Global smartphone sales jumped 3.9 percent in Q1 to 349 million units despite Apple’s first-ever double-digit iPhone sales decline, Gartner said in a Thursday report. Apple’s iPhone sales declined 14 percent in the quarter, it said. Demand for low-cost smartphones in emerging markets and for affordable 4G smartphones drove much of the industry’s Q1 sales growth, the research firm said. “In a slowing smartphone market where large vendors are experiencing growth saturation, emerging brands are disrupting existing brands' long-standing business models to increase their share," it said. "With such changing smartphone market dynamics, Chinese brands are emerging as the new top global brands.” Samsung widened its market-share lead by more than two percentage points over Apple from a year earlier to 23.2 percent vs. 14.8 percent, but both brands lost share from a year earlier, Gartner said. Android increased its share over iOS to 84.1 percent vs. 14.8 percent (compared with 78.8 percent vs. 17.9 percent a year earlier), it said. But despite Android’s “advancements and its dominant market share, the challenges of profitability remain for a number of Android players,” Gartner said. “This will have an impact on the vendor landscape where new or more innovative business models will increasingly become key to succeed."

The Competitive Carriers Association laid out the group’s regulatory agenda in a meeting with aides to FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, said a filing in 10-208 and other dockets. “CCA discussed access to additional spectrum resources, including reallocating more spectrum for mobile broadband use,” the filing said. “Regarding the ongoing incentive auction, CCA emphasized the importance of gaining access to spectrum purchased, while simultaneously ensuring a safe and expeditious repacking plan.”

New America Wireless Future Project Director Michael Calabrese agrees with Well Fargo’s skepticism about likely bidding in the FCC incentive auction (see 1605180039). “The Wells Fargo analysis is not surprising, particularly with respect to the limited appetite of Verizon and AT&T for more expensive TV spectrum,” Calabrese emailed. “Together they already hold 80 percent of all low-band coverage spectrum. And one of them will gain access to public safety’s allocation. We expect the two largest carriers to focus their energies and investment dollars on the far less expensive, higher-frequency spectrum, at 3.5 GHz, 28 GHz and even higher up, which they can use in targeted urban areas to expand capacity, not coverage.” Calabrese is a member of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee. Some others had doubted the analyst report.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a request by the U.S. Coast Guard that passenger-carrying vessels required to carry VHF radiotelephone equipment with digital selective calling (DSC) capability be permitted to carry Class D VHF-DSC radios instead of Class A equipment. “Under Commission’s rules, only Class A VHF-DSC equipment, which is intended for large, ocean-going ships to meet the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) requirements, meets the VHF-DSC carriage requirement,” the bureau said. “Also available, however, is Class D equipment, which is less costly and provides minimum facilities for VHF DSC distress, urgency, and safety, as well as routing calling and reception.” The Coast Guard maintains that both Class A and Class D radios “are sufficient … and provide an equivalent level of safety, because both share the same basic capabilities to instantly send distress alerts and to initiate or receive radiotelephone calls,” the notice said. Comments are due June 20, replies July 5.

Squan, a telecom infrastructure service provider, said Wednesday it's acquiring the assets of Strong Tower Communications. Strong offers wireless macro services including new site builds, fiber delivery and testing, maintenance and program management to wireless operators, Squan said in a news release. “SQUAN has had a long-standing relationship with Strong,” said Squan CEO Leighton Carroll. “We respect both their leadership and their team’s ability to cover the Southeast and deliver with quality. This acquisition allows us to strengthen our capabilities, building upon our recent acquisition of Osmose Communications Services.” Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Cisco emphasized in a presentation to the FCC the importance of transmission of a dispatchable location for wireless 911 calls made from indoors. Cisco said a building owner must be involved in determining the dispatchable location. Outdoor location technologies don’t work well indoors, Cisco said. For example, the Cisco Washington office is at 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, North Building, Suite 900, the company said. But a call to 911 would be identified as coming from 98 53.599; N 0.216 W, elevation 35 meters, Cisco said. Cisco said it provided the information to David Furth, deputy chief of the FCC Public Safety Bureau. The filing was in docket 07-114.

