There's a “historic opportunity” to fund initiatives in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research, 21 Semiconductor Industry Association board members wrote President Joe Biden Thursday. “Include in your recovery and infrastructure plan substantial funding for incentives for semiconductor manufacturing, in the form of grants and/or tax credits, and for basic and applied semiconductor research,” asked IBM, Intel, Qualcomm and other executives. The U.S. is “uncompetitive in attracting investments in new fab construction and our technology leadership is at risk," including for artificial intelligence and 5G/6G, they wrote. The White House didn’t comment.
Satellite interests backed and wireless interests opposed a Satellite Industry Association call for a fixed satellite service (FSS) allocation in the 51.4-52.4 GHz band, in FCC comments Tuesday in RM-11871. Many satellite operators are developing networks and systems that would operate using feeder links in the V band, Boeing said in support of SIA. "Immediate action ... is warranted" since a global FSS allocation in the spectrum adopted at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference took effect Jan. 1, Boeing said. Amazon's Kuiper said a proposed rulemaking should be expanded to allow non-geostationary use of the spectrum, as well as geostationary, instead of initiating a second NPRM for NGSO use. NGSO and GSO providers can maximize their feeder link operations with access to the 51 GHz spectrum, it said. Hughes said the swath is domestically allocated as a shared federal and nonfederal band for terrestrial fixed and mobile wireless services, but it's largely unused by federal and nonfederal services. But CTIA said access to high-band airwaves is a major part of the U.S. 5G strategy, and the availability of such "is already heavily imbalanced towards satellite use." It said SIA's effort would "forestall steady progress that the U.S. has made in identifying and licensing high-band spectrum for mobile terrestrial use." SIA's petition said FSS in 51 GHz can share with other services while protecting passive services in adjacent bands.
Expect some commercial space policy changes, but not dramatic ones, from President Joe Biden's White House and acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's FCC, experts told us. Many see the FCC under Rosenworcel's interim leadership likely to act to advance the orbital debris Further NPRM. The FCC didn't comment.
Global semiconductor sales reached $439 billion in 2020, up 6.5% from 2019, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. Sales of $117.5 billion in Q4 were 8.3% higher than the 2019 quarter and up 3.5% sequentially. Sales in 2020 were up “moderately” from 2019, “weathering a challenging macroeconomic environment brought on by the pandemic and other factors,” said SIA CEO John Neuffer. Though global semiconductor demand is on the rise, U.S. share of worldwide chip production declined to 12% in 2020, from 37% in 1990, he said: “That disparity will only intensify without U.S. government action to level the global playing field. It’s imperative the federal government fully fund incentives for domestic chip manufacturing and investments in chip research.”
Global semiconductor sales reached $439 billion in 2020, up 6.5% from 2019, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. Sales of $117.5 billion in Q4 were 8.3% higher than the 2019 quarter and up 3.5% sequentially. Sales in 2020 were up “moderately” from 2019, “weathering a challenging macroeconomic environment brought on by the pandemic and other factors,” said SIA CEO John Neuffer. Though global semiconductor demand is on the rise, U.S. share of worldwide chip production declined to 12% in 2020, from 37% in 1990, he said: “That disparity will only intensify without U.S. government action to level the global playing field. It’s imperative the federal government fully fund incentives for domestic chip manufacturing and investments in chip research.”
Global semiconductor sales reached $439 billion in 2020, up 6.5% from 2019, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. Sales of $117.5 billion in Q4 were 8.3% higher than the 2019 quarter and up 3.5% sequentially. Sales in 2020 were up “moderately” from 2019, “weathering a challenging macroeconomic environment brought on by the pandemic and other factors,” said SIA CEO John Neuffer. Though global semiconductor demand is on the rise, U.S. share of worldwide chip production declined to 12% in 2020, from 37% in 1990, he said: “That disparity will only intensify without U.S. government action to level the global playing field. It’s imperative the federal government fully fund incentives for domestic chip manufacturing and investments in chip research.”
The satellite industry opposes the FCC orbital debris Further NPRM proposal of post-mission disposal bonds (see 2004230040). Satellite Industry Association members told International Bureau staffers the post-mission bond wouldn't be an improvement on existing industry incentives to ensure a safe space environment, but it would incentivize operators seeking "alternative, less burdensome licensing jurisdictions" overseas, per a docket 18-313 ex parte posting Thursday. Joining SIA were Boeing, Eutelsat, SES, SpaceX, Spire, ABS, Planet, EchoStar/Hughes, Lynk, Amazon, Iridium, Telesat, Intelsat, Blue Origin, AT&T, Inmarsat, Astranis and Lockheed Martin. They also said the FCC lacks legal authority for its indemnification proposal, which also is vague and unclear and could send operators to other nations for satellite authorizations. In a separate call with the bureau, EchoStar/Hughes representatives said the indemnification and bond proposals will create costly barriers to entry, and the bond requirement idea "is a solution in search of a problem," since the agency hasn't identified a compliance issue with its current orbital debris requirements.
Global semiconductor sales increased 7% in November from a year earlier, up 1.1% sequentially, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association. It was the largest year-on-year monthly increase since March, said CEO John Neuffer. Sales for 2020 were tracking “well ahead of the total from 2019, despite substantial headwinds caused by the pandemic and other macroeconomic factors,” he said. Sales into the Americas jumped 12.5% from a year earlier in November, the 11th-straight month of double-digit increases, he said.
Global semiconductor sales increased 7% in November from a year earlier, up 1.1% sequentially, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association. It was the largest year-on-year monthly increase since March, said CEO John Neuffer. Sales for 2020 were tracking “well ahead of the total from 2019, despite substantial headwinds caused by the pandemic and other macroeconomic factors,” he said. Sales into the Americas jumped 12.5% from a year earlier in November, the 11th-straight month of double-digit increases, he said.
Industry praised Congress for overriding President Donald Trump's veto of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395), which includes several telecom and tech provisions (see 2012040043). The Senate voted 81-13 New Year's Day to override Trump's veto, an action he took partly because the measure lacked Section 230 language (see 2012230081). The House overrode the veto last week (see 2012290049). The Semiconductor Industry Association welcomed NDAA enactment of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (Chips) for America Act. HR-7178/S-3933 authorizes federal incentives to promote semiconductor manufacturing and public-sector investments in semiconductor R&D (see 2012170061). It “will help propel U.S. economic growth and cement America’s position at the forefront of semiconductor innovation,” said Qorvo CEO Bob Bruggeworth, who chairs SIA. The NDAA hinders Ligado’s L-band plan, which the Satellite Safety Alliance called a "win for all." This "will enable" DOD to "take much-needed steps to bolster the U.S. government and industrial base cybersecurity defenses, modernize its technology, and enhance U.S. leadership in innovation," said Information Technology Industry Council Senior Vice President-Public Sector Policy Gordon Bitko. Repealing Section 230 would be better than rewriting the tech industry’s liability shield because the latter option would further encourage Big Tech censorship, Parler said in a statement Monday. “A politically viable re-write of Section 230 would transform Orwell’s 1984 from a dystopian novel into an instruction manual, requiring all platforms to adopt Twitter/Facebook/Google’s terms of service,” said Parler Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff.