COVID-19 tracing apps must overcome “significant hurdles,” said GlobalData Tuesday, citing issues with the U.K.’s recently released National Health Service app. Current versions can’t account for factors that reduce transmission risk, such as wearing masks, said the researcher, and false positives are possible because Bluetooth can penetrate thin walls. A key goal of contact tracing apps is to reduce tracing delay and increase coverage without having to hire thousands of workers, but there’s little evidence current apps are effective, it said. France’s app was released June 2, but just 3% of that population had downloaded it by mid-August. Research suggests at least 56% of a population needs to use a contact tracing app for it to be effective, said analyst Dominic Tong. Accuracy and concerns over privacy may have contributed to low uptake, Tong said: “Consumers may be worried that the data collected could be used to track them, while experts fear that smartphone-based solutions may exclude vulnerable populations that need them the most." The apps could be a precursor to healthcare solutions where smartphones and wearables let doctors monitor the health status of patients in real time, he said.

Consumer TV-buying intentions increased in September from August, according to preliminary Conference Board data released Tuesday. Nielsen canvassed 5,000 U.S. homes through Sept.18, finding 11% planned to buy a new TV in the next six months, said the board. That was up from the revised 10% in August and essentially unchanged from 11.1% in July, but down from 12.5% in September 2019. Consumer confidence increased sharply in September, after back-to-back monthly declines, “but remains below pre-pandemic levels,” said the board. “A more favorable view of current business and labor market conditions, coupled with renewed optimism about the short-term outlook, helped spur this month’s rebound.”

House Democrats bowed revised COVID-19 aid legislation Monday that retains many of the telecom provisions included in the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act (HR-6800), which the chamber passed in May (see 2005130059). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Tuesday she’s “hopeful” a deal on pandemic aid is possible this week amid renewed talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows wasn't directly involved in a Tuesday phone conversation between Pelosi and Mnuchin but told reporters, “Hopefully, we’ll make some progress and find a solution.” Negotiations have gone on for months, leading some to believe broadband funding talk could make its way into election campaigns (see 2008210001). The revised Heroes Act allocates more than $15 billion for broadband, including $12 billion for an FCC-administered Emergency Connectivity Fund to provide “funding for Wi-fi hotspots, other equipment, connected devices, and advanced telecommunications and information services to schools and libraries.” An additional $3 billion would go to an Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund to provide “an emergency benefit for broadband service,” with the national Lifeline verifier serving as one potential way of determining eligibility. The bill would temporarily increase minimum Lifeline service standards to include unlimited voice and data allowances. Like HR-6800, it would appropriate $24 million to the FCC for implementing the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act broadband mapping law (S-1822). It allocates $200 million to the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program and $175 million to CPB “to maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues.” The measure mirrors HR-6800’s language barring ISPs and voice providers from terminating or otherwise altering service to individual customers and small businesses because of inability “to pay as a result of disruptions caused by the public health emergency.” It includes language from the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (HR-451) and Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act (HR-6389). It contains HR-6800’s language to address price gouging during COVID-19 and make local media eligible for PPP.

The National Tribal Telecommunications Association seconded concerns NTCA raised in August about the resurgent FCC budget control mechanism on rural LECs receiving cost-based Connect America Fund broadband loop support or high-cost loop support. NTCA said the mechanism “will reduce by more than $37 million” over the next year “the amount of universal service support to be received by several hundred small rural companies and cooperatives.” NTTA members, like rural LECs in general, “have been making significant efforts to ensure customers retain broadband service, including not disconnecting service for an inability to pay due to COVID-19 related financial difficulties many customers are facing,” said NTTA's docket 10-90 filing Tuesday: “NTCA’s request to waive the operation of the [mechanism] ‘for the pendency of the COVID-19 national emergency’ should be adopted … as soon as possible.”

