CTIA President Meredith Baker urged a collaborative approach to develop rules for the Lifeline program, in meetings at the FCC, said a filing in docket 11-42. Baker met with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “CTIA expressed support for the Commission’s goal to evolve the Lifeline program to support broadband services, including mobile wireless broadband, and agreed that the proposed reforms to program administration will help to further improve the effectiveness of Lifeline,” the group said. “However, CTIA expressed significant concern that the minimum standards for mobile wireless services described in the Commission’s recent Lifeline Fact Sheet will have a negative impact on millions of participating low-income consumers later this year when the new rules force a flash cut to unlimited mobile wireless voice minute plans.” Wireless carriers have emerged as leading critics of the Lifeline proposal before commissioners (see 1603170044) and scheduled for a Thursday vote.

Google wants Globalstar to make public the protocols its network operating system uses to authorize spectrum uses by terrestrial low-power service broadband devices in Wi-Fi channel 14 and demonstrate the NOS can exchange information needed for spectrum use in channel 14 with non-TLPS devices without relying on nonpublic protocols or standards, it said in an FCC ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 13-213. It recapped a conversation between Google Communications Law Director Austin Schlick and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's aide, Edward Smith, about Globalstar's TLPS plans. Google said any FCC approval of Globalstar's testing of TLPS in currently unlicensed spectrum should require such testing look at options for general public use of channel 14. In a separate ex parte filing Friday, Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge said again said they could support TLPS use of channel 14, but only if the FCC can guarantee a net benefit to the public, in a meeting with Wireless Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins. The agency should allow reciprocal public use of channel 14 in locations where TLPS isn't deployed and where Globalstar says there's slim risk channel 14 transmissions will interfere with its mobile satellite device customers, said Michael Calabrese, director-Wireless Future Project, OTI, according to the filing. "Globalstar is highly unlikely to deploy immediately on a nationwide basis," OTI and PK said. "In return for the auction-free windfall that Globalstar seeks, unlicensed operations should be able to use Channel 14 on an opportunistic basis, as the Commission has adopted for the 600 MHz band post-incentive auction." Globalstar didn't comment.

The FCC established a pleading cycle on Data-Max Wireless’ proposed sale of a single lower 700 MHz B-block license in Arizona to AT&T. The license covers Mohave County as a single-county market. “The Applicants assert that, as a result of this proposed transaction, AT&T would hold 24 MHz of contiguous, paired Lower 700 MHz spectrum in this CMA [cellular market area], allowing for a 10x10 megahertz LTE deployment,” the FCC said in a notice released Thursday. The deal would give AT&T 55 MHz of below-1-GHz spectrum in CMA Arizona 1-Mohave, the FCC said. Petitions to deny are due April 14, oppositions April 21 and replies April 28. The FCC also sent letters to both companies seeking more information on the transaction, which is standard operating procedure.

ARRL, formally known as the American Radio Relay League, told the FCC there's general support for its January petition proposing to modify the agency’s Part 97 rules to facilitate amateur radio communications using high frequency (HF) data transmission modes and protocols. ARRL said it reviewed the more than 190 comments filed in docket RM-11759. “The Petition enjoys support from a substantial number of licensees, including Extra Class licensees who operate telegraphy, RTTY [radio teletype] and data modes in the RTTY/data sub-band at 80 meters,” ARRL said in the filing. “Those commenters urge, in support of ARRL’s proposal, that additional spectrum is needed for those emissions, now and for the future, especially to encourage expanded use of digital emissions.” “Reasonable minds may differ” about any sub-band reallocation proposal, ARRL said. “Those whose favorite operating modes within the very limited HF allocations might be affected by any such proposal will be influenced by their own self-interest,” the group said. "However, ARRL’s proposal is not fairly viewed as a proposal to take anything away from anyone. It is more properly viewed as the effectuation of a fair, equitable and efficient 'band plan' looking forward for the foreseeable future that balances everyone’s needs.”

