NTCA told staff to FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that small providers face "difficulties" when trying to enroll consumers into the National Lifeline Accountability Database for emergency broadband benefits, said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-445: This involves the "format" of information potential enrollees submit through the national verifier. Issues "prevented numerous consumers from receiving the EBB subsidy" for May, NTCA said.

The White House-led body heading up pandemic “reentry” efforts for the federal workforce wants agencies to submit draft plans on their post-reentry personnel policies and work environment by June 18, and final plans for "both reentry and post-reentry procedures by July 19,” said a memo sent to agencies Tuesday by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. It's made up of several federal entities and led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, General Services Administration and Office of Personnel Management. The final plan submissions are to include a “phased reentry schedule” that includes “ample notice to employees,” the memo said. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told FCC staffers in January they will be allowed to telework at least through August (see 2104140030). The matter would be driven by safety concerns and federal guidance, she told reporters last month. The FCC didn't comment on the agency's specific plans but an FCC spokesperson said the "health and safety of FCC employees is a primary priority as the agency consults with appropriate authorities about when it is safe to return to work," in an email Wednesday.

T-Mobile will target small businesses with new smartphone plans, Mike Katz, executive vice president-T-Mobile for business, blogged Tuesday. “With vaccination rates rising and the number of Covid cases dropping, we’re seeing signs of life that we haven’t for more than a year.”

Verizon defended its emergency broadband benefit program offerings in a letter posted Monday in docket 20-445 to the FCC. Claims that Verizon was selling higher-priced plans to subscribers were "unfounded," the company said (see 2105200058). Verizon said it "significantly expanded" its EBB offerings and customers can switch back to their existing plan if they contact Verizon "within 14 days of moving to a Mix & Match plan."

Three ISPs sought emergency broadband benefit waivers or updated their requests, in filings posted Friday in docket 20-445. Ritter Communications asked for limited waiver of EBB reimbursement rules, seeking a one-month delay to submit a snapshot of new subscribers by the 15th of each month. WOW also asked for waiver. C Spire asked in a supplement to its waiver to give Universal Service Administrative Co. a monthly forecast of EBB support it anticipates receiving the following month for new subscribers. Several providers got similar waivers (see 2105110072).

Computer makers “have a long way to go to close this digital divide,” HP CEO Enrique Lores told investors. “We have a big opportunity to be part of the solution.” Though education market sales doubled in the past year due to remote learning, PCs per 100 students are “in the single digits,” he said about quarterly results. Executives at Dell and HP indicated Thursday that year-on-year growth likely would have been higher if not for the global chips shortage and other supply-chain disruptions that impeded order fulfillment. Lores expects “supply constraints to continue at least through the end of 2021.” Dell expects more PCs per household, shorter replacement cycles and a “higher notebook mix,” said Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke after results. Supply “has not kept up with the demand environment as we think about the need for semiconductors,” said Chief Financial Officer Tom Sweet. That’s “clearly an issue that the technology industry is dealing with,” he said: Component costs likely will be “inflationary in the second half” as shortages persist, especially in laptop displays and memory chips. HP closed 8.9% lower Friday at $29.23.

FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund rules are to take effect May 28, says that day's Federal Register. For a story in this issue about ECF, see 2105260048.

The sustained role of technology and pandemic shifts caused Best Buy same-store sales gains for fiscal Q1 ended May 2, said CEO Corie Barry on a Thursday call. They grew 37% from a year earlier. But product availability constraints continued for computing, gaming and other categories, said Barry. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Best Buy has had “at least some spotty inventory shortages,” said Barry. “Pockets” of shortages should persist through the year, she said. She cited factors including chip shortages, which Qualcomm also is experiencing (see 2105270007). Barry called the move to hybrid work and learning models “permanent structural shifts,” along with streaming entertainment and a “sustained focus on the home.”

The COVID-19 pandemic set new smart home expectations and behavior, said Parks Associates analyst Jennifer Kent, opening the virtual Connections conference Tuesday. Familiarity with and positive consumer attitudes toward technology rose since March 2020, Kent said. Some 34% of consumers own a core smart home device, she said. New households are getting smart home devices, and existing ones are building out their collections, she said. Kent cited service and subscription price declines over the past couple of years as “absolutely necessary to attract a more mainstream buyer.” Telehealth benefited as consumers have new concerns of health and wellness, and they’re becoming more comfortable connecting virtually with healthcare professionals, said Kent. Fragmentation, though, slowed smart home adoption, said Kent. Rebranding Project Connected Home over IP as Matter (see 2105110076) could help. With support from Amazon, Google, Apple and Samsung, broadband leader Comcast and IoT companies, she said, “this particular alliance may have the backing” and marketing to “achieve that ever-elusive promise of interoperability.”

ATSC paused its initiative with Indian authorities to help boost deployment there of ATSC 3.0 broadcast services to mobile devices (see 2103290016) at the outbreak of that country’s COVID-19 crisis, President Madeleine Noland told us. “When it’s safe to do so, we’ll pick up where we left off,” she said. The situation on the ground in India is “heartbreaking,” said Noland Monday. “All we can do is patiently stand aside, recognizing that other things are much, much, much more important in that country right now than this project. We’re looking forward to the day when things are better and different.” The project’s “apparatus” is firmly “in place, ready to be fired up again when it becomes feasible and appropriate” to do so, she said. ATSC’s NAB Show 2021 “main” messaging in October (see report, May 25 issue) will be that NextGenTV “has reached critical mass in terms of commercial deployment,” said Noland. “This thing is for real.” She sees 3.0 “as a platform,” and “it’s going to evolve as the marketplace evolves.” Standards organizations like ATSC need to “stay ahead of the curve, and that’s what we’re doing,” she said.