Congress can “reinvigorate” U.S. chipmaking by funding initiatives authorized in the Chips for America Act and enacting an investment tax credit to “build and modernize” U.S. fabs, the Semiconductor Industry Association, Information Technology Industry Council and 18 other groups and associations wrote the House and Senate leadership Thursday. The Senate approved $52 billion in funding last month; the House hasn’t acted. “These initiatives will help grow the U.S. economy, create hundreds of thousands of good-paying middle-class jobs in advanced manufacturing and other fields, unleash billions in private-sector investments, assure the supply of critical components essential to virtually all sectors of the economy, and strengthen our national security,” said the organizations. “The need is urgent.”
Nokia supports open radio access networks for 5G, President Pekka Lundmark told FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Nokia also backs “a broader U.S. strategy that extends support to 5G use case and app development acceleration and foundational 6G R&D in addition to Open RAN,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-63. Nokia also updated Rosenworcel on the global semiconductor shortage, saying “prioritization for the automotive sector has created additional scarcity for fabrication runs, thereby raising longer term risks for disruption to U.S. 5G plans.”
Information Technology Industry Council General Counsel John Miller and other witnesses’ written testimony for a Thursday Senate Commerce Committee hearing urged lawmakers to fully fund the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act and take other actions to improve U.S. supply chains. The Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) includes $52 billion to fund the Chips for America Act and other chipmaking initiatives, but its House prospects are unclear (see 2106150078). That money would “boost U.S. investments in the semiconductor ecosystem -- including promoting a strong, skilled workforce for advanced manufacturing, strengthening the semiconductor supply chain, and increasing U.S. manufacturing capacity -- all of which are essential for U.S. economic and national security,” Miller said. Congress demonstrated “a will to address both short and long-term supply chain manufacturing issues through investment,” said IBM Research Director Dario Gil. Center for Strategic and International Studies Strategic Technologies Program Director James Lewis sought a “larger effort to build resiliency and security by strengthening all segments of the U.S. chip industry, through investments in R&D, workforce, and subsidies, including support for other parts of the semiconductor supply chain, such as advanced packaging.” The “supply chain is a disaster,” said The Taylor Group CEO Lex Taylor. “Some of that is due to the shortage of generic, programmable, or hard-coded microchips. Our products, like so many others, operate via some form of computer interface, so the chip shortage is extremely concerning.”
Commissioners will vote on a follow-up open radio access network order at their Aug. 5 meeting, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the FCC ORAN showcase. Commissioners will decide on designating Boston and Raleigh as innovation zones for testing 5G and ORAN technologies, she said. Rosenworcel laid out the rest of the meeting agenda in a blog post later Wednesday. It includes items on robocalls, updating political programming regulations and recordkeeping rules for low-power radio services.
The Commerce Department is prioritizing regulation that protects intellectual property, human rights and privacy without slowing innovation, Secretary Gina Raimondo said Tuesday. Various legislators and officials at a National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence summit called for international cooperation, investment and for setting artificial intelligence standards.
Hogan Lovells new partner is Tim Bergreen, ex-House Intelligence Committee aide, joining Global Regulatory group as member, Government Relations and Public Affairs practice, focusing on telecom and satellites ... Kinetic adds Deana Perry, former executive director-rural broadband program at Georgia Department of Community Affairs, as the telco's vice president-state government affairs for Georgia, replacing Michael Foor, recently promoted to president-state operations (see this section, June 11 issue).
No broadband-related actions President Joe Biden asked the FCC to take in his Friday executive order on competition can easily proceed until there are additional commissioners to secure a Democratic majority, EO supporters and opponents told us. The directive encourages the FCC to at least bring back rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules and act against some other communications sector practices. Congressional Democrats have become increasingly frustrated by Biden’s slow nominations process (see 2106160056). (For the EO's tech provisions, see 2107090060.)
Chip group Semi and tech foundation Mitre Engenuity seek feedback from industry rank and file on challenges facing the sector as the U.S. prepares to provide funding and innovation incentives to help chipmakers better compete with China. The survey sponsors said they want to ensure government funding is “spent wisely” and “put to optimal use.” Information shared will be reported in “non-identifiable form.” The survey closes July 20.
Global chip industry sales were $43.6 billion in May, up 26.2% year on year and 4.1% up from April, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Tuesday. Demand remained high across major regional markets, said SIA President John Neuffer. “The industry shipped more units on a three-month moving basis in May than during any previous month in the market’s history.” Neuffer said production has ramped up significantly to address rising demand.
Broadcom monopolized “markets for semiconductor components” for television and broadband internet services “through exclusive dealing and related conduct,” the FTC said, filing charges Friday. The company said it hopes to reach a resolution with the agency that's “substantially similar” to a previous settlement with the European Commission involving the same products. The agency issued a proposed consent order, in which Broadcom would need to “stop requiring its customers to source components from Broadcom on an exclusive or near exclusive basis.” The commission voted 4-0-1 with Chair Lina Khan abstaining. The complaint “is a step toward addressing that problem by pushing back against strong-arm tactics by a monopolist in important markets for key broadband components,” said acting FTC Competition Bureau Director Holly Vedova. Broadcom is a “monopolist in the sale of three types of semiconductor components,” the FTC said, citing chips that are the “core circuitry that run traditional television broadcast set top boxes, as well as DSL and fiber broadband devices.” The company “illegally maintained its power in the three monopolized markets by entering long-term agreements with both OEMs and service providers that prevented these customers from purchasing chips from Broadcom’s competitors,” the FTC alleged. Broadcom disagrees its actions “violated the law and [we] disagree with the FTC’s characterizations of our business, [but] we look forward to putting this matter behind us and continuing to focus on supporting our customers through an environment of accelerated digital transformation,” a company spokesperson said. “We are equally pleased that the FTC investigation into our other businesses has been closed without action.”