Facebook, Amazon and other tech and communications companies had Q4 lobbying spending increases, while most industry groups' outlays remained level or decreased from the same quarter in 2020. Huawei, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the now-defunct Internet Association (see 2112150026), and ViacomCBS had the largest percentage increases; BSA|The Software Alliance, NCTA and Broadcom had the steepest decreases. Facebook was again the biggest tech and communications spender, reporting $5.42 million, up more than 15%. Amazon spent $4.92 million, almost 4% higher. NCTA laid out $4.17 million, down 19%. CTIA's was $4.1 million, declining 11%. Comcast spent $3.49 million, dropping almost 11%. Charter and Verizon each spent $2.99 million, a 24% increase for Verizon and a 2% decrease for Charter. AT&T spent $2.94 million, more than 11% up. T-Mobile reported $2.64 million, a 10% increase. Qualcomm posted $2.49 million, a more than 33% jump. Microsoft was $2.47 million, a more than 12% rise. Google disclosed $2.21 million, a more than 4% increase. NAB spent $1.96 million, a more than 8% decrease. Apple spent $1.86 million, a 28% increase. ViacomCBS spent $1.597 million, a 79% jump. Dell had $1.25 million, 37% higher. IBM expended $1.06 million, an almost 1% increase. Huawei spent $980,000, a 48-times jump. Cox spent $840,000, a 1% boost. Disney spent $800,000, up 11%. USTelecom was $720,000, an 11% decrease. The Information Technology Industry Council spent $650,000, up 16%. IA expended $470,000 on lobbying during its final quarter, up more than 113%. Broadcom spent $410,000, down 16%. Twitter was $310,000, 16% lower. BSA spent $240,000, dropping more than 38%. The Wireless Infrastructure Association was $190,000, up more than 5%. ACA Connects spent $160,000, little changed. CCIA's $115,000 was up 475%. The Wireless ISP Association spent $72,000, level with 2020. The Telecommunications Industry Association spent $70,000, also level.
The FCC received about 4,000 more consumer complaints about calls made from automated telephone equipment or with prerecorded voice in 2021 (through November 30) than in 2020, according to informal data presented in an agency report to Congress on robocalls released Wednesday. The report was required by the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act. The report recommends “continuing to advance the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication technology across the voice network and explore new ways to leverage this technology to protect Americans from unlawful calls.” Complaints about automated systems went up to 42,637 in 2021 from 38,657 in 2020, but the numbers for other forms of robocall showed small drops year over year: sales calls to residential numbers dipped from 92,043 to 91,624, about faxes from 27,937 to 27,002, and about spoofing from 53,736 to 53,320. A single complaint may address several sorts of violations and be counted in the report multiple times, the agency said. The report counts complaints going back to 2016, showing the FCC has received 365,867 informal consumer complaints about automated telephone equipment since then. All the categories had decreases from 2019, when the agency had 58,797 complaints about automated calls and 70,866 complaints about spoofed caller IDs. The report cited spam text messages and robocalls that originate in foreign countries as rising and difficult areas for the agency to tackle. Illegal robocalls that originate abroad “present one of the most vexing challenges facing the Commission,” the report said. In 2020, the FCC had 14,000 consumer communications -- “an almost 146% increase” over the prior year -- that were complaints about unwanted texts, the report said. “Thus far in 2021, the Commission has received over 9,800 consumer complaints about unwanted texts.”
A Securus petition for a waiver of FCC rules on per minute rates, allowing inmate calling services to provide subscription plans, is raising eyebrows among other ICS providers and advocates (see 2111120056). Some said more information is needed before a decision is made and the issue at hand could be included in its larger rulemaking to cut interstate rate caps (see 2105200044). Comments are due Jan. 7 in docket 12-375.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission warned of a continuing security threat from Huawei but said U.S. sanctions are having an effect. In Q2, “Huawei reported a 38 percent year-on-year fall in revenue, the third straight quarter of decline,” said the annual report to Congress released Wednesday: “Huawei executives have attributed their troubles to U.S. sanctions, which restricted the company’s access to chips used in many of its phones.” Huawei and ZTE are gaining ground in Latin America, with China offering subsidies and government support for using technology from the two vendors, the commission said. “Huawei has already become a leader in the region’s mobile device market and is a top competitor to build out 5G infrastructure in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico,” it said: “By integrating Chinese technologies into the region’s digital infrastructure, China is setting the stage for building long-term commercial dependencies as the region’s market develops.” China can also shape 5G and other standards in the region. The panel said China is poised to make cloud computing gains in developing countries. “Chinese cloud computing companies have thrived in a protected home market and with few exceptions can operate freely in the United States while U.S. companies face barriers in China.”
