A U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) report found at least some evidence that cellphones cause cancer. NTP researchers subjected male rats to constant, heavy doses of cellphone radiation. The program gathered data on an unprecedented number of rodents subjected to a lifetime of electromagnetic radiation, at much higher does than anyone would get using a cellphone, NTP said. The program released partial results of the $25 million study, which hasn't been completed. Researchers found “low incidences of 12 malignant gliomas in the brain and schwannomas in the heart of male rats” exposed to radiofrequency radiation (RFR), the report said. NTP tested both GSM and CDMA systems used in U.S. wireless networks. “Potentially preneoplastic lesions were also observed in the brain and heart of male rats exposed to RFR,” the report said. Rats in a control group not subject to the radiation didn't develop similar tumors, NTP said. "No biologically significant effects were observed in the brain or heart of female rats,” the report found. NTP said it decided to release partial results because of the importance of the topic. “Given the widespread global usage of mobile communications among users of all ages, even a very small increase in the incidence of disease resulting from exposure to RFR could have broad implications for public health,” NTP said. “There is a high level of public and media interest regarding the safety of cell phone RFR and the specific results of these NTP studies.” CTIA is still reviewing the study, a spokesperson said. "The larger scientific community will consider the partial findings, as well as the complete reports, in the context of the many other scientific studies conducted over several decades," CTIA said. "Numerous international and U.S. organizations, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization, and American Cancer Society, have determined that the already existing body of peer-reviewed and published studies shows that there are no established health effects from radio frequency signals used in cellphones. The evidence includes official federal brain cancer statistics showing that since the introduction of cellphones in the mid-1980s, the rate of brain cancer in the United States has remained stable.” The NTP is a federal interagency group under the National Institutes of Health.

The FCC warned the public in an enforcement advisory Thursday that the billions of electronic devices that transmit radio signals and are in use in the U.S. must follow all laws and rules. “Before a radio transmitter may be used, manufactured, sold, marketed, or imported into the United States, the Commission generally requires that it first receive an equipment authorization based on a determination that the device complies with the Commission’s technical standards, which are designed to minimize harmful interference and ensure compliance with other operational requirements,” the advisory said: Even if a device is authorized “it may not be used indiscriminately. Authorized equipment must be used in a manner that complies with federal law and the Commission’s rules.”

Twilio, a provider of phone and text message services to app developers, may go public. “The future of communications will be written in software, by the developers of the world -- our customers,” the company said in a prospectus filed at the SEC. “By empowering them, our mission is to fuel the future of communications.” Twilio said in a Thursday news release it hasn't decided how many shares it will offer in the IPO. The San Francisco-based company said it plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TWLO.

Sprint is ready to help customers stay connected during hurricane season, which starts Wednesday and runs through Nov. 30, the company said Thursday in a news release. “On the eve of the season, many weather experts are predicting an active tropical storm season with an increase in activity as compared to the past three seasons,” Sprint said. “Sprint’s experienced Emergency Response Team stands ready, having provided voice, broadband data, cellular, and satellite infrastructure for more than 6,100 crisis and special events since 2001.”

When rumors of the Apple Watch “really began to ramp up,” NPD observed “a tremendous surge in awareness” in the smartwatch category, NPD consumer electronics analyst Ben Arnold told a Display Week conference in San Francisco. Smartwatch awareness soon exceeded that of Fitbit devices, even though activity trackers are “the more mature product on the market,” Arnold said. NPD estimates more than twice as many U.S. consumers -- 16 percent vs. 7 percent -- own a Fitbit-like activity tracker than own a smartwatch, he said. There recently has been a “very healthy growth rate” in sales of activity trackers, Arnold said, citing NPD point-of-sale retail data. “There’s a lot of technology categories that would kill for 40-45 percent growth year on year,” he said. “So the idea that the Apple Watch would be a wearables killer, would be a Fitbit killer, if you will, hasn’t really played out in our data." Fitbit, in NPD’s estimations, owns about 80 percent of the activity-tracker market, said the analyst. If any company can give Fitbit a run for its money in the activity-tracker segment, Arnold is placing his bets on Microsoft, he said.

UBS rates T-Mobile as its top pick among the four major wireless carriers, analyst John Hodulik said Thursday in a note to investors. UBS maintains a buy rating on AT&T “given additional cost cutting opportunities associated with the DTV acquisition and potential upside from the bundling strategy.” UBS has a hold rating on Verizon and Sprint. It said the ongoing strike is now expected to have an effect on Verizon’s results. “1Q provided more evidence of low volumes, low churn and record profits. 1Q earnings played out as expected,” Hodulik wrote. “Upgrade rates reached an all-time low, postpaid churn and gross adds continued to fall, and despite sluggish top line performance … profitability and margins reached a record high, topping the prior record set just two quarters ago.”

Tensions are “at an ‘all time’ high," between carriers and tower companies, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said Thursday, reporting on a visit to the PCIA conference earlier in the week. “There was talk that the ‘ask’ from the carriers was for a fixed price on a [radiation] center,” she wrote. “The game of chicken that was going on earlier this year seems alive and well! All tower [companies] acknowledged that yes the carriers want to pay less for their service and are trying to ‘commoditize the infrastructure chain’ in such a way to lower prices.” Much of the talk was about small cells, Fritzsche wrote. "A main takeaway was that while small cells are going to be [a] clear focus for many, they are just a 'tool in the tool box' and should not be considered a threat to the tower model. We still heard a lot of questions about the returns on small cells."

Nokia asked the FCC for special temporary authority to test mobile phones aboard an unmanned aerial vehicle. “The proposed tests will measure radio frequency signal strength of a mobile network by using three AT&T commercial smart phones and a DRT receiver [a device that mimics a cell tower] installed on a drone,” said the STA request. Tests would be done in Kansas, including at the Kansas Speedway, for a three-month period starting in June, Nokia said.

Initial comments are due July 11 at the FCC on the text telephone (TTY) technology to real-time text (RTT) transition, the agency said in Wednesday's Federal Register. Replies are due July 25. The FCC approved an NPRM on the transition at its April 28 meeting (see 1604280055).

Microsoft will spend $200 million in severance payments to “streamline” its smartphone hardware business and eliminate up to 1,850 jobs, the company said in a Wednesday announcement. Up to 1,350 of the jobs cut will be at Microsoft Mobile Oy in Finland, plus up to 500 additional jobs globally, it said. “We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation -- with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same,” CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. “We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms.” The latest action comes a week after Microsoft said it’s selling its feature phone business to Hon Hai/Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile and HMD global Oy for $350 million, which IHS said “highlights Microsoft’s continued failure in mobile” (see 1605180033).