The Wall Street Journal - 28.03.2020 - 29.03.2020

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BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS

opted to forgo costly invest-

ments into in-house IT infra-

structure and instead rent

processing hardware and soft-

ware from the likes of Amazon

or Microsoft, paying as they

go for storage and data-pro-

cessing features.

“If you look at Amazon or

Azure and how much infra-

structure usage increased over

the past two weeks, it would

probably blow your mind how

much capacity they’ve had to

parts of Australia.

“Due to increased usage of

Azure, some regions have lim-

ited capacity,” the software gi-

ant said, adding it had, in

some instances, placed restric-

tions on new cloud-based re-

sources, according to a cus-

tomer notice seen by The Wall

Street Journal.

A Microsoft spokesman said

the company was “actively

monitoring performance and

usage trends” to support cus-

tomers and growth demands.

“At the same time,” he said,

“these are unprecedented

times and we’re also taking

proactive steps to plan for

these high-usage periods.”

“If we think of the cloud as

utility, it’s hard to imagine any

other public utility that could

sustain a 50% increase in utili-

zation—whether that’s electric

or water or sewage system—

and not fall over,” Matthew

Prince, chief executive of

cloud-services providerCloud-

flareInc. said. “The fact that

the cloud is holding up as well

as it has is one of the real

bright spots of this crisis.”

The migration to the cloud

has been happening for about

a decade as companies have

spin up to keep the world op-

erating,” said Dave McJannet,

HashiCorp Inc., which pro-

vides tools for both cloud and

traditional servers.

An Amazon spokesman de-

clined to discuss use rates of

it service, but said, “We are

confident we will be able to

meet customer demands for

capacity in response to

COVID-19.”

For many companies, one of

the attractions of cloud ser-

vices is they can quickly rent

more processing horsepower

and storage when it is needed,

but can scale back during less

busy periods.

That also means cloud-ser-

vice companies aren’t immune

to the current economic dis-

ruption. Many of them serve

companies such as airlines and

hotel operators that have been

hit hard by the outbreak and

have been cutting costs, which

could include slashing spend-

ing on cloud services, said

Corey Quinn, a cloud-comput-

ing economist at the Duckbill

Group, a firm that helps cus-

tomers lower their Amazon

cloud bills.

—Dana Mattioli

contributed to this article.

Cloud-computing providers
are emerging as among the
few corporate winners in the
coronavirus pandemic as of-
fice and store closures across
the U.S. have pushed more ac-
tivity online.
The remote data storage
and processing services pro-
vided byAmazon.comInc.,
Microsoft Corp., Alphabet
Inc.’s Google and others have
become the essential link for
many people to remain con-
nected with work and families,
or just to unwind.
The hardware and software
infrastructure those tech gi-
ants and others provide, com-
monly referred to as the cloud,
underpins the operation of
businesses that have become
particularly popular during
the virus outbreak, such as
workplace-collaboration soft-
ware providerSlack Technol-
ogies Inc., streaming-video
service companyNetflixInc.
and online videogame maker
Epic GamesInc.
Demand has been so strong
that Microsoft has told some
customers its Azure cloud is
running up against limits in

BYAARONTILLEY

Cloud Industry Scores Big Win

Source: Cloudflare

%

Feb. 1 March 1

-7.5

-5.0

-2.5

0

2.5

5.0

7.5

10.0

ChangeindailyU.S.internet

Jan. 9

wholesale crashes. Some carri-

ers are now deploying extra re-

sources to neighborhoods with

heavy wireless usage.

Several wireless carriers in-

cluding Verizon, T-Mobile US

Inc. and AT&T Inc. have been

given temporary access to fresh

spectrum to bolster capacity.

AT&T last Sunday said its over-

all cellular-data traffic was al-

most flat as more customers

connected to their home Wi-Fi

networks. But the volume of

mobile voice calls surged as

much as 44% over typical levels.

Daytime usage in markets in-

ternet provider Starry Inc.

serves like Boston and New

York has reached about 85% of

peak activity, said Chief Execu-

tive Chet Kanojia. “Typically,

you have network peaks and

valleys. I think you see much

more sustained peaks,” he said.

Some families have begun

establishing priorities for ac-

cess to home networks.

“We have to allocate the

bandwidth to the person who is

bringing in the money,” said

Terrence Barrett, who is work-

ing from home near St. Louis.

He says his eldest son’s gaming

has to take a back seat during

work hours.

The experiment hasn’t been

without frustrations.

Neelabah Pant, a Dallas resi-

dent who has Charter Commu-

nications Inc.’s Spectrum inter-

net said he has to restart his

modem and router once a day

to speed up a sluggish connec-

tion.

Charter has seen some in-

creased daytime network activ-

ity “but levels remain well be-

low capacity and typical peak

evening usage in most mar-

kets,” a spokeswoman for the

Stamford, Conn.-based company

said.

Rana el Kaliouby ran out of

bandwidth while recording a

podcast from her home, at the

same time her daughter took an

online driver’s education pro-

gram and her son played video-

games. She expects her home

network, Comcast Corp.’s Xfin-

ity Blast internet package, to be

even more strained as her chil-

dren participate in remote

learning. “I don’t know how

that’s going to work,” she said.