New tests by the Korea-based Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute found that LTE-unlicensed and Wi-Fi can peacefully coexist in unlicensed 5 GHz bands, said a blog post Thursday by Patrik Lundqvist, Qualcomm director-technical marketing. “In this over-the-air demonstration, LTE-U co-existence was put to the test in scenarios with a large number of Wi-Fi access points (APs) from Cisco and Wi-Fi stations (STAs) from Samsung, all sharing the same 20 MHz channel in 5 GHz,” Lundqvist wrote. The baseline was made up of 15 Wi-Fi APs, “all on the same channel, where each AP was connected to one user (STA),” he said. “Each STA was at a relatively close distance to its corresponding AP, which means that the signal quality was sufficiently guaranteed.” The tests verified the LTE-U operations didn’t interfere with the Wi-Fi operations, he said. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, said concerns remain. “It is helpful that the Korean institute tested one of several scenarios related to the still open question of whether LTE-U can coexist with Wi-Fi without disrupting the ecosystem nearly every consumer depends on for affordable mobile device connectivity,” he said. But other very different scenarios still must be examined, Calabrese said. “For example, the Koreans apparently assumed users would be close to the Wi-Fi access point,” he said. “Consumers, schools and smart city deployments need to be very worried about the impact on Wi-Fi when users are further away from the access point. If LTE-U does not detect [access points] at a signal level similar to the coexistence protocol in use by Wi-Fi, the coverage areas of deployed Wi-Fi hotspots could be cut in half. In that case, LTE-U would create an unnecessary tragedy of the commons.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Thursday approved a waiver request by Deere allowing the company to install TV white space devices manufactured by Koos on agricultural equipment. Deere requested the waiver last summer (see 1508210035). “Our action here will permit [Koos] to obtain an equipment certification grant for a fixed white space device that will be installed in Deere agricultural machinery, such as tractors, self-propelled harvesting machines, sprayers, etc., to provide a variety of agricultural applications,” the order said. “We find that granting these waivers is in the public interest because they will provide for broadband machine-to-machine (M2M) data communications aimed at increasing crop yields and reducing food production costs, all without causing harmful interference or materially adding to spectrum congestion for other authorized users of this frequency band.” OET said fixed white spaces devices are subject to strict controls: "Such devices must: 1) initially register with a white space database to enter their coordinates and antenna height above ground level, 2) obtain a channel list before operating, and 3) re-check the database at least once daily. If moved to another location or if its stored coordinates are altered, a fixed device must also re-register its new coordinates and antenna height."

The TV incentive auction should end up being bigger than the AWS-3 auction, said Preston Padden, former executive director of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, in a Wednesday blog post. The AWS-3 auction had only 70 qualified bidders, with pricing driven primarily by four bidders -- AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Dish Network, he said. “Based on detailed auction simulations in the FCC record, the 600 MHz auction is likely to include a net of 90 or 100 MHz of paired spectrum -- twice as much as in AWS 3,” he said. “And, demand is greater in this auction. 104 bidders have filed in the 600 MHz auction -- more than the 70 in AWS 3.” Carriers have tried to downplay the value of the spectrum, Padden said. “But just a few weeks ago, Bill Smith, president of AT&T Network Operations, gave a speech in which he candidly admitted the continuing need for more spectrum,” said Padden (see 1602230042). The 600 MHz spectrum is also uniquely valuable, he said. “It travels long distances and goes through walls. Even advanced 5G systems will need low band spectrum for signaling channels.”

“To help our customers connect with loved ones in the wake of the terrible terrorist attacks,” T-Mobile said Tuesday it's offering free calling and texting from the U.S. to Belgium and Turkey following attacks in both places. “I’m speechless,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, in a news release. “Our hearts are with everyone affected by the horrible acts of terrorism.” The offer applies to all T-Mobile Simple Choice postpaid customers and is in effect from Tuesday through Friday for Belgium. It was in effect Saturday through Tuesday for Turkey. “Customers will see regular charges on their bills with corresponding credits,” T-Mobile said.

Panasonic commercialized an encapsulation material with a “high dielectric constant” for fashioning smaller and thinner fingerprint recognition sensors to be embedded in mobile devices, the company said in a Tuesday announcement. Panasonic will start “full-scale mass production” of the material next month, it said. Panasonic sees fingerprint recognition features being embedded in more and more smartphones, it said. Sapphire glass conventionally has been used in the fingerprint contact part of packages for existing capacitive fingerprint recognition sensors due to its high dielectric constant, Panasonic said. But that has “drawbacks,” including the difficulty of making the sensor packages smaller and thinner to fit sleeker smartphone form factors, it said. Sapphire glass-based sensors also require complex “manufacturing processes,” it said. There’s a “booming market” for fingerprint sensors in smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, IHS said in a December report. “Their use in the iPhone 5 in 2013 was followed by adoption by many other OEMs in 2014 and 2015,” IHS said. “These sensors are becoming a standard feature in high-end smart phones, with further growth expected.”

Millennials are the key to future-proofing for BMW and other luxury car brands, BMW North America CEO Ludwig Willisch told the 2016 Automotive Forum in New York Tuesday. But millennials no longer define luxury exclusively by “comfort, features and sporty handling,” he said, seeking technology, connectivity and sustainability. But “technology must be humanized to resonate,” he said. A car packed with the latest technology “means very little to them unless that technology supports their lifestyle,” he said. They also want their world to be “customized for them,” said Willisch of millennials. “None of what they own should be generic or predefined." He cited Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy to make soda cans with different names on them. Millennials also want the products they own to be discovered, “not dictated,” he said. BMW has an alliance with GoPro through an integrated app that allows a driver to use a camera through vehicle controls, Willisch said, an example of meeting millennials on their terms. BMW Connected Drive allows drivers to lock their doors with a smartphone app. BMW is also targeting urban millennial drivers who can’t afford or don’t want to own a BMW at this stage of their lives with mobility solutions through a global effort, Willisch said. That includes a parking app that “takes the hassle out of finding a parking space.” Joe Eberhardt, CEO, Jaguar and Land Rover, said connectivity is a requirement in the luxury market, citing the company’s collaboration with Intel to develop next-gen digital vehicle prototypes that connect the car, mobile devices and the cloud. Connectivity isn’t just a hot button for millennials but is “a requirement in the luxury market” today, he said.