay service is having higher call volumes and longer calls due to COVID-19, resulting in longer wait times, the Missouri Public Service Commission said Thursday. Average call time is five to eight minutes, up from two to three minutes normally, the PSC said. Missouri relay service provider Sprint reported higher wait times amid the pandemic Wednesday (see 2003250055).

Broadcasters airing free commercials during the COVID-19 pandemic don’t have to factor them into their lowest unit rate for political advertisements, said guidance from the FCC Media Bureau in Thursday's Daily Digest. MB also issued a public notice about COVID-19-related waivers for the percentage of content allowed under sharing agreements. It responds to questions from NAB and broadcasters about the effects of airing free spots for advertisers affected by the pandemic, the bureau said. “Because of current financial difficulties arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many commercial customers are canceling their advertising contracts,” the lowest unit rate PN said. “To fill excess inventory and build goodwill, broadcasters are seeking to air free advertisements for merchants.” Those free ads don’t need to be factored into lowest unit rate calculations “provided the free time is not associated with an existing commercial contract for paid time or otherwise considered bonus spots,” the bureau said. “We anticipate that this guidance is applicable only to the current period and not necessarily applicable when more ordinary conditions are restored.” Local ownership rules limit to 15% the amount of programming one station can provide for another though local marketing agreements or shared service agreements, but that limit can be waived during the pandemic, MB said. During the COVID-19 national emergency “individual licensees may request temporary waivers of the Local Television Ownership Rule to provide more news coverage.”

Ericsson will “limit the scope and duration” of the annual meeting it still plans to hold in person Tuesday in Stockholm, despite the pandemic, said the company Thursday. No live speeches will be given at the meeting, which will be webcast, it said. “The presentation of proposals will be kept to the minimum,” as will participation of board members and senior management, it said. Chairman Ronnie Leten and CEO Borje Ekholm will take part “via link,” it said. “Attendees, who nonetheless wish to attend in person, will be reminded to avoid close contact with other attendees in the common areas, and to spread out in the meeting hall while seated. Cloakrooms will be closed, and all who attend are requested to bring their outerwear into the meeting hall.”

COVID-19 forced cancellation of the June 10-11 CE Week show at New York's Javits Convention Center, said its IFA organizers Wednesday. An executive order Monday from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) enlisted the Army Corps of Engineers to build a temporary 1,000-bed hospital at Javits.

Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook and Walmart should take rigorous action to prevent COVID-19-related price-gouging (see 2003200066), 33 state attorneys general wrote the companies Wednesday. The AGs, from both parties and including from California, Nebraska, New York and Utah, recommended price trigger tools and complaint portals for consumers. Companies “have an ethical obligation” to do everything in their power to stop the practice in real time, they wrote. The Internet Association didn’t comment.

Wait times for Sprint services like telecom relay services, captioned phone and IP relay calls may increase during periods of high call volume amid COVID-19, said Global Vice President-Sprint Accessibility Mike Ellis Wednesday. Sprint is complying with all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and Department of Homeland Security guidelines to ensure employee health and safety, he said. The company hasn't closed any call centers but expects staffing could be affected.

Walmart is letting in-plan employees get three free telehealth doctor visits, the company said as part of COVID-19 announcements this week. Separately, through June, associates nationwide, outside of New York, get "free access to Even, a third-party mobile app that offers financial wellness features," the retailer said. Target, meanwhile, saw "a surge in traffic and sales" in mid-March in some areas, with "strength" that included entertainment and essentials, the retailer said. Target withdrew its earnings outlook for Q1, citing costs related to COVID-19. States are relaxing some telehealth restrictions (see 2003250035).

Smith Bagley sought Lifeline changes tied to COVID-19. “Additional relief is needed given the worsening situation and the special challenges faced by low‐income populations, especially on Tribal lands,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-42. The FCC should make more support available “on a temporary basis for purchase of broadband‐capable devices and for additional data needed to access distance learning and other critical services,” the company said. It sought temporary suspension of requiring notification and de‐enrollment for nonusage of no‐charge Lifeline service of the one‐per‐household requirement.

DOJ and the FTC will provide expedited antitrust review and guidance for COVID-19 public health ventures, the agencies announced Tuesday. Businesses may need to combine production to provide resources in the pandemic, the agencies said. Expedited procedures will allow the agencies to respond within seven days to all COVID-19-related requests addressing public health and safety, the agencies said. This quicker turnaround is “designed to provide guidance to businesses concerned about the legality of proposed conduct under the antitrust laws,” the agencies said. The FTC is committed to “doing everything we can to help with these efforts, while continuing to aggressively enforce the antitrust laws,” Chairman Joe Simons said. DOJ said the agencies will hold accountable any entities using the pandemic to engage in antitrust violations, citing price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation. The FTC and DOJ also committed to expedite National Cooperative Research and Production Act requests for “flexible treatment of certain standard development organizations and joint ventures.”

Anecdotal evidence suggests people are heeding government guidance and staying home, T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray blogged Tuesday. In New York City, the carrier is seeing an 86% increase in subscribers connecting to cellsites only in their primary location. The San Francisco Bay Area has a 77% increase “and we’re seeing similar patterns across the country,” Ray said. People are texting more and playing videogames, he said: Videogame traffic is up 45%. “While overall data traffic is higher, the overall contribution to total network loading has been relatively minor," the CTO wrote. That mobile data and Wi-Fi traffic are soaring during the pandemic shows why AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile were “keen to borrow fallow spectrum” from Dish Network, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors. “AT&T is in the process of increasing its capacity by 60% with its own new spectrum; if Verizon and T-Mobile are seeing a 40% increase in mobile traffic, with no new spectrum of their own to bring to bear, we would assume their networks would be showing strain,” the analyst said: Dish’s spectrum may prove important “beyond the next 60 days” and loans may be converted to leases. In-home data usage this month through March 17 was up 18% from the same period a year earlier, said Comscore Tuesday. Mobile phones, smart speakers, connected TVs and streaming boxes had the biggest increases, it said: "If the current quarantines continue across the country, we expect this upward data usage trend to continue.” The deployment of borrowed spectrum is having a noticeable effect, based on new data from Opensignal, Lightshed’s Walter Piecyk told investors. T-Mobile “doubled the amount of 600 MHz spectrum deployed for LTE in the top 100 markets, on average to 20 MHz from 10 MHz” and “quadrupled deployments to 40 MHz," the analyst wrote, "in markets like New York, Boston, and Salt Lake City.”