Ericsson is seeing “strong momentum” in its 5G business “with both new contracts and new commercial launches as well as live networks,” CEO Borje Ekholm said Wednesday as the company reported quarterly numbers. “To date, we have provided solutions for almost two-thirds of all commercially launched 5G networks,” he said: “5G momentum is increasing. Initially, 5G will be a capacity enhancer in metropolitan areas. However, over time, new exciting innovations for 5G will come with IoT use cases, leveraging the speed, latency and security 5G can provide. This provides opportunities for our customers to capture new revenues as they provide additional benefits to consumers and businesses.” Quarterly operating profit rose to $395 million from $21 million a year earlier. Ericsson is one of the main rivals to China’s Huawei as a supplier of 5G equipment.

Microsoft and Verizon received FCC experimental licenses to do tests in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. Microsoft plans tests at its campus in Redmond, Washington. Verizon said it plans “a series of field tests” using BDRS devices at different locations. “Field tests will be conducted in a production network, in a highly controlled field environment, in order to assist in the development of commercial products,” the carrier said: “The testing will benefit the public interest by enabling the pre-commercial testing of new products outside of a lab environment but in a controlled and managed manner.”

A lawyer for T-Mobile/Sprint countered state complaints the companies didn’t provide materials on a settlement with DOJ by June 28 (see 1907160068). The state challenge is before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. “July 2, in response to Plaintiffs’ request, Defendants provided additional information and almost 300 pages of supporting materials that disclosed comprehensive details about a potential DOJ settlement,” Cleary Gottlieb’s David Gelfand wrote (in Pacer) to Judge Robert Lehrburger. “It went far beyond what was contemplated. While Plaintiffs are correct that definitive documents were not provided on July 12, this is only because a final settlement agreement with the DOJ has not yet been reached.”

Humantics sought a waiver of FCC ultra-wideband rules permitting use of its microlocation systems in the U.S. The UWB rules require that devices be handheld and relatively small, the company said. The devices would be mounted on industrial automation and manufacturing equipment. Humantics told the FCC its technology addresses a niche that would otherwise go unfilled. “While magnetic tape and inductive wire/RFID provide an accurate and low-cost tracking solution, these technologies have significant limitations, including the lack of dynamic routing (a robot or vehicle must be over the sensor to work), significant maintenance requirements (tape and sensors wear away), especially in gritty, outdoor environments, and the need for additional sensors for safety (increasing costs),” Humantics said, posted Tuesday.

ARRL told the FCC it has been unable to reach agreement in a proceeding that proposes to remove limitations on the symbol, or baud, rate, applicable to data emissions in some amateur bands. In March, the amateur radio operator group asked to pause the proceeding (see 1903280059). “When this process began, we expressed our intention to reach a common understanding of issues and to agree on their resolution insofar as possible.” ARRL said in a final report posted Monday in RM-11831. “At the beginning of our meetings there emerged consensus on the issues to be discussed,” the group said: “By the end, the parties had reached consensus on some of the issues, but not all. Despite our best efforts, some of the parties did not agree to submit to the Commission any of the recommendations on which there had been an apparent consensus, having negotiated with an ‘all or nothing’ approach.” More than 600, mostly amateur, radio operators, filed in the proceeding.

T-Mobile launched what it says is the first asset tracking solution on a U.S. narrowband IoT network. It's "the next stage of development for the IoT market,” the carrier said.

Intel sought FCC permission to test communications in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band at an Intel campus in Chandler, Arizona. Intel plans to use equipment by Ruckus Wireless and asked for a year-long experimental license.

The National Council of Higher Education Resources pressed for clarity of Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules for calling student loan borrowers on their mobile devices, in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The group reminded the FCC of the "tools, unique in the consumer credit space, made available by the Congress and the U.S. Department of Education specifically to help struggling borrowers.” A filing posted Monday in docket 02-278 also asked the FCC to define autodialer “in a way that sticks to the statutory language.”

The Competitive Carriers Association wants more infrastructure reforms to speed 5G deployment. Members “encounter difficulties in certain jurisdictions arising out of the Commission’s ‘deemed granted’ requirement when a locality has ‘fail[ed] to approve or deny a request seeking approval’ of an eligible facilities modification,” the group said in docket 17-79. “Members often cannot receive outstanding building permits or other certifications because they do not receive paperwork to establish the grant of their facilities modification request.” CCA asked the meaning of “concealment elements” be clarified: “Clarify that size-based concealment elements cannot be imposed to evade the specific, objective size criteria that the FCC adopted in 2014 to determine what qualifies as an eligible facilities modification, and that only an element identified in an initial application or approval as a concealment element qualifies as the same under the Commission’s regulations.” The group supports recent calls to “modernize its rules to permit minor, necessary expansions of existing sites.”

The Consumer Federation of America recommends virtual shoppers only connect to e-commerce sites through wireless networks with a security key or certificate to keep financial information secure and private. The last of its top-six tips coinciding with Amazon's Prime Day was Don’t Let Thieves Peek at Your Accounts. Identity "thieves can hack into unsecure wireless networks and see your personal account and charging information," CFA said Friday. "If you use a wireless Internet connection at home, be sure that the security features are turned on and set your own password, rather than the default password."