Akamai experienced “continued high levels” of internet traffic in Q4 for over-the-top video services and downloads of e-gaming software, CEO Tom Leighton told a quarterly call Tuesday. The platform's traffic reached a record of 181 Tbps Nov. 10, 50% higher than any 2019 peak, he said. “As life returns to a more normalized pre-pandemic state, we do not expect to see our traffic on our platform decrease,” said Chief Financial Officer Ed McGowan. “The pandemic has accelerated consumer usage of the internet in areas like OTT video, gaming and e-commerce, and we believe this usage pattern will likely persist.” Akamai expects traffic to continue to grow in 2021 “at a rate more in line with pre-2020 historical levels,” he said. The stock closed 10.9% lower Wednesday at $105.10.
Reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II service, advocates urged the FCC in a petition for reconsideration in docket 17-108 Tuesday. Petitioners are Common Cause, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, United Church of Christ, National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Free Press. Santa Clara County, California, and its Central Fire Protection District also filed a petition, arguing the commission "wholly failed to consider public safety" when it repealed net neutrality. Incompas and Public Knowledge filed similar petitions in the past week (see 2102080061). The FCC didn't respond to a request for comment.
Few details are set in stone for CES 2022, except for CTA’s commitment to return to a physical show Jan. 5-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, CEO Gary Shapiro told us. “Nothing’s off the table,” Shapiro said when we asked if CTA will limit show attendance to crowds smaller than the customary 170,000 or impose COVID-19 vaccine or testing conditions. It’s “possible” CTA will require proof of a vaccine as a condition for registering for CES 2022, said Shapiro. “A lot of groups are trying to figure that out. You see what others are doing and you get to best practices. A lot of lawyers and HR people are looking at the same questions.” Canceling CES 2021 “financially was a huge hit for us,” said Shapiro, refusing to disclose the damage, except to talk about the impact in headcount terms. “We did have a staff layoff,” he said. “We cut expenses dramatically.” CTA’s workforce is about 130, compared with 190 pre-pandemic, he said.
COVID-19 was a “critical catalyst” and a “massive accelerant” to the digital transformation that was “already reshaping the working world” before the pandemic, said Poly CEO Dave Shull on a fiscal Q3 investor call Thursday. “Zoom, Teams and Slack were not invented in response to the coronavirus,” he said. “They were already there.” Remote work “and the infrastructure necessary to support it were already spreading throughout the working world,” he said. “The pandemic has just exponentially accelerated adoption and usage of these types of platforms.” Shull is a “remote video convert,” he said. “I've gone from abhorring remote working to fully embracing the work revolution. Videoconferencing has become a way of life. Embracing video and the cloud transition will define the post-COVID return to the office.” Analysts estimate fewer than 10% of the roughly 50 million conference rooms in the world are “video-enabled,” he said. “They also estimate there are more than 400 million legacy phones in offices around the world that will be replaced with cloud-based audio devices and collaboration tools.” The stock closed 19.4% higher Friday at $41.85.
Rural and small carriers reported mixed progress in response to December questions from the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (see 2012220031) about their requests to waive the June 30 deadline to offer real-time text. Most said they hadn’t picked a vendor for the RTT transition, in responses posted through Thursday in docket 16-145. Viaero cited its use of a Huawei core as the reason it hasn’t picked such a vendor. “Huawei does not support RTT,” the carrier said: “Over the last 18 months, Viaero has been limited with respect to further investments and integration to upgrade the services offered, due to the fact that other vendors are not willing to integrate with Huawei.” Appalachian Wireless is talking to two network vendors “on potential solutions for implementing RTT for IP-based calls.” Both are working on a solution, Appalachian said. One said “it may have something available in 2022,” the carrier said: “Appalachian Wireless plans to adopt the solution from the first vendor to make such solution available.” GCI “has not yet contracted with its network vendor to deploy RTT because [the] Vendor has not finalized a compliant RTT solution for GCI” yet, the carrier said. Southern Linc redacted the identity of the company it's using and cited “good progress toward RTT deployment.” Parts of the transition are “complex and time consuming,” Southern Linc said. Nex-Tech Wireless said it didn’t have an RTT vendor. Cellcom reported it launched RTT in September.
Comcast will increase its Internet Essentials program to 50/5 Mbps March 1, doubling the download speed, it said Tuesday. It also expects to launch 1,000 wireless "lift zones" by year-end to address the homework gap.
Ford sees 5G as a "big opportunity with what we will do with Google and beyond,” a spokesperson said when we asked about fifth-generation wireless. The carmaker named Google Cloud its preferred cloud provider for data, artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of a six-year partnership, the companies announced Monday. Ford will continue supporting Apple CarPlay, the Ford spokesperson said: “We have always offered customers connected vehicle choice for their third-party apps and services and will continue to.” Ford’s recently launched Sync 4 system provides USB-less CarPlay functionality to make it easier to integrate with Ford vehicles, he noted.
Net neutrality bills surfaced in two Northeastern state legislatures. In Connecticut, Rep. Matt Blumenthal (D) Friday proposed HB-6155 to require ISPs with state contracts to adopt open-internet policies. It follows HB-5251, introduced Jan. 22, to require the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to require net neutrality. In New York, Senate Telecom Committee Chairman Kevin Parker (D) Thursday introduced a state-contracts net neutrality bill (SB-3308) that also creates a $250 million revolving fund for municipal ISPs. It’s like AB-1239, introduced Jan. 7. Assembly member Clyde Vanel (D) floated AB-3910 Thursday to bolster Public Service Commission ISP authority and require net neutrality. Assembly member Patricia Fahy (D) proposed a state-contract approach Wednesday in AB-3479, co-sponsored by Vanel and 30 other members. Other states with net neutrality bills this session include Missouri, Rhode Island and Texas. Some Democrats support state bills even with President Joe Biden and a new FCC, while others say they feel less pressure (see 2012080045).
Responding to Comcast data caps, a Massachusetts bill would ban ISPs from capping data, disconnecting customers, raising prices or creating new fees during the pandemic. HD-663 also would bar existing such limits. It's meant “to push back [Comcast] and any other service providers who try to raise prices or fees during a pandemic,” co-sponsor Rep. Dave Rogers (D) tweeted Thursday. It wouldn’t apply to mobile. The ban would expire 60 days after the governor declares an end to the COVID-19 emergency. “Our data plan is structured in a way that the very small percentage of our customers who use more than 1.2 terabytes of monthly data and generate the greatest demand for network development and capacity pay more," emailed a Comcast spokesperson: "Superusers" can buy an unlimited plan. The cable company said it won't assess overage charges to affected Northeast customers until August. Public Knowledge tweeted approvingly, "Policymakers across the U.S. should take note!"
AT&T “must correct and certify” by March 1 its reported broadband deployments paid for with USF Connect America Fund Phase II money, then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in a letter released Wednesday. Thompson wrote Pai in October about his “serious concerns” about AT&T “falsely claiming” after receiving $283 million in USF Connect America Fund Phase II funding “to have created new broadband service in places they have not, for people that are not receiving broadband service.” Thompson cited Mississippi Public Service Commission claims the carrier sent false information to Universal Service Administrative Co. AT&T disputes the findings (see 2010080055). The FCC is “in receipt” of the Mississippi PSC’s findings and is “reviewing this matter,” Pai said. “We must demand fiscal responsibility and accountability -- funds should be stretched as far as possible and they should be used for the sole purpose of delivering connectivity to consumers.” USAC routinely conducts random audits of carriers, and those “found in violation of Commission rules may be subject to enforcement action and forfeiture, as appropriate,” Pai said.