The U.S. has to move forward if it wants to continue its mobile dominance, Mobile Future said in a report released Tuesday, with CTIA about to get underway in Las Vegas. Europe “has initiated a 5G public-private partnership aimed at leading the world in this next wireless frontier,” the paper said. “South Korea plans to launch a 5G trial network when it hosts the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, and Japan aims to follow suit at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. China, too, has established an interagency ‘promotion group’ to coordinate 5G activities among industry and academia.” While 5G networks are unlikely to be deployed before the end of the decade, “the global race to lead the world in this next wireless frontier is already well underway,” Mobile Future said. “Smarter wireless policy is more vital than ever.” The paper was written by Jim Kohlenberger, president of JK Strategies and a former White House technology official.

U.S. Cellular will begin selling the 9.7-inch black Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 online and in stores on Sept. 11 for $0 down with the carrier’s installment pricing. Under the plan, the 24 payments of $27.50 are added to the monthly bill, U.S. Cellular said. The S2 has a Super AMOLED display, octa-core processor and 128 GB storage capability via SD card, said the carrier.

Among products Harman unveiled for cars is an in-vehicle portable communication and entertainment system that allows users to make hands-free phone calls, listen to music and hear navigation voice prompts, the company's JBL brand said Thursday. Trip is the first of a new line of car accessories from JBL addressing demand for additional audio capabilities to manage different content types, the company said. Trip, designed to clip to a car visor, has built-in noise cancellation to facilitate voice control. Via Bluetooth, drivers can hear navigation prompts from a smartphone and advanced driver assistance system alerts from iOnRoad, and listen to music and have hands-free conversations, JBL said. It said voice control works with Apple's Siri or Google Speech.

Apple held a dominant lead in U.S. smartphone market share for the three months ending in July, a report from comScore said Thursday. Apple gained a percentage point from the April period, moving to 44.2 percent, while second-place Samsung slipped a point to 27.3 percent share. Third-place LG held virtually steady with 8.7 percent share, as did fourth-place Motorola at 4.9 percent, comScore said. HTC rounded out the top five with 3.5 percent of U.S. subscribers, it said. Android was the top smartphone platform in July with 51.4 percent market share, followed by Apple with 44.2 percent, Microsoft with 2.9 percent, BlackBerry with 1.3 percent and Symbian with 0.1 percent, it said. The top five apps were Facebook, Facebook Messenger, YouTube, Google Search and Google Play, it said.

T-Mobile said subscribers with some handsets will be able to make video calls without having to use an additional app, under a new offering. “T-Mobile Video Calling couldn’t be simpler to use,” Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray said in a blog post Thursday. “On devices with T-Mobile Video Calling, small camera icons appear next to contacts with devices able to receive video calls. If the person you’re calling can’t take video calls, the video call icon is greyed out. We’re working with others so you can eventually enjoy built-in video calling across wireless networks.” Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ and Samsung Galaxy Note 5 have T-Mobile Video Calling available through software updates, while the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge updates will be available next week, Ray said. To make a video call, the user must be on an LTE network, T-Mobile said. Calls can be made over Wi-Fi or using data from a subscriber’s monthly data bucket.

Comments on wireless Lifeline reconsideration petitions are due Sept. 17, replies Sept. 28, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday in docket 11-42. The bureau said a notice published in the Federal Register had incorrectly stated the deadline for replies. The FCC approved an order in June making targeted Lifeline USF revisions while seeking comment on proposals for broader changes. CTIA's petition asked the commission to reconsider declarations about the scope of its authority under Section 222(a) and Section 201(b) of the Communications Act (see 1508130048).

The Small UAV Coalition emphasized the importance of allocating spectrum to unmanned aerial vehicles, said comments filed at the FCC in docket 15-99, focusing on recommendations for the upcoming World Radiocommunications Conference. “The unmanned aerial systems market, particularly the small unmanned aerial vehicle market, is growing exponentially in the United States and globally, with new innovations for small UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] occurring at a pace that is challenging the United States legal and regulatory system,” the group said. “The global market for non-military UAS already has expanded into a $2.5 billion industry that is growing 15 percent to 20 percent annually.” It's important that the FCC “work with industry, the FAA, and others to plan for sufficient spectrum to support the myriad communications functions that are necessary for low-altitude small UAS operations,” the group said.

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council is collecting and posting on its website comments that were made public on FirstNet’s draft request for proposal (RFP), NPSTC said Wednesday. FirstNet officials promised last week a final RFP will be released later this year (see 1508270049).

More wireless carriers weighed in on Lifeline reform in comments posted by the FCC (see 1509010073) in docket 10-90 Wednesday. Sprint urged the FCC to use a light hand in imposing new regulations as it moves toward new Lifeline rules. “The Lifeline market -- particularly for wireless Lifeline services -- is robustly competitive, with wireless service offers improving significantly and steadily over the past several years even in the face of higher regulatory compliance costs, higher risk, and higher churn,” Sprint said. While the voice-only support amount should remain at $9.25 monthly per line, a $9.25 subsidy for broadband service, with no subsidy for a broadband device, “will be too low to generate a meaningful increase in broadband subscription by Lifeline customers,” Sprint said. Proposals to cap the Lifeline program are “premature” and should be abandoned by the commission, the carrier said. The FCC also “should decline to adopt any proposal to recover program administration costs exclusively from Lifeline service providers,” Sprint said. “As is the case for every other federal Universal Service program, all Lifeline program costs should be recovered through the general USF contribution factor assessed on all contributors.” A group of wireless eligible telecom carriers, each with fewer than 2,000 Lifeline customers, urged the FCC to cut red tape in the program. “Lifeline providers currently face significant regulatory compliance burdens, including monthly reporting (FCC Form 497), annual reporting (FCC Forms 481 and 555), the need to develop and modify Lifeline enrollment forms, the requirement to review and process certification forms and eligibility documentation during enrollment, the need to upload and manage subscriber information in the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD), the requirement to re-certify all of their Lifeline customers each year, and the need to respond to USAC audits including Payment Quality Assurance (PQA) reviews and other inquiries,” they said. While the FCC is recommending some streamlining of the rules, it's proposing additional regulatory requirements, the small carriers said. “This burden falls disproportionately on small carriers, who cannot spread the regulatory costs of Lifeline compliance -- many of which are fixed costs -- across a large customer base.” Carolina West Wireless, Cellular Network Partnership, East Kentucky Network, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Union Telephone and Union Wireless signed the filing.

Kathleen Ham, an expert on spectrum auctions, was named senior vice president in charge of T-Mobile's Washington office, T-Mobile said Wednesday. Andy Levin, former general counsel at Clear Channel, is leaving the company after being named to head the office 13 months ago (see 1407160038), T-Mobile said in a news release. Ham was widely viewed as a leading candidate to replace Tom Sugrue after he retired in April 2014. Ham has been at T-Mobile since 2004, after 14 years at the FCC. She's a former deputy chief of the Wireless Bureau and was the first chief of the agency’s Spectrum Auctions Program, overseeing the first PCS auctions.