The shifts toward “connected living” and “connected work” are among the key global trends “generating growth opportunities” from COVID-19, reported Frost & Sullivan Monday. “Companies should focus on diversifying supply chains and leveraging new opportunities arising from changing customer demands,” it said. Increased adoption of contactless surfaces post-pandemic “will power the home automation and security markets,” it said. “Systems encompassing voice activation technology will become increasingly popular among consumers.” The conversion to work-from-home “scenarios” as the new norm will accelerate the need for “cloud everything” solutions, said the report. “Digital health driven by telemedicine and robotic care will become the new standard of care delivery. Standardization of service across the care continuum will require more service and technology providers.” With COVID-19 causing mass factory shutdowns worldwide, “the supply chain industry is creating radical innovations with augmented reality, virtual reality, advanced robotics, real-time inventory tracking, and exploring how 3D printing could completely disrupt the supply chain in the next 10 years,” said Frost & Sullivan. Pandemic preparedness will speed the deployment of artificial intelligence solutions and innovation, it said. Post-pandemic economies will need AI and machine learning tools “to expedite digital transformation across key business initiatives,” it said.

Small businesses worry about their survival amid COVID-19 capacity restrictions, a Verizon survey found. The carrier canvassed 600 small and midsize business owners and decision makers Aug. 26-Sept. 4, finding 55% fear being able to stay afloat if social-distancing rules stay in place. Small businesses are feeling better about their financial condition than when surveyed in April, said Verizon Monday. Two-thirds said their sales are still declining, compared with 78% who said so five months ago, it said. About 86% worry about the pandemic’s impact on the overall U.S. economy, it said. “Remote work has brought both additional opportunities and challenges for small business owners and employees,” said Verizon. Six in 10 owners with remote staff said telework enabled employees to “balance work and personal responsibilities more effectively,” it said. A majority (56%) said remote work “blurred lines between work and personal life,” it said. Two-thirds of respondents who implemented video collaboration systems reported having trouble doing so, it said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau extended to Dec. 31 the Wednesday deadline for COVID-19 telehealth program funding recipients to buy eligible devices and implement eligible services to address the pandemic, said the bureau Monday in docket 20-89. Participants needing an extension have cited the time needed to complete "procurement steps" required by their states and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic or by recent hurricanes, it said.

Lumen, Ziply Fiber and other regulated entities are finalizing agreements with Oregon Public Utility Commission staff about protecting customers affected by the pandemic. Measures in staff’s COVID-19 aftermath report include “establishing terms on service disconnections, reconnections, time payment arrangements, waiver of fees related to late payments, provisions to protect customers’ credit, self-certification of medical certificates, and work on programs that can assist people in donating funds to help neighbors,” the PUC said Thursday. Staff counsel will develop stipulations for the commission to approve.

Broadband merger and acquisitions are robust as investors seek to cash in on “society’s digital transformation” driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, CoBank reported. “Over the last year, investors have moved down market, targeting smaller rural operators who have replaced some or all of their copper networks with fiber,” CoBank said: “Institutional investors and strategic buyers have already acquired most of the mid-tier fiber transport companies.” The lender sees a new trend of investors buying wireless ISPs. Friday's report sees few risks: “There are simply too many underlying secular tailwinds for things to soften in a material way.” CoBank funds farm credit associations and rural communications infrastructure.

Granting DivX its requested exclusion order on LG, Samsung and TCL smart TVs “could negatively impact competitive conditions," commented Samsung in Friday’s posting (login required) in docket 337-3489 at the International Trade Commission. DivX Sept. 10 sought a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation on its allegations the TVs’ video processors infringe patents on adaptive bitrate streaming (see 2009160052). The significant TV market share that LG, Samsung and TCL collectively control, plus their “broad product offerings,” make it “very unlikely that any third parties would have the capacity to replace such a substantial percentage of the U.S. market, or that they could do so in a commercially reasonable time,” said Samsung. Statisa reported Wednesday the three brands make 58% of smart TVs sold in the U.S. Consumers may prefer a Samsung smart TV because it’s more compatible with other Samsung devices that support apps, enabling “easy streaming of content,” the manufacturer said. More and more streamed video is viewed on TV screens rather than mobile devices, “particularly during the pandemic,” it said. Smart TVs are “far more versatile” than DivX depicted when it described them as “simply devices for consumer entertainment,” said Samsung. “During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. when school districts were scrambling to devise remote learning on the fly, public television stations began providing at-home learning programs that aired in all 50 states. According to some, this initiative was the largest remote learning program in the U.S.”