Siemens and Federated Wireless unveiled a partnership Tuesday to develop shared spectrum solutions for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. The partnership will make Siemens one of the first companies to use a spectrum access system and environmental sensing capability being developed by Federated, the companies said in a news release. Both must still be approved by the FCC. “Siemens is dedicated to serving all of its critical infrastructure customer segments by ensuring early compliance with the new FCC CBRS rules,” said Jeremy Bryant, Siemens business segment manager. Siemens already offers broadband products that use the 3.65 GHz band, which are required to transition to the new CBRS rules, the companies said. “During the transition period to the new CBRS rules, existing users will also receive protection from radio frequency interference due to the new users of the band if they register their sites with the CBRS database administrator and secure a protection zone for their grandfathered operations.”

The number of IoT connections in North America hit 250 million in Q1, based on figures from Ovum, 5G Americas said Monday. LTE connections also continued to soar, the group said in a news release. Latin America and the Caribbean were second of all world regions for LTE additions, growing 268 percent year over year, surpassed only by the combined Central and Southern Asia region, the group said. In North America as a whole, there were 253 million LTE connections by March, for a net gain of 67 million LTE customers in the past 12 months, a 36 percent growth rate, the group said. The group also reported 69 commercial LTE networks in the U.S. and Canada and seven LTE-Advanced networks. “Even though 5G has captured the minds of the industry, LTE continues to grow at a tremendous rate,” said Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas. “LTE will be the mobile broadband foundation for 5G as coverage increases and by its continued evolution with new inventive technical features to connect people and machines.”

CTIA strongly opposes the use of contraband phones in correctional facilities and supports “efforts to promote technologies -- from managed access systems to metal detectors -- that will combat this problem with minimal impact to legitimate users,” it said in a filing at the FCC. CTIA and member companies reported on a meeting with staff from the Wireless and Public Safety bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology. They said they "discussed the Commission’s 2013 NPRM, including complex questions raised by the use of cell detection systems as a means of combating the use of contraband cell phones in correctional facilities. The parties discussed the need for a court order to terminate service to a contraband device and providers’ voluntary efforts to control contraband phones through court orders. The parties also addressed the NPRM’s proposal for a Commission rule requiring mandatory termination of service.” The filing was in docket 13-111. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai has raised the issue repeatedly, including at a field hearing in South Carolina in April (see 1604060058). The four national wireless carriers were all represented at the meeting.

The Environmental Health Trust raised concerns about potential health implications of the growing use of wireless devices with and by infants and toddlers. The FCC is “relying on outdated assumptions and outdated models to test phones,” the trust said in a meeting with commission staff, including an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler. “There is growing scientific recognition that the current test systems are fundamentally flawed and do not reflect the current growth in use by infants and toddlers. We urged the FCC to issue a general call for precautions for children consistent with the advice of over a dozen other governments, as experts are recognizing the growing application of wireless transmitting devices to infants and toddlers.” The trust cited the growing popularity of such devices as the iPotty, the iBouncy chair and the iRocking chair as well as the Wi-Fi-connected Barbie. “Currently used smartphones in cardboard virtual reality devices have not been tested for exposure into the young child's brain and eyes and are being used in many school districts around this country despite the lack of safety testing,” the group said. The trust said other countries require that cordless phones and baby monitors be voice activated. In the U.S.. the devices are always on, “sending and receiving microwave radiation 24/7, exposing people unnecessarily to wireless radiation,” the trust said in docket 13-84. Americans' health is of "paramount" importance to CTIA and the wireless industry, emailed a CTIA spokeswoman in response. "Since we are not scientific researchers, we follow the guidance of the experts when it comes to cellphones and health effects. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization, American Cancer Society and numerous other international and U.S. organizations and health experts, the scientific evidence shows no known health risk due to the RF energy emitted by cellphones. As the FDA states on its website, 'The weight of scientific evidence has not linked cellphones with any health problems.'" The FCC has determined that all mobile phones legally sold in the U.S. are safe, the spokeswoman said. "The FCC monitors scientific research on a regular basis, and its standard for RF exposure is based on recommended guidelines adopted by U.S. and international standard-setting bodies.”

