The FCC should "adopt simple guard rails" for the Emergency Connectivity Fund, Verizon told FCC Wireline Bureau staff, per a posting Friday in docket 21-93 (see 2104260070). Rules should include per-school budgets based on the number of students eligible for free or reduced lunch "to support students who would not otherwise have broadband at home" and should limit the share of funds "for potentially costly connected devices," like laptops and tablets, Verizon said. CTIA also met with Wireline Bureau staff, asking for smartphones to be considered eligible. CTIA wanted ECF support to be limited to services and devices "not already being funded by other federal or state funding sources" to ensure money is "distributed efficiently and effectively." The agency is proposing to not include smartphones (see 2104300084).

Amazon Q1 revenue grew 44% to $108.5 billion from the year-ago quarter, exceeding the high end of the guidance range. Profit was $8.1 billion, vs. $2.5 billion. CEO Jeff Bezos said Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Web Services are “growing up fast and coming into their own.” More than 175 million Prime members streamed videos in the quarter, up 70%. AWS has become a $54 billion annual run rate business, Bezos said. On a Thursday earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said many businesses turned to the AWS cloud during the pandemic rather than investing in their own technology infrastructure, a trend the company expects to continue. Amazon Prime Day is moving to Q2, Olsavsky said. Prime members reached 200 million in Q1. Amazon has benefited from the pandemic “more than any other company in the world,” Wedbush's Michael Pachter wrote investors Friday. Over 60% of Americans are paid Prime members, said the analyst.

The FCC is accepting applications for COVID-19 telehealth program round two Thursday (see 2104120055), said a news release. The opportunity for eligible providers closes May 6 at noon EDT.

Pandemic trends are stressing tablet supplies, said Strategy Analytics Thursday. There was a 44% year-on-year shipment spurt to 45.8 million units vs. Q1 2020. The top four global vendors had double-digit increases, led by Apple (16.8 million units), Samsung (8.3 million), Amazon (3.8 million) and Lenovo (3.8 million); No. 5 Huawei had a 33% drop to 2 million. A focus on productivity is part of most tablet vendor strategies, said the researcher. Even as laptop demand stays hot, Windows detachables from Microsoft, Lenovo, HP and Dell “are showing growth once again,” said analyst Chirag Upadhyay, citing use for entertainment, games and communication. Analyst Eric Smith said tablet strength should continue based on work-from-home trends “as people look beyond COVID restrictions.”

Uber customers can book vaccination appointments at Walgreens pharmacies through the Uber app, said the companies Wednesday.

The ACA Connects/National Cable TV Cooperative Independent Show will be in-person in 2021 but moved from its traditional July time frame to Oct. 4-6, the organizations said Thursday. The Minneapolis event also will be livestreamed, they said.

The success of the FCC's $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program will "largely depend on educating consumers" about the temporary discount, said Wiley Rein's Edgar Class during an FCBA event Wednesday. Consumers eligible for the Lifeline program should consider applying for that first because all Lifeline subscribers are automatically EBB eligible, Class said. Charter Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Christine Sanquist said trusted community leaders will have to play a key role in outreach efforts. State and local officials should also take advantage of the FCC's forthcoming digital toolkit to promote the program through local channels, said AT&T Director-Federal Regulatory Anisa Green. Community organizers and local leaders are "ready to hit the ground running," said Olivia Wein, National Consumer Law Center attorney. Figuring out how this program operates "will really inform program design moving forward," Wein said. "The last year has shown the importance of" broadband for telehealth and education, said NTCA Vice President-Policy Josh Seidemann.

Jabra introduced meeting room cameras designed for the “new normal” workspace. The PanaCast 50, with the form of a sound bar, has a meeting "director" that intelligently adjusts the video stream to follow the action, the electronics maker said Tuesday.

The enrollment process for the FCC's $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program is "expected to begin soon," said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Associate Chief Ed Bartholme, during an agency webinar Tuesday. The EBB program is "large, and there are many moving parts," said CGB Chief Patrick Webre. Jaymie Gustafson, Universal Service Administrative Co. outreach director, demoed the online enrollment process. FCC staff fielded audience-submitted questions about eligibility and how to apply. Some participating providers may use an alternative method for verifying household eligibility, said Jessica Campbell, Wireline Bureau attorney-adviser for the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, so "check with the provider first." Wireline Bureau staff urged eligible service providers to participate in the program so consumers in their area can sign up for the benefit. "We're still continuing to accept and review provider applications," Campbell said. The application flow is "the same for the Lifeline and EBB programs," Gustafson said. A forthcoming outreach toolkit, which includes social media and printable content, will be available to advocacy groups and officials interested in promoting the program to their communities, said CGB Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division Chief Lyle Ishida. Materials will be available in at least a dozen languages and accessibility formats, Ishida said.

Job satisfaction climbed to 56.9% in the Conference Board’s annual November survey, the highest in 20 years, despite the pandemic, economic crisis, mass layoffs and the increase in the unemployment rate, reported the think tank Monday. Nielsen canvassed 5,000 U.S. employees in its consumer confidence survey, finding job satisfaction improved because respondents “gave higher marks this year to many factors within the company’s control," like health plans and performance reviews, it said. Remote work “did not boost job satisfaction” among the nearly four in 10 who say they worked mainly from home during the pandemic. “There may have been offsetting factors that precluded remote work from affecting job satisfaction,” said the board. “While some respondents may have appreciated the increased flexibility and the elimination of the daily commute, others may have suffered from the lack of in-person interaction and perhaps a less-than-ideal working environment at home.”