Filings are now due June 2 on an NTIA request for comments on the technological and policy landscape of the IoT, said a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. The original deadline was May 23. The action was "in response to requests for additional time in which to comment,” NTIA said. In April, the agency asked for comment on the government's role in encouraging the growth of the IoT (see 1604060030).

Nex-Tech Wireless, a small wireless carrier in rural Kansas, asked the FCC to cut it a break after it made a mistake on a form carriers use to report revenue subject to the USF. “For the first time since it began filing Form 499, NTW made a clerical error on its Form 499-Q due February 1, 2016, resulting in a large overstatement of its projected interstate revenues for the second quarter of 2016,” NTW said. NTW said it didn't learn of the error until it received an invoice April 22. As a result, the company missed the 45-day deadline for revising the filing, it said. “As a result, the charges on its April 22 invoice were nearly three times what they should have been,” NTW said. Dollar figures were redacted in the public version of the FCC filing. NTW asked for a waiver of the 45-day deadline and a break on interest and penalties as a result of the mistake.

The Verizon strike could reduce the carrier’s wireless spending this year, Evercore ISI analysts said Tuesday. “Our most recent channel checks indicate a growing concern that the strike from VZ’s wireline unions -- which is drawing away resources from even the company’s wireless operations -- may also be impacting the pace at which the nation’s largest carrier is able to deploy capital,” Evercore said in a note to investors on the company, which trades under the VZ stock symbol. “Coupled with an already muted carrier spending environment, this may add some additional headwinds to near-term tower sector growth -- leaving us still cautious on the group (though, longer-term, we remain bullish). … While VZ’s spending slowdown might not be felt immediately, it could impact tower [revenue] for the remainder of the year.” The strike at Verizon's landline operations of about 40,000 union workers has lasted almost a month (see 1605050047).

The FCC is seeking comment on a petition by a group of multichannel video distribution and data service (MVDDS) licensees who want 5G deployments in the spectrum, while protecting DBS operations. The FCC released a notice Monday seeking comment on the 12.2-12.7 GHz band. The FCC didn’t set a comment deadline. “By promptly placing the petition out for comment, the FCC has once again demonstrated its commitment to prompt regulatory action to ensure that the U.S. will lead the world in 5G,” said a spokesman for the MVDDS 5G Coalition. “Consumers and competition will be the real winners when the FCC updates the rules for MVDDS to unlock this band's potential for advanced wireless services that successfully coexist with DBS.” The Computer and Communications Industry Association also supports the petition, the group said in a news release. “The FCC should update its rules and remove the current unnecessarily restrictive, technical and operational limitations,” said CCIA President Ed Black. “The FCC has an opportunity to facilitate the sharing of this spectrum -- which would further promote flexibility and 5G deployment. This would free up more spectrum that would be ideal for 5G.”

One in 10 smartphones shipped worldwide this year will include wireless charging capability, said an IHS report Monday. The global wireless charging transmitter market more than doubled in 2015 to 53 million transmitter shipments, said the report, while 2.8 billion wireless charging transmitters and receivers are forecast to ship in 2025. Apple Watch contributed significantly to the more than 23 million wearable-device transmitters shipped in 2015, said analyst Vicky Yussuff. Samsung heavily promoted wireless charging transmitters in the Galaxy S6 last year, offering two-for-one and free transmitters for consumers who signed up for Samsung Pay, a strategy it carried over to the Galaxy S7 smartphone earlier this year.

Mobile device users installed nearly 156 billion mobile apps worldwide in 2015, generating $34.2 billion in direct, non-advertising revenue for their developers and marketers, IDC said in a Monday report. The research firm predicts more than 210 billion apps will be installed in 2020, generating nearly $57 billion in direct revenue. Though IDC sees the apps market continuing to grow through the end of the decade, the rate of growth will slow in terms of total installations and the revenue they generate, it said. “This trend, which is largely driven by market maturation, will see annual install growth fall into the single digits over the second half of the forecast.” Mobile app installation volumes will still experience a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3 percent, it said. “Direct revenue from mobile applications will also experience slower growth by the end of the forecast period,” though the five-year CAGR will remain in the double digits at 10.6 percent, it said. Apple's App Store "ecosystem" captured nearly 58 percent of global direct app revenue in 2015, an increase of 36 percent year over year, it said. But Apple's share of global app installation volume was only 15 percent, down nearly 8 percent year over year, it said. “The sheer volume of Android-based devices in use ensures a greater overall number of installs through Google Play,” which captured about 60 percent of install volume and nearly 36 percent of direct revenue in 2015, it said: “Although Google Play enjoyed solid year-over-year growth in both downloads and direct revenues, the gains were somewhat lower than in previous years.”

Sprint added shared wireless plans for business customers, the company said in a news release Monday. The lowest tier Business Share More plan includes 20 GB to share among 10 business lines, while the highest provides 500 GB to share among an unlimited number of lines. The plans support Sprint’s LTE Plus network and include unlimited talk and text. Devices can be leased, bought with 24 monthly installments or discounted with a two-year contract.

Shentel said it completed its acquisition of nTelos Wireless, a carrier serving parts of Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. “Shentel will accelerate network upgrades in the current nTelos region throughout this year and next, which will give customers more coverage in more places, stronger signals and faster downloads," said Christopher French, Shentel CEO, in a Monday news release. Shentel committed to spend $350 million “as part of the expansion of the network and plan to add hundreds of additional coverage sites to provide an enhanced and more complete network for our customers,” French said. The companies announced the deal in August (see 1508100063) and it was approved by the FCC in April (see 1604150046).

Two major automaker groups asked the FCC to rethink parts of its March order relaxing the out-of-band emission (OOBE) limits for the operation of U-NII-3 (5.725-5.85 GHz) band devices (see 1603020064). The Association of Global Automakers and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers filed the joint recon petition, warning of interference to dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) systems aimed at preventing accidents on the road. The higher limits would increase “by an unacceptable factor of 7,038” the level of OOBE that can occur in the 5.9 GHz band, the automakers said. “The public, as well as the members of the Global Automakers and the Alliance, will be severely harmed by the FCC’s decision,” the groups said. In the order, the FCC “decided to make accommodations in the U-NII-3 rules for all manufacturers of U-NII-3 equipment, stating that its rule changes ‘will still provide a level of interference protection to adjacent band services,’” the petition said. “However, this ‘level’ of interference protection was not evaluated or examined at all with regard to adjacent band DSRC operations, thereby undermining the automotive industry’s multi-year and multi-million dollar investment.” The petition was posted Monday in docket 13-49. Wi-Fi proponents hailed the higher emissions limits when the order was released.

Consumers are the winners when carriers launch zero-rated data services, said CTIA President Meredith Baker Friday on Medium. Baker cited T-Mobile’s Binge On and Verizon’s FreeBee services, both of which the FCC is reviewing as possibly violating 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1601280056). “What all free data services have in common is simple: Consumers can save money and enjoy their wireless experience even more,” Baker wrote. “While wireless consumers are clear winners with free data services, Internet startups and small content companies benefit too. A recent Harris Poll survey found that 84 percent of consumers would consider using new apps and content that are included in these types of offerings.”