Comcast’s networks have

held up as peak traffic in-

creased 20%, said Tony Werner,

president of technology at Com-

cast Cable. Currently, the net-

work is running at just above

40% capacity, he said.

—Drew FitzGerald

contributed to this article.

which is known as the Corona-

virus Aid, Relief and Economic

Security Act, or CARES Act.

What types of employees

should be counted?

The law applies to full- and

part-time employees, tempo-

rary workers (even if they are

jointly employed with another

business), day laborers and

employees who are already on

leave. Independent contractors

are not employees under the

Families First Coronavirus Re-

sponse Act, and shouldn’t be

counted.

Does the Families First Corona-

virus Response Act contain any

employer exceptions?

Small businesses with fewer

than 50 employees can poten-

tially qualify for an exemption.

So far, the Department of La-

bor has said exemptions will

be available if the expanded

paid-leave requirements would

threaten the business’ viabil-

ity, but hasn’t yet issued spe-

cific guidelines on who quali-

fies or how to apply.

Are there any caps on how

much leave covered employ-

ers must provide?

Yes, but the limits vary de-

pending on the employee’s cir-

cumstances. Employees under

quarantine or experiencing

symptoms associated with

Covid-19, must be paid either

their full rate or the minimum

wage, if it’s higher, up to $511

a day or $5,110 for two weeks.

The limits for employees

caring for a sick person are

$200 a day or $2,000 for two

weeks. For workers taking

care of a child home from

school, the cap is $200 a day

and $12,000 total, which in-

cludes two weeks of paid sick

leave and 10 weeks of the ex-

panded family and medical

leave.

What will happen to small

businesses who aren’t fully

compliant on April 1?

The Department of Labor

said it won’t take enforcement

action against employers be-

fore April 17, as long as they

are making a good-faith effort

to comply with the law.

How long will these new

paid-leave provisions be in

effect?

The requirements will apply

through Dec. 31.

What questions haven’t been

answered by the Department

of Labor yet?

The Department of Labor

hasn’t yet said if employees

whose workplace closed due to

a stay-at-home order issued by

a state or local government or

who have already been fur-

loughed qualify for leave un-

der the act.

With new rules expanding

paid sick and family leave go-

ing into effect April 1, small

businesses and their employ-

ees across the country are

scrambling to figure out which

parts of the Families First Cor-

onavirus Response Act applies

to them and how to comply.

Here are some answers:

What types of paid leave

must be provided by employ-

ers covered by the new law?

Employees who can’t work

because they have symptoms

associated with Covid-19 or

are under quarantine must re-

ceive two weeks or up to 80

hours of paid sick leave at

their full rate or the applicable

minimum wage, if higher.

If an employee is caring for

a quarantined person or a

child who can’t go to school or

day care because of the pan-

demic, the employer must pro-

vide two weeks or up to 80

hours paid leave at two-thirds

of the employee’s normal rate.

Employees who have been

employed at least 30 days can

also take up to 10 additional

weeks of paid family and med-

ical leave at two-thirds their

normal rate to care for chil-

dren at home due to the out-

break.

Which employers must com-

ply with the provisions of the

new law?

Businesses based in the U.S.

with fewer than 500 employ-

ees are covered by the new

rules. For companies with sep-

arate entities, divisions or

subsidiaries, the Department

of Labor is using two different

tests to determine how em-

ployees should be counted.

Rebecca Baker, an employ-

ment and labor lawyer, said

that when counting employees

for the expanded family and

medical leave, businesses

should use the integrated em-

ployer test from the existing

Family and Medical Leave Act.

When counting for the new

paid sick time, employers

should use the joint employer

tests under the Fair Labor

Standards Act.

“What could end up hap-

pening is for purposes of the

paid sick time requirements, I

might be covered, but for pur-

poses of the expanded FMLA,

I may not be covered,” Ms.

Baker said.

Is this part of the $2 trillion

economic rescue package?

No, these paid-leave re-

quirements were passed in a

separate bill signed into law

by President Trump on March

18. They apply whether or not
    employees or employers re-
    ceive loans or payments from
    the federal stimulus package,

BYCHARITYL.SCOTT

Who Is and Isn’t

Covered Under

Paid-Leave Act

Home internet and wireless
connectivity in the U.S. have
largely withstood unprece-
dented demands as more Amer-
icans work and learn remotely.
Broadband and wireless ser-
vice providers say traffic has
jumped at times of the day
when families would typically
head to offices and schools.
Still, that surge in usage hasn’t
yet resulted in widespread out-
ages or unusually long service
disruptions, industry executives
and analysts say.
Some service providers have
joked that internet usage during
the pandemic doesn’t compare
with the Super Bowl or season
finale of the popular HBO show
“Game of Thrones” in terms of
strain on their networks, Evan
Swarztrauber, senior policy ad-
viser to the chairman of the
Federal Communications Com-
mission, said on recent a call.
Broadband consumption dur-
ing the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
has risen by more than 50%
since January, according to
broadband data company Open-
Vault, which measured connec-
tions in more than one million
homes. Usage during the peak
early-evening hours increased
20% as of March 25.
“What we have seen is a re-
distribution of where and how
the network is used,” said Tami
Erwin, head of Verizon Commu-
nications Inc.’s business group.
While some consumers have
complained about grainy video
and slower download speeds,
problems have so far been lim-
ited to nuisances, rather than

BYSARAHKROUSE
ANDLILLIANRIZZO

Spike in Traffic Hasn’t Broken the Web

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5 Mbps

3am -

4am

9am -

10am

3pm -

4pm

9pm -

10pm

3am -

4am

9am -

10am

3pm -

4pm

9pm -

10pm

3am -

4am

9pm -

10am

3pm -

4pm

9pm -

10pm

Source: Starry Inc.