IHS erred in its forecast that nearly 21 million autonomous vehicles will be sold globally by 2035 (see 1606080048), the firm said in a Thursday clarification. IHS sees 76 million autonomous vehicles being sold globally through 2035, including 21 million alone in 2035, the clarification said. IHS expects global sales will reach nearly 600,000 units in 2025 and rise at a 43 percent compound annual growth rate in the decade that follows, it said.

The 5.8 GHz band, heavily used for Wi-Fi and especially by wireless ISPs, remains a highly contentious band two years after the FCC tried to harmonize rules, said Fletcher Heald lawyer Mitchell Lazarus in a Thursday blog post. The band was subject to two sets of rules, combined in 2014, he said: “The new rule mostly retained the more stringent provisions of each predecessor, including the stricter U-NII out-of-band emissions limits. Done, the FCC dusted off its hands and turned to its next task. Not so fast. In came a boxload of petitions for reconsideration. … Four of the petitioners, including WISPs, objected that the newly adopted out-of-band emissions limits were too low. In principle one can design a device for any out-of-band limit, but more stringent limits drive up the cost and weight, and may impair performance.” The FCC is still taking comments with more decisions to be made, he said.

The International Trade Commission is investigating Apple and AT&T alleged patent infringements by importing smartphones and laptops that include haptics technologies, as requested by Immersion, the ITC said in a news release last week. Immersion's complaint earlier this year alleged Apple and AT&T are importing and selling iPhone 6s, MacBook and MacBook Pro devices that include infringing technology, which allows users to feel a vibrating force or resistance based on different user interactions with the device. The ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against Apple and AT&T Mobility. Those companies had no comment Friday.

Word on the street at the recent Public Safety Communications Research Lab meeting was that at least three companies bid for the FirstNet contract, and possibly as many as five, public safety consultant Andrew Seybold said in an email blast Friday. Rivada has been very public as a bidder on the request for proposals, Seybold wrote (see 1606070037). “There was a lot of speculation about who the bidders are,” he said. “Unless more of them issue press releases there is really no way to verify who bid and who did not. The rumored suspects discussed both during the PSCR event and each evening at the parties included AT&T, Verizon, perhaps with Motorola and Ericsson, Pacific Data Vision (Morgan O’Brien’s company) along with Motorola and Ericsson, and perhaps to round things out a company such as Northrup-Grumman or even Booz-Allen Hamilton.” Nothing in the rules prevents a company from participating in different bids, Seybold noted.

The FCC needs to address questions about wireless facility siting and tribes that were raised in a May petition by PTA-FLA, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance said in a filing Friday. PTA-FLA, a Jacksonville Beach, Florida-based carrier, said wireless companies' repeated notifications to tribes, often when there's no possible impairment to an Indian site, can add months to the siting process. “It should be possible to strike an appropriate balance between the entirely legitimate interests of Tribal Nations in protecting locations of meaningful historic significance to them and the public interest in facilitating deployment of antenna facilities that are used in delivering public safety, public service, broadband and other wireless communications,” EWA said. “The changes proposed in the Petition may not achieve that optimal balance, but the issues raised are substantive and should be addressed.” The filing was posted in docket 15-80.

Lenovo unveiled the first consumer smartphone with Google’s Tango augmented reality technology, at Tech World 2016 Thursday. Lowe’s will sell the Tango-enabled Lenovo Phab2 Pro, the companies said. Dolby Audio 5.1 Capture technology will debut in the Phab2 Pro, enabling users to record in surround sound, said Lenovo. The Moto Z and Moto Z Force smartphones, in an all-metal design, have low-light camera performance, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor and Moto TurboPower charging. The Moto Z is said to be the thinnest premium smartphone. Lenovo also demo'd concept technologies: flexible screens and components, as well as smart footwear technology, with wireless charging, based on Intel’s Curie module. Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang cited the company’s three pillars of future technology: device innovation, device plus cloud connectivity and infrastructure. He said that interconnected devices will allow “rich interactions” such as a “seamlessly linked smart home with custom environment and entertainment options."