Fitbit and the Center for Democracy and Technology released a report providing guidance to help other wearable manufacturers develop privacy practices for user data and ethical internal research and development procedures. CDT Deputy Director-Privacy and Data Michelle De Mooy, the report's co-author, said in a Wednesday news release that the data produced through wearable devices usually fall "outside of existing health privacy laws." While some companies such as Fitbit provide "clear and comprehensive privacy policies" in response to user concerns about data use and sharing, the report said "there is a dearth of guidance ... on appropriate and effective ways to protect consumers' health data." The report said sales of wearables are expected to grow to 172 million units in 2018, from 29 million units in 2014. Among the recommendations, the report says companies should preserve the "dignity" for both employees who offer personal data for experiments and users whose data are used throughout the R&D process. It also said companies should build "a culture of data stewardship" to help implement and sustain "privacy-aware and ethical internal research practices."

The FCC needs to carve out an exception to Section 15.201 of its rules for unlicensed wireless microphones “in light of the unique applications of microphones compared to other types of devices for which the rule was created,” Sennheiser said in a filing at the FCC. The wireless mic maker reported on a meeting with officials from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. The FCC approved new rules for wireless mics last August tied to the TV incentive auction and 600 MHz band repacking (see 1508060050). “Sennheiser discussed possible scenarios for modifying existing equipment to ensure operations would meet the new rules, and the equipment certification implications, using the clearing target band plan as an example,” Sennheiser said. The company said professional productions require interference protection from white space devices. “A pathway for this needs to exist for legitimate performing arts companies that do not meet the 50 microphone threshold for licensed operation,” it said. Sennheiser also said it proposed alternate frequencies in the 169-172 MHz band that could be used for wireless mics. "With regard to the 1.4 GHz band, Sennheiser noted that the 30 MHz spectrum limit was unexpected and not needed." the company said. "Use is limited to specific licensees and circumstances, and the frequency coordinator is well-situated to determine whether the number of channels requested by [a] licensee is necessary and appropriate." The filing was posted Wednesday in docket 12-268.

The FCC’s probe of zero rating is being watched across the world, and the agency should make clear that zero-rated practices are permissable, the Free State Foundation said in a Wednesday blog post. “Current FCC ‘fact-finding’ investigations concerning the lawfulness of certain zero-rated services are raising the specter of potential U.S. regulation, even though the FCC has refused to adopt a blanket prohibition of such services and the FCC Chairman previously praised T-Mobile's Binge On,” the group said. “Even the pendency of this ‘fact-finding’ mission creates unwelcome speculation domestically and internationally concerning harmful regulatory intervention, particularly since these inquiries tend to remain open for months if not years.” Other countries have started to prohibit zero-rated programs, including India’s "unfortunate" clamp down on Facebook's Free Basics program “that was designed to expand Internet usage in the country, which presently has a broadband penetration rate of only 22 percent of the population,” FSF said. “Because of U.S. influence abroad regarding telecom policy matters, the U.S. government must be doubly cautious before intervening with regulatory restraints that adversely impact the Internet subscribership and infrastructure deployment. … It is time for the U.S. government to lead by getting out of the way of a form of Internet innovation that benefits consumers, most certainly including low-income consumers.” FSF President Randolph May and Visiting Fellow Gregory Vogt wrote the post.

T-Mobile added more networks to its zero-rated Binge On service, the carrier said Tuesday. NBC, Univision and Qello Concerts are among the content providers now offered as part of Binge On, T-Mobile said in a news release. T-Mobile also added more providers to Music Freedom, its streaming music offering. “In the six months since we launched Binge On, the number of video providers streaming free without using your data has grown more than 240 percent,” CEO John Legere said. “We’ve got something for everyone, and customers never have to worry about getting slammed with ridiculous overage penalties.” T-Mobile customers have streamed more than 377 million hours of video on Binge On since the service started, T-Mobile said.