Averageusageinmegabitsasecondacrosscustomeraccountsineachmarket

Jan. 13, 20 Feb. 10, 17 March 9, 16 - 19 March 20

Boston LosAngeles NewYorkCity

and hospitality industries.

“The customer base probably

does not return overnight.”

Even when U.S. casinos re-

open, there will be other chal-

lenges. They will have to com-

pete with online gambling,

which some analysts expect to

attract new customers as peo-

ple are locked down inside their

homes. Consumers might still

be wary of visiting places with

large crowds, or be put off by

temperature checks and other

new restrictions at the casinos.

“We could see similar re-

strictions at any mass-type

gatherings and larger enter-

tainment venues around the

world for a period after this,”

said Simon Holliday, founder

of market data and consulting

firm H2 Gambling Capital.

“Many of these would be tem-

porary until there is a vaccine,

but as with any major event

such as this, some will stick in

certain markets.”

Some U.S. casinos experi-

mented briefly with similar

measures. Wynn Resorts Ltd.

on March 12 said it would

screen body temperatures of

customers using noninvasive

thermal cameras and that ad-

ditional space would be cre-

ated between guests at gaming

devices and dining tables.

Wynn, which also operates ca-

sinos in Macau, closed its Las

Vegas and Boston casinos just

a few days later.

In Australia, casinos also

implemented new safety mea-

sures last week before the

government shut them down

Monday along with other non-

essential businesses. At a ca-

sino in Sydney run by Star En-

tertainment Group Ltd.,

temporary barriers were

placed around different sec-

tions of the gambling floor,

and employees kept track of

how many people entered each

area. Every other slot machine

was deactivated.

By last week, Macau’s gov-

ernment said 37 casinos had

reopened, with two closed,

and that 80% of the city’s ta-

ble games were back in opera-

tion. One casino was closed

because the hotel where the

casino is located was desig-

nated as a quarantine venue,

and another was closed be-

cause of renovations.

At casinos in Macau, the

world’s biggest gambling hub,

customers must wear masks,

have their body temperature

taken upon entry and refrain

from eating or drinking at the

gambling tables.

The new procedures could

be a preview of what U.S. casi-

nos, which have largely shut to

stop the spread of the corona-

virus, will do if they reopen in

the coming weeks and months.

Unlike the U.S., Australia and

parts of Europe, Macau’s casi-

nos are open, and how the ca-

sinos fare could offer clues on

how quickly gamblers might

return in other markets.

So far, the results are grim.

Macau’s casinos shut down for

about two weeks in February,

but the government allowed

them to reopen on Feb. 20

with the new procedures.

Gross gambling revenues fell

nearly 90% in February, and

analysts are expecting another

steep drop in March, perhaps

by as much as 80%.

Travel restrictions have

prevented most mainland Chi-

nese tourists from visiting the

semiautonomous city, contrib-

uting to the decline.

At U.S. casinos, “we don’t ex-

pect one day the lights are go-

ing to go on and be exactly as it

was,” said Michael Soll, presi-

dent of Innovation Group, a con-

sulting firm for the gambling

BYMIKECHERNEY

Macau Offers Glimpse of Post-Virus Future

Macau allowed casinos to reopen on Feb. 20, but a rebound is a ways off. Outside the Casino Lisboa in Macau in early March.

BILLY H.C. KWOK/BLOOMBERG NEWS

FoxCorp.’s business chan-
nel said it parted ways with
host Trish Regan, who was
taken off the air two weeks
ago after she dismissed con-
cerns about the coronavirus
pandemic as “impeachment all
over again.”
Ms. Regan hosted “Trish
Regan Primetime” during Fox
Business’ 8 p.m. hour until
March 13, when her show was
put on hiatus due to what Fox
Business said were “the de-
mands of the evolving pan-
demic crisis coverage.”
A few days earlier, she had
delivered a monologue saying
the “liberal media” were using
the coronavirus to “destroy”
the president and “encourage
a market selloff.”
“This is yet another at-
tempt to impeach the presi-
dent,” Ms. Regan said during
her March 9 program.
In a statement released by
the network Friday, Ms. Regan
said: “I have enjoyed my time
at FOX and now intend to fo-
cus on my family.
Attempts to reach Ms.
Regan directly were unsuc-
cessful.
Fox Corp. and Wall Street
Journal parent News Corp
share common ownership.

BYBENJAMINMULLIN

Fox Business

Parts Ways

With Host