Movado will debut smartwatches this holiday selling season under its various licensed brands including Coach, Hugo Boss, Juicy Couture, Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger, President Ricardo Quintero said on a Thursday earnings call. “We are encouraged by consumer interest in the smartwatch.” CEO Efraim Grinberg said the company's licensed-brand watches “have a hidden screen, so when you receive notifications, you can actually read the notification." The hidden screen "pops up, then disappears," he said.

Sprint said it reached peak speeds of 275 Mbps in lab tests using the LG G5, an early handset capable of three-channel carrier aggregation. The carrier said it independently is testing three-channel carrier aggregation as it prepares for its LTE Plus network deployment. “Carrier aggregation is an LTE-Advanced feature that bonds together bands of spectrum to create wider channels and produce more capacity and faster speeds on capable devices,” Sprint said in a Thursday news release. “Essentially it creates a wider lane that allows more data traffic to travel at higher rates.” Sprint said it already offers 22 devices that support two-channel carrier aggregation, with peak speeds of more than 100 Mbps. Six devices it offers are three-channel carrier aggregation capable, Sprint said.

Lifeline wireless providers plugged their petition for FCC reconsideration and clarification of its order overhauling the USF low-income subsidy program. The commission March 31 approved extending Lifeline funding to broadband service while phasing out stand-alone voice support, shifting the duty to oversee consumer eligibility from carriers to a national verifier, and creating a process for designating national Lifeline broadband providers supplementing the current state-by-state eligible telecom carrier (ETC) process (see 1603310056). The Joint Lifeline ETC Petitioners said they looked forward to offering broadband Lifeline service and working with regulators on ways to improve the enrollment process both before and after a national verifier is implemented, in a filing posted Thursday in docket 11-42 by American Broadband & Telecommunications, Blue Jay Wireless, i-wireless, Telrite, Assist Wireless, Easy Wireless, Prepaid Wireless Group and TruConnect. They said the Joint ETCs also are asking the commission to: "modify a minimum service standard formula and adopt a more graduated phase-in" of broadband requirements; complete a Lifeline market report before ending support for stand-alone voice service, given the "continuing value of voice service"; ensure the national verifier can engage in real-time eligibility determinations; and extend streamlined 60-day consideration to all ETC petitions. It opposed some calls of other petitioners, including to ban in-person handset distribution and incentive-based compensation, and to lift a "12-month benefit port freeze for broadband plans."

The FCC teed up Global Reconnect's planned buy of TerraCom, a wireless and wireline telecom carrier that serves low-income persons with funding support from the Lifeline USF program. Comments are due Sept. 7 and replies Sept. 14, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 16-268.

NTIA extended the comment period until Sept. 7 on preliminary guidance about the grant process for alternative plans by states opting out of FirstNet, said a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. July 19, NTIA sought comment on preliminary guidance about how an opt-out state may apply for authority to enter into a spectrum capacity lease with FirstNet and receive a grant to construct its radio access network (see 1607180052). Comments were initially due Aug. 18.

The FCC is examining AT&T’s proposed buy of a single lower 700 MHz C-block license from North Dakota Network, said documents the agency posted Wednesday. The license covers cellular market area 581, around Bottineau, North Dakota. “The Applicants assert that, as a result of this proposed transaction, AT&T would hold 24 megahertz of contiguous, paired Lower 700 MHz spectrum in the six counties involved in this transaction, which would allow for a 10×10 megahertz LTE deployment,” a public notice said. AT&T would hold 125-145 MHz of spectrum in total, including 55 MHz of below-1-GHz spectrum, in the six counties, requiring enhanced scrutiny under agency rules, the PN said. It established a pleading cycle: Petitions to deny are due Sept. 14, oppositions Sept. 21, replies Sept. 28.

Smart audio hardware revenue will jump from $1.4 billion this year to more than $5.5 billion by 2020, said a Juniper Research report. Amazon Echo and Google Home devices are projected to lead. Smartphones provide similar functions through accessories, limiting the need for separate and portable digital assistant devices, the researcher said Tuesday.

“Significant work” will be required “to marry the appeal of a unified early 5G standard with the longer term need to support diverse market requirements,” Strategy Analytics said in a Tuesday report. The research firm predicts 5G commercial handset sales will begin in 2020 and exceed 300 million by 2025. “The first commercial 5G handsets will appear in small numbers in 2020 in South Korea and Japan,” and additional markets, including the U.S., U.K., Sweden and China, will launch them a year later, the firm said. “By 2022 tens of millions of 5G handsets will be sold, and as a proportion of total handset sales will reach low single digit percentages.” The first “trial” 5G handsets in 2018 will have “teething problems,” such as short battery life and unstable connectivity, but “these issues will be largely resolved” by 2020, “though the first commercial 5G handsets will likely come with very high price tags,” it said.

Text messaging “remains a trusted … communications medium because text messaging providers, including carriers, have actively managed their platforms to protect consumers from spam or nuisance messages,” CTIA officials said in a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau staff. The CTIA officials discussed the efforts of the group’s Messaging Working Group (MWG) to develop guidelines and best practices enabling consumers and businesses “to exchange messages with other consumers and enterprises, while investing all messaging stakeholders with the responsibility to protect consumers from unwanted or harmful traffic,” the filing said. “CTIA described the MWG’s progress in crafting safeguards to protect against spam, including efforts to develop mechanisms for blocking abusive or unwanted messages, consumer reporting, communication among service providers, and identifying repeat spam offenders.” Tom Power, CTIA general counsel, was among attendees. The filing was posted in docket 08-7.

The government should avoid one-size-fits-all rules and a “compliance mindset” on mobile security, CTIA said in a Department of Homeland Security filing. The group responded to a request for information from DHS and the Enterprise Mobility Program at the General Services Administration. “Security is a top industry priority,” CTIA said. “Industry is making significant investments, and the entire ecosystem works tirelessly to innovate and advance security.” As 5G and the IoT take off, “new approaches will emerge as industry aggressively innovates for security,” the association said. “Technology must advance at a very rapid pace … to address threats. Security needs often outpace standards bodies, as companies must monitor, protect, diagnose, and fight potential cyberattacks in real time.” CTIA said “flexibility and vigilance” are vital in a “changing threat landscape.”