Display Week 2020 is rescheduled for Aug. 2-7 at the San Jose Convention Center “to allow time for business operations to return to more normal functioning,” said the Society for Information Display Thursday. The show “will have a strong digital programming component, increasing access and convenience for attendees from around the globe,” it said. Moving the June conference in San Francisco to August in San Jose was an open secret for weeks (see 2004070051).

The growing number of newly unemployed need access to broadband and voice services more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis, FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks said during a MediaJustice online event Thursday. Speakers shared stories of how the lack of robust telecom access hurt their ability to reach healthcare providers, complete online schooling and keep in touch with relatives. Bolster Lifeline benefits and enrollment, close the homework gap and lower inmate calling service rates, Rosenworcel asked of her agency. Starks recalled a visit several months ago to a District of Columbia Department of Corrections facility where he listened to 20 prisoners. They told him how important it was to stay connected to their communities. The push to make ICS free for those in local and state jails and prisons, and not just federal facilities (see 2004150061), is important, he said. Starks said the FCC should do more to keep people on tribal lands connected. Foster the Lifeline program because connectivity is a central aspect of social distancing, Starks said. Leonard Edwards, an advocate with D.C.-based Bread for the City, wants the Lifeline program to extend unlimited voice minutes and broadband data to customers even after the pandemic.

Some 43% of U.S. homes will have used an online grocery service by the end of June -- and 49% by year-end -- and it’s likely to be a continuing trend, eMarketer reported Thursday. "As consumers stay home and governments increasingly push for consumers to avoid contact with others, online grocery services' near contactless nature will likely entice more consumers," said analyst Daniel Keyes. If the pandemic subsides in a few months, online grocery's rise will likely taper by the end of 2020. If it lasts longer -- and society needs a vaccine to resume regular life, or a second wave of the pandemic occurs -- online grocery usage penetration will continue to climb and 60%-plus of U.S. consumers could try it through 2022.

Six COVID-19 telehealth applications were approved, including to hospital facilities in Atlanta, New York City and New Orleans, three days after the FCC Wireline Bureau began taking applications, it said Thursday (see 2004090010). Commissioner Brendan Carr, who has been a point person on this issue, cheered the quick OK.

Best Buy will furlough about 51,000 hourly store employees due to the coronavirus, said the company Wednesday. The retailer said sales since March 21 plunged 30% from a year earlier after the company began restricting in-person sales to curbside pickup. Fiscal Q1 ends early May. COVID-19 sent March retail sales at electronics and appliance stores plunging 15.1% from February and 16.2% from March 2019, reported the National Retail Federation Wednesday. Executive salaries are being cut. Furloughs will affect hourly store employees and nearly all part-time employees, Best Buy said. It's keeping 82% of its full-time store and field employees on the payroll, including most in-home advisers and Geek Squad personnel. “The situation we are all facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is truly unprecedented,” said CEO Corie Barry. All of Best Buy’s U.S. stores are closed to customer traffic, with 40 closed completely, mostly in the Northeast, “for at least 10 days at our discretion,” Barry said. Online domestic sales are up more than 250%, with half of those sales coming from customer pickup at stores, Barry said. The situation remains “very fluid and there is still a great deal of uncertainty,” Barry said, referencing depth and duration of store closures “and consumer confidence over time.” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter emailed investors that upcoming tech innovations the retailer expected to benefit from near term “will be delayed by supply chain disruptions and muted by a looming recession.” That could extend the timeline for the retailer to meet long-term targets, said analyst Michael Pachter. Shares Wednesday closed down 7.3% to $64.76.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, lauded the Federal Bureau of Prisons Wednesday for agreeing to make inmate phone calls and videoconferencing services free during the COVID-19 pandemic. BOP responded to a push by Klobuchar, Durbin and 10 other Democratic senators for a waiver of phone and video call fees due to the suspension of in-person visits during the epidemic. They cited language in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act that allowed BOP to waive phone and video fees for inmates if the attorney general determines emergency conditions will materially affect the bureau’s functioning. Phone calls “were made free for the inmate population” effective April 9, BOP Director Michael Carvajal said in a letter to the senators. Video conferencing was made free the same day, though only for female inmates. “We increased each inmate’s monthly telephone time to 500 minutes per month to help compensate for the lack of visits," Carvajal said. BOP’s Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System added a feature to its instant messaging service that will allow prison staff to filter out inmates' messages to attorneys. Durbin tweeted he’s “glad to see” BOP has “taken our advice” to “make phone & video calls free for federal inmates.” Klobuchar noted her push.

The growth in peak data traffic nationally seems to be slowing and, in some places, plateauing, NCTA said Wednesday. National downstream peak growth remains flat for the second consecutive week, up 0.65% last week, while national upstream peak growth continues to decelerate for the second consecutive week, it said. Upstream growth of 0.71% last week compares with increases of 4% and 7% the previous two weeks, it said.

More than half of U.S. broadband households say they value technology more than before COVID-19, social distancing and stay-at-home orders, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Intention to buy consumer electronics in the next 12 months is 5% higher than a year ago, and 21% of households subscribed to at least one new over-the-top video service in the past three months. Some 70% of consumers report following social distancing rules, 30% are following shelter-in-place orders or “otherwise self-quarantining,” and 28% of heads of broadband households over 75 report self-quarantining. The survey was fielded March 8-April 3.

Verizon said its May 7 annual shareholders meeting, at 12:45 p.m. EDT, will be virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Verizon's Hans Vestberg said he was among CEOs and other executives who spoke with President Donald Trump Wednesday about how to restart the U.S. economy once the widespread shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Vestberg is among six executives Trump named to a telecom-specific industry group advising the White House on reopening the U.S. economy (see personals section, this issue). The others are Liberty Media’s John Malone, Comcast’s Brian Roberts, Charter’s Thomas Rutledge, T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert and Altec’s Lee Styslinger. A separate tech sector group of 15 executives includes Apple’s Tim Cook, Qualcomm’s Steven Mollenkopf, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Google parent Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Broadcom’s Hock Tan and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. The call with Trump “was very useful,” Vestberg said in a statement. “Verizon and many other companies across the country are committed to finding ways of effectively doing business in the ‘new normal,’ and we're equally looking forward to doing our part to help bring back a strong and vibrant U.S. economy.”