South Korea "is the first country to deploy proper 5G where you can really have it in many places,” unlike the U.S., where it’s still “very spotty,” said Greg Kustudia, Opensignal vice president-sales, Americas. Company research found 5G download speeds in Korea averaging 111.8 Mbps, 48 percent faster than users get with comparable 4G flagship phones and 134 percent faster than other 4G phones, blogged Ian Fogg, vice president-analysis. In the U.S., 5G peak downloads reached 1.2 Gbps, Fogg said Thursday, based on measurements from Verizon's network. The max in South Korea was 988 Mbps, 8.8 times as fast as user’s average real-world speeds of 111.8 Mbps. The U.S. has top speeds now because carriers here are using mmWave spectrum vs. the mid-band spectrum Korea uses, meaning Korea has a broader signal range but lower speeds, Fogg emailed us Friday. As vendors fix 5G “teething issues” and refine solutions, peak and average speeds will improve, he said. Some bands aren’t available in certain markets yet -- 3.5 GHz in the U.S. and mmWave in Europe, for example -- but “they will be over the next couple of years and learnings from other countries will help carriers improve these later 5G rollouts,” he said. The video experience promised for fifth-generation phones will be particularly important to measure for customers, a spokesperson said: “Is it buffering, what kind of video experience are you actually getting?” The company's app tries to turn “speeds and feeds” in the mobile “arms race” into metrics that nontechnical people can easily understand, said James Hayman, assistant vice president sales-North America. Opensignal used Pepcom's Digital Experience technology showcase in New York Thursday to demonstrate its mobile "analytics" app and to set expectations about 5G networks. Also last week, Sprint unveiled its third 5G phone (see 1906210062).

France's digital services tax proposal disproportionately targets U.S. companies for additional taxation, Computer & Communications Industry Association Chief Operating Officer Matt Schruers said Thursday. He commended Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Calif., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill., for urging “prompt and targeted action” against France’s tax. The tax “appears to violate current trade commitments and would serve as a tariff on internet exporters,” Schruers said.

Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei said trade sanctions imposed by the Trump administration will cut the company’s revenue this year by about $30 billion, on CNBC Wednesday, but downplayed the threat. In one month, smartphone shipments slowed by 40 percent, he said. Huawei is still growing at a 20 percent rate, he said. In the Chinese market, the consumer business hasn’t declined, Ren said. “There might be declines overseas.” Huawei can withstand the hit, he said. “We believe that $30 billion U.S. will be a very small thing,” he said.

The Court of International Trade upheld Customs and Border Protection denial Monday of EchoStar’s drawback claims as untimely. EchoStar filed the claims for duty refunds worth $276,275.12 in 2014 and early 2015, before new drawback procedures under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, including fully electronic filing, took effect. EchoStar transmitted its filing via the automated broker interface within the three-year deadline, but its paper claim, including CBP Form 7551 and supporting documentation, was filed too late, causing CBP to reject the claims. “CBP is ultimately not responsible for EchoStar’s failure to timely file complete drawback claims because of either the Guidance or CBP’s ‘late’ notice to EchoStar to provide additional documents,” said CIT, referring to guidance documents that EchoStar believed meant no paper documentation was necessary. The company had no immediate comment Tuesday.

Many tech and other interests flooded docket USTR-2019-0004 before the Monday-midnight deadline for comments on the fourth tranche of tariffs on Chinese goods. Most opposed the tariffs on grounds they would harm U.S. businesses and consumers and would do little to stop China’s allegedly bad behavior on intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer. The List 4 goods targeted for Section 301 tariffs of up to 25 percent include “many products Bose imports” to the U.S. from China, commented the manufacturer, posted Monday. Bose products earmarked for List 4 tariffs “generally do not incorporate the types of technology targeted” by China’s IP and tech transfer policies, said the manufacturer. Bose forecasts it will import $450 million worth of goods from China this year. Though the administration claims to have tried to avoid placing tariffs on consumer products, “there is simply no way to protect consumers from tariffs” on List 4, said the Information Technology Industry Council. List 4 includes “finished computing devices and accessories that are used widely," ITI said. Lists 1, 2 and 3 “already placed duties on various types of computer monitors, screens, and networking equipment,” it said: “List 4 tariffs will mean that every single office and home computing machine from printers to standalone desktops to landline telephones -- and even the cables that connect them -- will become more expensive for all" in the U.S. LCD modules Sharp imports from China are used in “a wide array of products” manufactured in the U.S., including cars, watches and phones, commented the company: “Punitive” tariffs on LCD modules would imperil many of those jobs “located within the US manufacturing heartland of the Midwest,” in states “that are so crucial to the President’s upcoming re-election campaign.” Also Monday, tech and other interests testified at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative against List 4 duties (see 1906170066).

