EY estimates Foxconn will spend $5.57 billion to build a plant in Wisconsin (see 1707270018), half for construction supplies and equipment paying no sales taxes, the state Department of Administration reported Thursday. The plant is expected to reach full employment in 2021, with average salaries approaching $54,000. The report analyzed legislation introduced last week in the Assembly, and referred to its Jobs and Economy Committee, to authorize the state to grant Foxconn about $3 billion in incentives to coax the contract manufacturer to complete construction and begin producing display panels within four years. The legislation, which received its first hearing Thursday, incorporates terms of a July 27 memorandum of understanding that CEO Terry Gou signed with state officials. EY representatives didn’t comment further Friday.

Garmin’s fitness and automotive segments each had 15 percent sales declines in Q2, offsetting gains in the outdoor and aviation units, it reported. Revenue grew 1 percent to $817 million on a 46 percent jump in outdoor to $195 million -- led by the fenix 5 watch -- and a 15 percent year-on-year increase in aviation to $124 million. CEO Cliff Pemble said the drop in the fitness segment was driven by the sagging activity tracker category due to the “general decline of the basic activity tracker market.” The company is focused on growth opportunities in "advanced wearable devices,” Pemble said. The company raised full-year revenue guidance from $3.02 billion to $3.04 billion. Shares closed up Wednesday 4.4 percent to $52.22.

The FCC asked to transfer venues for a business data service lawsuit against the agency to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from the D.C. Circuit. The agency Tuesday posted the motion dated July 20. In the case, Access Point and others challenged the FCC’s April BDS order. Various other parties filed legal challenges to the order at the 8th Circuit, D.C. Circuit and 5th Circuit, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation selected the 8th Circuit for the cases by lottery, the FCC said. After the selection,Access Pointsued June 30 in the D.C. Circuit, the agency said.

Foxconn’s memorandum of understanding to build an LCD display fab on a 20-million-square-foot “campus” in Kenosha, Wisconsin, (see 1707270018) was “just an announcement of an intent to build something,” rather than a statement of “concrete plans,” Paul Gagnon, IHS Markit director-TV sets research, told us. Gagnon called last week's announcement surprisingly “pretty vague to pin anything on.” Foxconn CEO Terry Gou's mentions at a White House event of plans to produce 8K product in Kenosha ties in with "something that the panel industry itself has been really pushing,” said Gagnon, "4K is largely commoditized already, so if you’re just going to pump out 4K panels, well, there’s a lot of oversupply.” For Gou to talk so prominently about 8K was also surprising because “there’s no ecosystem” to deliver it and likely won’t be until “way beyond” 2020, he said. “Certainly, 8K has a lot of applications in medical or specialty display-type applications, but not in the consumer entertainment space.” Foxconn representatives didn’t comment.

FCC ability to use "deregulatory rebuttable presumptions" was bolstered in court recently, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Seth Cooper Thursday. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling upheld commission authority to adopt rebuttable presumptions, they wrote, citing NATOA v. FCC, which affirmed a 2015 order declaring the cable industry effectively competitive (see 1707070029). They said the court's reasoning strengthened the agency's authority for using rebuttable presumptions more broadly to roll back unnecessary regulation: "This would include oversight of Internet service providers' practices if the Commission decides to retain any circumscribed regulatory authority over Internet providers in the Restoring Internet Freedom rulemaking." They said the ruling supports FSF "reform proposals" to utilize telecom "deregulatory tools" of Communications Act sections 10 and 11 mandating forbearance use and periodic regulatory reviews.

The FCC celebrated the 27th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which mandated the agency to ensure telecom access for people with hearing and speech disabilities through relay services, blogged Patrick Webre, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau acting chief. He also noted Wednesday that the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act in 2010 authorized the FCC to create the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, or "iCanConnect."

Asus entered the busy home Wi-Fi mesh networking space with a system of a primary hub, satellite hubs, security software and an app, targeted to multiuser families with connected devices competing for Wi-Fi bandwidth and said to improve coverage challenged by walls, floors and windows that create dead spots. It uses 5 and 2.4 GHz bands.

Initial comments are due Aug. 21, replies Sept. 19, on an NPRM on FCC Caller ID rules, said a Monday public notice in docket 91-281. Commissioners approved 3-0 in June an NPRM seeking comment on rules allowing law enforcement and community institutions to get from carriers quick access to information they need to identify and thwart threatening callers (see 1706220023).

The FCC asked states to file by Oct. 1 if they want to continue running their own telecom relay service (TRS) programs. Current five-year certifications will expire July 25, 2018, and while there's no deadline for seeking recertification, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau requested applications be filed by Oct. 1 to give the commission time to review them, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 03-123. The PN said the bureau would seek comment on applications.

Wireless deployment will raise tough regulatory issues in the months ahead, Raymond James' Frank Louthan said Thursday in a regulatory update. “One of the most important issues facing the industry is the deployment of fiber-based small cells for growing wireless infrastructure demand,” he wrote. “This has been complicated with a lack of regulatory rules for these systems. We believe the FCC will be weighing in as well and will have little tolerance for local hold ups, with no hesitation to use preemption in states that are unreasonable.” The mergers before regulators “seem to be moving in the right direction, and we continue to view cable's need for a wireless solution as a very long-term decision,” the analyst said. Little has changed on net neutrality, Louthan said: “We believe the industry is waiting for the chairman of the FCC to take action and this is likely to be in the late summer to early fall time frame.”