Big technology hurdles remain before hybrid constellations of geostationary orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) happen, satellite operators said Monday at the Satellite 2022 conference and trade show in Washington. Systems that are "orbit agnostic" might be "a dreamland," and interoperability between LEO and GEO will take some time to develop, said Arabsat Chief Strategy Officer Hadi Alhassani.

Out of necessity, consumers became more “channel agnostic” and “digital savvy” during the COVID-19 era, and they got used to it, a Retail TouchPoints virtual webinar was told Monday. Now, retailers have to think about how to continue to engage them differently, said Forrester Research analyst Brendan Witcher.

The Senate will need to amend the House China package with upper chamber language and send it back to the lower chamber in order to begin conferencing the two measures, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday. Calling it a procedural step, he noted a “small band of Republicans” is standing in the way of “quick action.”

The “big period” of consumer e-commerce growth “is now behind us,” conceded FedEx President-Chief Operating Officer Raj Subramaniam on an earnings call Thursday for fiscal Q3 ended Feb. 28. “We are not counting on huge consumer spend in our numbers,” he said.

In what has become a race to be the most sustainable among brands and retailers, companies need to be sure their efforts are seen as authentic, a National Retail Federation webcast was told Tuesday.

The FCC’s “top-to-bottom” review of communications companies’ ties to Russia, announced by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday (see 2203160031), likely has a broad focus, covering media companies, telecom and infrastructure providers, submarine cable operators and any Russian companies carrying U.S.-international phone traffic, industry experts told us. But compared with China, a recurring focus of the FCC, ties to Russia appear to be minimal.

Big Law firms with telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) practices are pulling out of Russia, and whether they will return after the end of Russia's Ukraine invasion is questionable. Some see the one-two punch of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic making it less likely Big Law will return someday. Several TMT companies are also opting to end or limit their Russian presence.

It’s disappointing the FTC’s “temporary” suspension on granting early termination (ET) for mergers and acquisitions has dragged out for more than a year (see 2102080070), Commissioner Noah Phillips told us Tuesday. “Continuing to refuse ET for deals the agencies are not interested in investigating is nothing more than a gratuitous tax on normal market operations and the efficient allocation of agency resources,” said Phillips in a statement.

There’s a “danger of complacency” in the information and communications tech supply chain that the economic risks of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will stay confined to Europe, Stephen Minton, IDC program vice president-data and analytics, told an IDC “first look” webinar Thursday on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the global ICT market. Minton estimates $240 billion or more in global ICT spending could be “wiped out” from the war through 2025, and that’s assuming the most “optimistic scenario” of a diplomatic end to the hostilities within three months.

The Matter connectivity protocol, expected to launch mid-year (see 2112280033), has been delayed again, this time until fall, blogged the Connectivity Standards Alliance Thursday. The launch was originally slated for 2020 when it was the Connected Home over IP project, led by the Zigbee Alliance. Since then, the Zigbee Alliance rebranded as CSA, and Project CHIP morphed into Matter.