Broadcom expects its semiconductor business to take a $2 billion revenue hit from the U.S.-China trade war, including the Trump administration's "Huawei export ban,” said CEO Hock Tan on a fiscal Q2 call. The stock closed 5.6 percent lower Friday at $265.93. The trade frictions are “creating economic and political uncertainty and reducing visibility for our global OEM customers,” he said. “Demand volatility has increased and our customers are actively reducing inventory levels to manage risks.” The $17.5 billion in semiconductor revenue Broadcom now expects in the fiscal year ending in November will mean a year-over-year decline in the high-single digits, said Tan. On Broadcom’s previous earnings call in March, Tan had said he was “confident” the semiconductor business would “resume very meaningful growth” in the fiscal second half and record $19.5 billion in sales. Huawei generated about $900 million of revenue for Broadcom last year, but the market softness that prompted the company to shave $2 billion off its semiconductor revenue forecast “obviously extends beyond just one particular customer,” said Tan Thursday, in Q&A. “We're talking about uncertainty in our marketplace,” and that’s causing “compression” in the supply chain that’s reducing orders, he said. “It's broad-based.” With the revised forecast, “we tried to capture everything” in the business “environment,” including the impact of the proposed List 4 tariffs on Chinese goods, said Tan. The environment “is very, very nervous, and that's why we see a very, very sharp and rapid contraction of the supply chain and orders out there from our customers,” he said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stressed the importance of 5G security in a speech Wednesday at the U.S.-India Business Council India Ideas Summit. “Implications are wide-ranging,” Pai said: “5G will affect our militaries, our industries, our critical infrastructure, and much more. The procurement and deployment decisions made now will have a generational impact on our security, economy, and society.” In the world of 5G, “We cannot afford to make risky choices and just hope for the best,” Pai said. “We must see clearly the threats to the security of our networks and act to address them. And the more that allies like the United States and India can work together and make security decisions based on shared principles, the safer that our 5G networks will be.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged President Donald Trump's administration Thursday not to use U.S. restrictions on Huawei as a “bargaining chip in trade negotiations” with China. Trump's May executive order bars some foreign companies' technology from U.S. networks and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security filed a notice adding Huawei and affiliates to a list of entities subject to export administration regulations (see 1905160081). BIS issued a general license temporarily allowing certain transactions by Huawei and the affected affiliates through Aug. 19 (see 1905210013). Trump later said sanctions against Huawei could be part of trade negotiations with China (see 1905240038). OMB acting Director Russel Vought later requested a two-year delay in implementing government contracting and procurement-related restrictions on Huawei included in the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (see 1808130064). “Europeans have publicly expressed fears that the Administration will soften its position on Huawei,” especially given Trump's instigation of a settlement that lifted the Commerce Department ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to Chinese firm ZTE (see 1807130048), Rubio and Warner wrote Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. “Instead, the U.S. should redouble our efforts to present our allies with compelling data on why the long-term network security and maintenance costs on Chinese telecommunications equipment offset any short-term cost savings.” Any modifications to BIS' temporary general license for Huawei “must be pursued in a risk-based way, separate from any trade negotiations, and consistent with national security considerations,” the senators said. “Conflating national security considerations with levers in trade negotiations undermines” U.S. work with Europe, India and other “international partners.” The House Armed Services Committee, meanwhile, Thursday advanced its version of the FY 2020 NDAA with language directing the defense secretary to conduct a comprehensive assessment of DOD policies on telecom and video surveillance services and equipment from foreign contractors and subcontractors, including identifying ways to mitigate threats via the debarment and suspension process. The bill would direct the defense secretary to implement a strategy for 5G technologies. It recommends giving DOD $175 million to ensure effective Joint Force operations in 5G spectrum.

Short-term risks from U.S. restrictions on gear from China-based Huawei would be felt more by tech companies than telecoms, due to more direct and near-term revenue impact, reported S&P Global Ratings Wednesday. Expecting further developments in the trade war between the U.S. and China, the researcher said the impacts of bans “are not yet certain.” The ban on China-based ZTE last year lasted four weeks but “may not be indicative of the outcome on Huawei,” said S&P, which believes the ban will be a “catalyst” for the Chinese company and the government to “accelerate their technology to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers for critical components.” That could ratchet up competition in the technology sector and lower long-term growth prospects for U.S. tech firms, it said. Tuesday, Silicon Labs Chief Financial Officer John Hollister said (see 1906110068 or 1906110058) the May Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security notice banning shipments to Huawei will have “half a quarter impact” on Q2 revenue. Consequences for telecom companies will vary by country, relating largely to long-term 5G investment decisions, giving operators “more time and options for managing the fallout,” said S&P's Mark Habib. With China aiming for leadership in 5G, “stakes are high” because deployment will be key to “a vibrant economic environment” for countries and regions, the analyst said. Using history as a guide, Habib said leaders will have an edge in the development of the next wave of technology innovations such as cloud computing, IoT and autonomous vehicles. “It's too early to tell if restrictions will slow China's 5G ambitions, or backfire and leave countries like the U.S. behind,” he said. Much will depend on “how badly Huawei is constrained and how ready competing equipment makers are to take the lead.”

The May Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security notice banning shipments to Huawei will have “half a quarter impact” on Silicon Labs' Q2 revenue since the company’s late April guidance, said Chief Financial Officer John Hollister at a Tuesday investor conference. Hollister called Huawei a “3 percent customer” generating $6 million quarterly revenue in its infrastructure business. He pegged IoT revenue potential, the most robust part of the “opportunity pipeline,” at $8 billion, mostly in wireless. CEO Tyson Tuttle said Silicon Labs is “furthest along” among competitors in small-scale wireless-enabled devices, a market that could reach 80 billion-100 billion devices deployed by 2025. “If you just come in and do one chip or one piece of the software, you’re really missing the big story of what the opportunity is,” he said, pushing the company’s breadth in software and devices.