Verizon is in good shape to “manage through" a tough economy and is returning to basics in its consumer offerings, Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis said Tuesday at a Morgan Stanley investor conference. “The view on the macro picture has continued to change … depending on the day of the week,” Ellis said: “The consumer is in good shape overall,” he said. “We continue to see payment patterns that are very much in line with what we saw pre-pandemic.” Ellis, who's leaving Verizon in May, cited the appointment last week of Sowmyanarayan Sampath as CEO of Verizon Consumer Group (see 2303030042) in saying there have been times when “we've got distracted by trying to do too many things at once,” Ellis said. “You'll see Sampath getting very much back to the basics of what made Verizon Wireless the biggest and best performing carrier in the U.S.,” and “we feel good about what we saw in the second half of the year,” he said. Verizon’s lower-cost “Welcome Unlimited Plan” has been helpful in driving growth, Ellis said: The plan “gave us the opportunity to advertise at a lower price point, drive foot traffic into the stores. And then we challenge our store teams to say, ‘Hey, if a customer really wants that plan, we'll absolutely sell that plan for them. But let's tell them about all our other plans.’” Verizon’s C-band spectrum has been turned on in 76 of 406 markets, starting with dense, urban areas, he said. “Our customers are liking what they're seeing” in those markets, he said.

International Data Corp. forecast Tuesday that global spending on AI software, hardware and services will reach $154 billion in 2023, 26.9% above 2022. “The ongoing incorporation of AI into a wide range of products will result in a compound annual growth rate of 27.0% over the 2022-2026 forecast with spending on AI-centric systems expected to surpass $300 billion in 2026,” IDC said. "Companies that are slow to adopt AI will be left behind -- large and small,” said Mike Glennon, senior market research analyst: “AI is best used in these companies to augment human abilities, automate repetitive tasks, provide personalized recommendations, and make data-driven decisions with speed and accuracy.”

Qualcomm private 5G networks using Globalstar's Band n53 terrestrial spectrum should roll out this summer, Globalstar Chairman Jay Monroe said Tuesday in a call with analysts. He said its collaboration with Qualcomm, announced this week, should help drive more radio vendors to introduce Band 53-compatible equipment. He said Spain's authorization of terrestrial use of Globalstar's mobile satellite service spectrum (see 2302280002) "should foreshadow many more licenses" in Europe. Asked about increased FCC attention to the intersection of terrestrial and satellite activity, CEO Dave Kagan said Globalstar is a heavy user of its satellite spectrum, especially with its announced partnership with Apple (see 2209070016) so it isn't likely to face a big challenge by another party wanting to use that spectrum.

The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance urged the FCC not to extend by 60 days the comment deadlines on the details of implementing a new leasing model for the 4.9 GHz band, sought last week by Energy associations, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance and other groups (see 2303020042). “The length of the proposed delay is extraordinary,” the alliance said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 07-100: “Were the Commission to grant the extension, the result would be a 180-day comment period, which is not a modest delay, and is in no way routine.” The group noted advocates of a delay don’t cite “extraordinary or compelling circumstances” and “if anything, the circumstances described by the Parties provide all the more reason why the comment periods should proceed apace.” Comments are due March 30, replies May 1, in docket 07-100, in response to a Further NPRM approved by commissioners in January (see 2301180062).

P3Mobility sought an FCC waiver to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything technology in the 5.9 GHz band. “While pilot projects have provided vital information to the industry, those only constitute a small fraction of C-V2X safety capabilities,” said a filing Friday in docket 19-138: “Expedited deployment of these technologies is necessary to further the Commission’s goal to promote traffic safety and protect the American public.”

The Federal Railroad Administration sought comment on requests for amendment by BNSF Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway of their positive train control plans. Comments on the BNSF proposal are due March 19 in docket FRA-2010-0056, the Kansas City proposal March 27 in FRA-2010-0059, said Monday notices in the Federal Register.

Public Knowledge representatives met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on a January white paper by the group on spectrum policy. “In Back to the Spectrum Future, PK proposes a backcasting framework for spectrum policy decisionmaking based on the public interest principles that are embedded in the Telecommunications Act,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295: “This approach to policymaking focuses on envisioning a desirable future, then backcasting the policies that are needed to get to that future.”

A new edition of NTIA’s Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management is effective Monday, said a notice for Monday’s Federal Register. The manual is “the compilation of policies and procedures that govern the use of the radio frequency spectrum by the U.S. Government,” the notice said. “Federal Government agencies are required to follow these policies and procedures in their use of spectrum.”

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was a success this year, with large numbers of people returning for the first time since 2019, said GSMA Ltd. CEO John Hoffman during a session Thursday, the conference's final day. GSMA reported attendance of 88,500, from 202 countries and territories. That’s fewer than the 109,000 reported in 2019 but up from 61,000 last year. Hoffman noted MWC canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19, the first major event hit by the pandemic: “We didn’t know what [the virus] was. It wasn’t supposedly in Europe yet, but it was.” Speakers noted the conference honored Marty Cooper, the father of the cellphone, who made the first cellular call 50 years ago next month. “We’re looking at the past because we want to see how far we’ve come, but also we want to see the velocity and speed of going to the future,” said Zina Jarrahi Cinker, director general of Matter, an international think tank. MWC needs to offer more space next year, she said, saying hundreds of people wanted to get into events on quantum computing and frontier technologies, but “they had only capacity for 30 and 40." People “have done more deals, met with more people than ever before,” said Lara Dewar, GSMA chief marketing officer. “As digital technologies continue to develop, there is new excitement in the air that MWC captured so well,” said GSMA Director General Mats Granryd: “The transition to Web 3.0 will trigger a new explosion in network traffic, and it is critical that we work together to prepare.” 5G is "mainstream now; it’s no longer the new boy on the block,” said Adrian Dodd, head-GSMA Services, on a second panel. Sustainability “is on everybody’s lips,” he said: “That means devices are lasting much longer on the networks, which has a set of challenges. … More and more we’re going to see older devices with lower capabilities, younger devices with higher capabilities.” With devices lasting longer, trade-in programs are becoming more important, he said. 5G has “only just started,” despite all the discussion at MWC about 6G, said Barney Stinton, GSMA head-membership.

Representatives of the Edison Electric Institute and Evergy met virtually with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology to discuss tests Evergy did last year on potential interference from 6 GHz low-power indoor operations to utility use of the band. The Kansas City-based utility offered a technical explanation of problems uncovered by the tests, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. “The participants emphasized that protecting existing 6 GHz networks remains a vital issue for electric companies,” EEI and Evergy said: “These 6 GHz communications networks are particularly necessary for the safety of electric company personnel and to maintain the backbone of electric companies’ operations not only day-to-day, but also, during emergencies and disasters such as ice storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes.”