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.

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.”

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.

CTIA sought reconsideration of rules and timelines approved by FCC commissioners in July for finding the vertical location of wireless callers to 911 (see 2007160055). The order affirms the 2021 and 2023 z-axis requirements and rejects a proposal to weaken them. The order recognized “the COVID-19 pandemic could impact the testing and deployment of 9-1-1 location accuracy solutions, but no one anticipated today’s challenges,” said Monday's petition in docket 07-114. “These changed circumstances have derailed the prospects for achieving the [order’s] timelines,” the group said: “Recently adopted and evolving government restrictions and building access limitations have delayed testing necessary.”

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.

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 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.

Despite scaled-back production due to COVID-19, global wearables shipments are on pace to grow 14.5% to 396 million this year, reported IDC Friday. The researcher forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 12.4% to 637.1 million shipments in 2024. Hearables demand offset lower demand for smartwatches and wristbands in the first half, and will have a 14.1% CAGR. Drivers include additional vendors, more smartphones with Bluetooth connections and no headphone jacks, lower prices and expanding uses: health and fitness monitoring, smart assistants and connection to home and work IoT systems. The most robust wearables growth through 2024 will come from smartwatches. The operating system landscape will shift after Google’s acquisition of Fitbit and more vendors join the Wear OS ecosystem, IDC predicted. Samsung’s Tizen will “slowly gain share” with Galaxy watches, while Apple will benefit from the Watch SE in the midtier. Wristbands will expand 2.4%, as average selling prices dip below $40.

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.”

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.