The foldable phone, a design Samsung previewed last week (see 1811070058), could disrupt the stagnating smartphone industry, or be a “solution looking for a problem,” wrote IHS' Wayne Lam in a Monday research note: Samsung needs developers to help launch the category with a “killer application” that motivates consumers to switch. Larger screens, longer aspect ratios and shrinking bezels made smartphones better, but as designs converge, "subsequent design innovations also begin to stagnate,” Lam said. The foldable design is the “logical next step” for more immersive experiences, he said: Google’s backing is important. Though consumers show a willingness to pay higher smartphone prices, don't "assume that the price elasticity of smartphones can be stretched into price ranges that overlap with tablets, mobile PCs and other products,” he said. China’s Royole last month unveiled the first-ever foldable-screen smartphone, IHS said.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services sought FCC waiver to test the wireless emergency alert system to transmit early earthquake warnings, scheduled for Dec. 11. The application was posted Tuesday in docket 15-91. “There is up to a 99 percent probability that a magnitude 6.7 or higher earthquake will occur within the state anytime within the next 30 years,” the state said. “Without this waiver, critical live testing cannot be conducted to evaluate the current capability and future feasibility of end-to-end earthquake early warning transmissions over WEA.” The state said the test's text will read: "TEST of the ShakeAlert CA Earthquake Warning System. No action required. THIS IS A TEST."

The FCC's first auction of high-band spectrum starts Wednesday, with the sale of 28 GHz frequencies. The agency will provide results of each round shortly after they are complete through a portal on its website, an official told reporters Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The results will be reported using the system employed during the TV incentive auction and in two auctions since. The FCC will sell two 425-MHz blocks, “ideal for 5G,” the official said. The first two rounds run 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m. Thursday, the FCC will move to three bidding rounds. The FCC isn’t sure how long the auction will take, the official said: “That will largely depend on the bidders and how they structure their bidding activity and the level of interest.” With 40 qualified bidders, there should be “a good amount of bidding activity,” the official said.

Banning certification, manufacture and sale of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitter beacons on aircraft should help speed the transition to 406 MHz ELTs, the FCC said in a commissioner-approved order Friday. It said there shouldn't be new models of 121.5 MHz ELTs to certify anyway since the FAA in 2012 precluded approval of new models. It said the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system in 2010 began limiting ELT tracking to types operating primarily at 406 MHz. It said banning manufacture, import and sale of such ELTs starting six months after the effective date of the order is needed to manage spectrum available for private mobile service and to ensure its efficient use for safety communications.

Local governments should prepare for the FCC wireless infrastructure order taking effect Jan. 14, CTC Technology blogged Friday. Though the September order faces lawsuits at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 1811060046), municipalities should “promptly undertake a robust technical analysis to ensure that you have in place technical standards and requirements to protect your rights-of-way, light poles, utility poles, and other property to the greatest degree possible,” it said. “You will be better served to have clear, structured, and complete written standards, even if informality may have worked in the past.” Strategies are: develop standards for attachments, conduct a legal review, write attachment agreements, publish a manual, make detailed application forms, make the application process electronic, analyze time and resources needed, do cost studies, develop plan for reserving space on assets for public use, and publish aesthetic standards.

Wireless Communications Association representatives met an aide to FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and with Wireless Bureau staff to urge the FCC to adopt the group's proposed approach on 2.5 GHz educational broadband service spectrum. WCA wants the FCC to “rationalize” existing EBS geographic service areas to the country boundary, open eligibility in the band to commercial licensees and then auction remaining EBS white spaces. “Unlike alternative proposals, this approach is most likely to result in auctioning of the EBS white space without the years of delay that otherwise would be required to identify the specific spectrum available at auction,” the group said. WCA opposes an incentive auction, here and here, posted in docket 18-120 Thursday. Voqal and the North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation also held a series of meetings on EBS. They “explained how the Commission can best achieve its goal of intensive use of EBS spectrum while promoting both rural deployment and educational use by modernizing, but retaining, its educational eligibility and usage rules, and automatically rationalizing existing license areas along county lines for all licensees.” They met with aides to the commissioners, except O'Rielly, and Wireless Bureau staff.

In the past 18 months, T-Mobile blocked more than a billion scam calls and will become the first carrier to implement Shaken (Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs) and Stir (Secure Telephone Identify Revisited), it announced Thursday. "T-Mobile customers will get less of these annoying calls than other wireless customers." The FCC earlier this week asked carriers to do more (see 1811060042).

5G Americas sees importance of ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) networks in the 5G era. URLLC will enable applications including factory automation, autonomous driving, the industrial internet and smart grid, Thursday's report said. “Mission-critical applications have stringent communication performance and reliability requirements,” said President Chris Pearson. "Low latency is seen as a crucial ingredient with URLLC as a key enabler."

Healthcare groups want the FCC to modify its Telephone Consumer Protection Act ruling, clarifying provision of a phone number to a “covered entity” or “business associate,” as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, constitutes prior express consent for nontelemarketing calls. Healthcare groups sought clarity two years ago (see 1608220016). Representatives of the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management, Winning Strategies Washington, Anthem and WellCare Health Plans met an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 02-278. The petition “enjoys widespread support among healthcare stakeholders and bipartisan support from members of the House and Senate,” the filing said. "The breadth and depth of support for the Joint Petition is hardly surprising. The communications at stake include, for example, onboarding, wellness, informational, and follow-up and calls and texts."

“Priority No. 1” at Qualcomm is to “drive the transition to 5G,” said CEO Steve Mollenkopf on a Wednesday earnings call. “When the world is introduced to 5G early next year, we believe we will be the technology partner in nearly all the commercial launches around the world.” The pace of 5G adoption will “meet or exceed that of 4G,” said Mollenkopf. The company is working with at least 18 smartphone OEMs globally that have committed to launch handsets in 2019 embedded with Qualcomm 5G modems, he said. Qualcomm also secured “the world's first major 5G design win” with a top automaker, “and we are working with numerous other automakers and Tier 1 suppliers to bring 5G to vehicles,” he said.