Network and information security is a Biden administration priority, said Ruth Berry, White House National Security Council digital technology policy director. The need to secure the entire network "could not be higher" due to risks from untrustworthy equipment vendors such as Huawei and the lack of competition and diversity in the telecom supply chain, she said at a Wednesday European Telecommunications Network Operators Association/USTelecom webinar. Europe sees progress on network cybersecurity issues, and many opportunities for common rules, from the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TTC), said Thibaut Kleiner, director-policy, strategy and outreach, European Commission communications networks, content and technology directorate. Another international concern is that online platforms and apps are generating increasing network costs, noted ETNO Director General Lise Fuhr. Kleiner said the COVID-19 pandemic was a "stress test" for European networks, and it showed that the regulatory framework hasn't harmed quality or reliability. It's fair to ask who should pay for network upgrades such as 5G, he said, but the EU hasn't reached the point where it needs to intervene in the relationship between telcos and platforms. The emergence of the "splinternet" is very worrying, said Kleiner: The EU continues to support ICANN and its internet governance and infrastructure, and hopes to publish Europe's vision for the internet sector's future at month's end. USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter welcomed the U.S. government push to establish an alliance for the future of the internet, which will address data privacy, data security, cybersecurity, competition policy and other issues. The original optimistic vision of the internet "is now in flux" as shown by misinformation, internet shutdowns and use of the network by autocrats, Berry said. The alliance is expected to launch in coming weeks, she noted: It will let governments recommit to original internet principles of openness, security and more, and will enable a global conversation on how to push back against challenges. The U.S. agrees with the EU that the global community should continue to manage the internet's fundamental infrastructure, without undermining the multistakeholder approach, she said. Another "burning issue" is the semiconductor supply chain, Kleiner noted: The EU Chips Act (see 2201100033) will align with a U.S. initiative.
A European Commission proposal on semiconductors could emerge shortly, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said Monday in an online Politico interview. The European Chips Act is needed because Europe must be able to produce more on its soil and export more chips, he said. The EC wants to ensure the right level of R&D and have the appropriate level of cooperation between Europe and its partners, he said. It makes sense for the EU to spread its chip investment across the continent, but boosting chip manufacturing requires capacity, a good level of stable energy and other elements, so ramping up production must be done where those factors exist, he said. The EC announced an industrial alliance on microchips, and Breton was asked whether that alliance would welcome companies like Intel from outside Europe. Europe must first establish its own strategy, he said: Once that's done, players from elsewhere will be welcome. On the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), Breton hopes to conclude the measures under the current EU French presidency, which ends July 1. Three recent developments are worrying European telcos, said European Telecommunications Network Operators Association Director General Lise Fuhr, who hosted the event. They're starting to grasp the effects of global technical turmoil, which will affect Europe more than the U.S.; American companies have launched a new initiative to conquer the "metaverse"; and operators more clearly recognize how today's tech power becomes unrivaled economic power, as shown by Apple's revenue. But telcos have reasons for confidence in the EU, she said: It changed its approach to new technologies and is less naive about big tech, as shown by the DMA/DSA; it has started to see the correlation between big tech and green issues; and policymakers are starting to view the tech sector as a growth industry rather than something to squeeze for revenue. Nevertheless, she warned, ETNO's reasons to be confident don't relieve its concerns.
The Senate Commerce Committee’s primary goal is to get the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) signed into law, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Friday during a CES 2022 panel streamed from Las Vegas.
Starry taps former Amazon marketing and sales head Rene Villegas as chief marketing officer ... Avnet promotes Dayna Badhorn to regional president-Americas electronics components ... Silicon Labs promotes Micron Technology Chief Business Officer Sumit Sadana to lead director, succeeding Bill Wood, who remains a board member; Silicon Labs also adds Lattice Semiconductor Chief Financial Officer Sherri Luther to its board, expanding it to 10 members ... Digital sports media company Playmaker announces resignation of Wayne Purboo from its board.
Smartphone OEMs procured 634 million AMOLED panels globally in 2021, worth $379 billion in revenue, reported Display Supply Chain Consultants Monday. Unit volume increased 27% year over year, and revenue was up 22% from 2020, it said. Flexible AMOLED smartphone panels increased by 28% to generate a 56% unit share and a 73% revenue share, said DSCC. The segment dominated due to the expected Q3 and Q4 “lift” from Apple for the iPhone 13 series and more brands launching flexible AMOLED smartphones to focus on premium smartphones in light of chip supply shortages, it said.
Alternative connect America cost model I (A-CAM), rural broadband experiment, and Alaska plan support recipients may continue pretesting 70% of Universal Service Administrative Co.-selected samples for the first two quarters of 2022, said an FCC Wireline Bureau order Monday in docket 10-90 granting in part NTCA’s request for an extension of a similar waiver (see 2012210050). It on its own extended similar relief to A-CAM II, Connect America Fund broadband loop support and CAF II auction recipients. The bureau "[agreed] that the global semiconductor shortage has caused delays in both the manufacture and the delivery of equipment,” encouraging carriers to "move as swiftly as possible to test their full sample size." The bureau granted REV Broadband's request to waive pretesting requirements for its subsidiaries receiving CAF broadband support loop support for Q1, citing the "lingering effects of Hurricane Ida." It denied NTCA's request to adopt a "simplified waiver process" and extend the pretesting period for A-CAM, rural broadband experiment, and Alaska plan carriers.
Governor’s Office of Information Technology hires Brandy Reitter as executive director-Colorado Broadband Office; she's Eagle's town manager; OIT Deputy Executive Director Julia Richman leads office until Reitter joins in February.
Consumer tech unit sales in the first nine weeks of Q4 fell 4% year on year, emailed NPD analyst Stephen Baker. Black Friday week had a 15% year-over-year revenue bump, while Cyber Week grew 3%, he said. Also Wednesday, Pitney Bowes reported that of 2,000 survey respondents interviewed over the past month, nearly 70% expect supply chain issues to continue into early next year, 62% throughout 2022. The most popular product category is electronics, with 30% of all consumers delaying electronics purchases, “likely due to current inventory shortages, compounded by chip shortages and the promise of discounts on high-value products” later, it said.
The FCC is unlikely to finalize pending orders on broader use of the 6 GHz band until after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rules on a challenge to the 2020 order opening the band, experts told us. The FCC wrapped up a comment cycle on a Further NPRM in July 2020 (see 2007280033). This year, the agency sought comment on whether to allow client-to-client operations in the spectrum (see 2103240065). Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has said only that the commission is working on the item.
Interactive Advertising Bureau hires Lartease Tiffith, ex-Amazon, as executive vice president-public policy, "on the heels of news that the Internet Association is dissolving at the end of the year" (see our recent report on IA); IAB also adds Brendan Thomas, ex-Plastics Industry Association, as vice president-public policy communications ... Aimee Meacham, who recently left NTIA (see this section, Dec. 8 issue of this publication), says she's going to BT as vice president-government affairs, U.S. and international.