Nine satellite operators submitted plans for a combined more than 38,000 non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) V-band satellites, in a series of FCC International Bureau applications and U.S. market access petitions last week in response to the V-band processing round instituted after Viasat, Mangata and AST V-band petitions (see 2108040062).
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline "needs considerably more resources" at its crisis centers to respond to text and chat volume now, and will need more staffing and training when the ability to text to 988 is fully implemented nationwide, Lifeline administrator Vibrant Emotional Health emailed us Thursday. The FCC will vote Nov. 18 on setting a July 16 deadline for carriers to support texting to 988 (see 2110270049). The draft order was released Thursday.
U.S. households subscribing to a broadband service, but not pay TV, will reach 54 million by 2025, up from 38 million last year, TDG emailed Wednesday. With nine in 10 U.S. households expected to use residential broadband in four years, video creators and distributors have “lucrative growth opportunities,” said analyst Paul Hockenbury. TDG defines broadband-only (BBO) customers as early mainstream adopters influenced by price, benefits and available support. BBOs watch 28 hours of TV a week, about 10% less than broadband households subscribing to a legacy or over-the-top pay-TV service, he said. Sixty percent of BBO TV time is streaming video, mostly subscription VOD, said the analyst. The three most popular SVOD apps for BBO households are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Two-thirds of BBOs watch free ad-supported streaming video on TV, led by YouTube at 76%; Pluto at 36%. Over 33% of BBOs use a terrestrial TV antenna and watch more than 12 hours of broadcast TV weekly.
FCC commissioners approved an NPRM on making networks more resilient during disasters 4-0 Thursday, as expected (see 2109280051). Commissioners said more mandates could come as a result of the investigation. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC plans a virtual field hearing as part of the Oct. 26 meeting on Hurricane Ida. Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr traveled to Louisiana this week to tour areas hit by the latest storm. Commissioners also unanimously adopted an order on foreign ownership and an NPRM about closing two methods for scammers taking control of victims' mobile phones, SIM swapping and port-out fraud. Such actions were as expected (see 2109280009).
Word of mouth is the leading source of content discovery (59%) for video streamers, followed by advertising (52%), social media (49%) and streaming service recommendations (43%), reported Conviva Monday. Amid an abundance of available video, connecting viewers with content that piques their interest and keeps them coming back is a “significant challenge,” said CEO Keith Zubchevich. The report cited a correlation between high social media usage and high streaming video consumption, showing “social platforms are key to new content discovery.” A typical consumer uses an average 3.4 social media platforms -- 3.9 for heavy streamers and 2.3 for nonstreamers. More than 90% of heavy social users stream on Netflix, and over half also stream on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max. On where respondents saw ads for streaming content, most said TV, followed by 20% saying social media. One in 10 was influenced to watch something based on a newspaper, magazine or newspaper ad. About 65% of long-form video is consumed on the big screen, said the report, suggesting “30-second ads remain viable.” Ads that are five to 10 seconds are better for smaller devices; 42% of shorter content is consumed on cellphones. With 75% of respondents browsing the internet for more than an hour daily, and 38% over three hours, “the web should remain a dominant part of the paid ad mix,” it said. The survey of 2,502 adults was fielded June 10-14.
The California Legislature passed a broadband bill Friday about agency coordination on conduit deployment. The Assembly voted 76-0 and the Senate 38-0 for AB-41. It awaits gubernatorial OK. A bill (AB-1349) to add nonprofit religious organizations to the eligibility list for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband adoption grants failed because the Assembly didn’t vote to concur with Senate amendments. Senators passed it 37-0 Friday. The legislature passed other broadband bills (see 2109100035).