COVID-19 forced cancellation of the Sept. 4-9 IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin as a physical event, organizers Messe Berlin tweeted. "IFA Berlin is set to go ahead in 2020, but with an innovative new concept, following the decision by the Berlin government to ban all events with more than 5,000 participants" until Oct. 24, they said. Organizers "anticipated this development and for several weeks now have been discussing a range of alternative concepts," they tweeted. "Planning is well advanced for a concept that will allow IFA to deliver on its core functions for our industry," they said, albeit in the form of a virtual event. CES is proceeding as planned for Jan. 6-9 in Las Vegas, said CTA Tuesday (see 2004210057), hours before IFA cancellation.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted temporary waiver of the 180-day maximum that business customers can maintain wireless phone numbers in reserve status, extending it to 360 days, in an order Wednesday. Verizon made the request, citing COVID-19 (see 2004100030).
As the global pandemic hit, Snapchat added 11 million “daily active users” in Q1 for a total of 229 million, up 5% sequentially and 20% increase from Q1 2019, said Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on a Tuesday investor call. "We experienced high revenue growth rates in the first two months of the quarter, which offset our lower growth in March." It’s difficult to predict the “near-term impact of this unprecedented complex and global pandemic on our business,” said Spiegel. “Long-term indicators” are positive, he said: Financial recovery “may be very fast for some businesses and much slower for others.” The stock soared 36.7% higher Wednesday, closing at $17.01.
Facing what the New York Attorney General's Office told us is an inquiry into Charter Communications' labor practices and management of employees during the pandemic, the company emailed us Wednesday that it has been "dramatically" reducing the number of workers going into the field or office "while maintaining the efficacy of our business operations." It said most office and call center workers are remote, it announced a permanent $1.50 an hour pay increase to field operations and customer service employees retroactive to their annual increase in February, and committed to a $20 hourly minimum wage in 2022. It said it has given every worker an additional 15 days of COVID-19-related flex time and promised no furloughs or layoffs for at least 60 days. The cable operator said it instructed employees to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for quarantining if sick, with full pay and benefits. The company said many workers at its corporate campuses are on a rotating schedule to allow for minimal interaction and social distancing, and it escalated routine cleanings in line with CDC guidelines. Other cablers and other ISPs are taking similar moves, we have found (see 2004100038).
The Consumer Bankers Association told the FCC the need for action is growing on its March petition seeking clarification that banks, credit unions and financial service providers can use automatic telephone dialing systems, prerecorded messages and artificial voice for COVID-19 calls (see 2004060009). The filing was posted Monday in docket 02-278.
The FTC postponed its workshop on the safeguards rule until July 13 and moved it online. It was originally scheduled for May 13 (see 2004200062). Also in a 5-0 vote, commissioners delayed by about two months the comment deadline to Aug. 12.
The American Antitrust Institute's June 17 annual conference, which was to be in Washington, instead will be done via four-part podcast due to the pandemic, it said Monday. AIA said the podcast episodes will be available later this spring.
Citing the global pandemic, Dish Network said Tuesday that its May 1 annual shareholder meeting will be done virtually.
The FCC waived excluding entities delinquent in FCC debt from participation in the COVID-19 telehealth fund "to facilitate prompt review and processing of the maximum number of applications," said a public notice Tuesday. The agency announced $3.71 million in funding for five hospitals and other healthcare providers, in California, Florida, Michigan, New York and Ohio.
California Public Utilities Commissioners will vote May 7 on setting aside up to $5 million in California Advanced Service Fund adoption account support to public schools and school districts in response to the coronavirus, said a draft resolution posted Saturday. The proposal responds to the state Education Department's request in comments this month.