The FCC Wireline Bureau committed more than $41 million in COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding for 72 providers, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 20-89 (see also here). The bureau previously OK'd $42 million in its initial wave (see 2108260064).

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) extended a telehealth executive order allowing medical providers to do virtual routine and nonemergency medical appointments. Monday’s EO renewed provisions that were to expire Thursday. They will remain in effect until the end of the COVID-19 emergency is declared.

Semicon Taiwan 2021 will convene as an in-person show Dec. 28-30 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, said organizers Monday. COVID-19 in June forced the postponement of the Sept. 21-23 show to undetermined dates in December or January. Taiwanese authorities “recently relaxed restrictions on social distancing and exhibition size following a successful push to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases,” organizers said. The show is expected to draw more than 550 exhibitors, they said.

House Democratic leaders intend to seek a Monday night vote on the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR-3684) despite uncertainty about whether enough of the 95 party members who belong to the Congressional Progressive Caucus will vote in its favor to ensure passage, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters Friday. “I'm bringing the bill to the floor on Monday,” Hoyer said. House leaders’ ability to follow through on their promise to hold a vote on HR-3684, which includes $65 billion for broadband, by Monday was in doubt last week because CPC members threatened to vote against the measure if the chamber didn’t first vote on the separate Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package. Congressional leaders were negotiating final contours of the Build Back Better Act. The House Budget Committee planned a Saturday markup of committees’ cleared sections. Those include the Commerce Committee’s proposal, which allocates $10 billion for next-generation 911, $4 billion for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund and language to authorize an FCC auction of at least 200 MHz of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2109140063).

The Fiber Broadband Association hailed the Treasury Department “recognizing the value of the deployment of fiber optics as critical infrastructure” in guidance for broadband projects eligible for money from the $10 billion Capital Projects Fund created in the American Rescue Plan Act (see 2103100065). Treasury urges states “to prioritize investments in fiber-optic infrastructure where feasible, as such advanced technology better supports future needs.” It calls for governments to pursue “projects that involve broadband networks owned, operated by or affiliated with local governments, non-profits and co-operatives -- providers with less pressure to generate profits and with a commitment to serving entire communities.” The money can be used in part for “repair, rehabilitation, construction, improvement and acquisition” of broadband infrastructure and gear, but not for spectrum licenses and operating expenses. The guidance “to prioritize investments in fiber-optic infrastructure will ensure that communities across the nation will be prepared for the broadband services of today and into the future,” FBA emailed.

Streaming Media West, scheduled for Nov. 1-5 in Huntington Beach, California, was canceled as a physical event and will take place virtually, said organizer Information Today Tuesday, citing "too many obstacles for us to overcome." Reservations made through the official room block will be automatically canceled, it said. The program is here.

The delta variant appears to be having a “significant impact” on anticipated consumer shopping behaviors before the holiday season, a Pitney Bowes survey found. The company canvassed a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. consumers in the past month, finding one in three plans to shop more online compared with now, it said Tuesday. That’s a 19-point increase from May. Online was consumers’ “favorite holiday shopping destination” a year ago, said Gregg Zegras, president-global e-commerce. “Consumers are defaulting back to their new comfort zone.”

CEDIA Expo parent company Emerald has held over 20 in-person trade shows, conferences and other events this year with 30%-70% of pre-COVID-19 attendance levels, said the events company Monday. “As expected, COVID-related issues such as international travel restrictions and date postponements for many Company events have impacted attendance,” it said. A spokesperson told us Monday CEDIA Expo 2021, Sept. 1-3 in Indianapolis, in early summer was on track to draw 10,000 attendees: "When the delta variant came through this year -- we had about 30%-50% of those originally registered attendees come to the show in person." Emerald said last week (see 2109130046) the custom installation industry’s annual trade event drew 82 exhibitors, down from more than 250 that were expected, after concerns about the COVID-19 delta variant caused numerous exhibitor and attendee cancellations. CEDIA Expo had 1,400 verified attendees: 35% first-timers and 58% integrators; 14 countries were represented. Emerald is scheduled to stage “dozens” of events in coming months and looks to return to a full slate in 2022, it said Monday. On its August earnings call, the company (see 2107300061) said it canceled 108 events due to the pandemic, 94 scheduled for 2020, representing $230.6 million of 2019 revenue, and 14 scheduled for this year, representing $71.2 million of revenue. It submitted $167 million in insurance claims for 2020 canceled events and received $121.1 million: $89.2 million last year, $31.9 million this year. It submitted an additional $52.9 million in claims for events not held in first-half 2021 (see 2104300064).

Verizon’s network is returning to normal, 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne told a virtual Bank of America conference Monday. “We’re definitely seeing a return to normal levels of activity we can measure,” he said: “Many of the cities in the U.S. are now at or above the level of network activity back pre-pandemic.” Retail stores are also getting rising activity, he said. Dunne said smartphone adds are partially responsible for U.S. postpaid phone net gains of 8 million in the past year, compared with 4.6 million the previous year. Younger and older people saw more need to be connected during these times, he said. Part of the growth is tied to new businesses and migration from prepaid to postpaid phones, he said. Verizon is seeing “very strong trends” of people adding cellular-enabled tablets, watches and other connected devices, he said. People also are spending more in general, he said: “There’s real growth out there.” More than 20% of the handsets on Verizon’s network now are 5G, the “vast majority” of them “C-band capable,” he said.

COVID-19's “evolving” delta variant “is compelling many of us to adjust plans” for reopening workspaces, blogged Microsoft's Jared Spataro, corporate vice president-modern work, on the company's decision to indefinitely delay returning employees to their physical offices. “Our ability to come together will ebb and flow,” said Spataro Thursday. Microsoft had planned on Oct. 4 as “the first possible date” to fully reopen its Redmond, Washington, headquarters, he said. “Given the uncertainty of COVID-19, we’ve decided against attempting to forecast a new date for a full reopening of our U.S. work sites in favor of opening U.S. work sites as soon as we’re able to do so safely.”