Amazon’s smartphone shopping app is “winning the battle” for shoppers in the U.S., but it hasn't achieved “the same dominance” in at least 10 other countries internationally, said an Informate Mobile Intelligence report that tracked and measured consumer use of smartphones in 12 countries during February. The U.S. has the highest installed penetration of shopping apps at 60 percent, followed by India at 46 percent, the report said. The other 10 countries measured had a “median reach” of about 18 percent, it said. "Amazon is the number-one shopping app in the U.S. and by quite a margin." Amazon's reach among American consumers was 34 percent during the period, more than the combined reach of the Nos. 2- and 3-ranked shopping apps from Walmart and eBay, it said. Yet, globally, “Amazon has yet to show similar command as it competes with more local players,” the research firm said.

The FCC’s approval of spectrum sharing rules for the 3.5 GHz band is a big step toward flexibility and a new way of looking at spectrum, John Leibovitz, deputy chief of the Wireless Bureau, said in a blog post. In an earlier era of “high-powered analog transmissions, it made sense to put different radio uses on different bands, everywhere in the United States,” he said. But the silos also limited flexibility, he said. “As evidence, one need only look at the innumerable exceptions, footnotes, or other asterisks that have been added to the rules over the years to accommodate uses that do not fit within neat regulatory boxes,” he said. “With the new 3.5 GHz rules, the Commission enables a new model that uses modern technologies -- spectrum sensing, cloud computing, and others -- to break down some of the old categories.” Work remains, including authorizing Spectrum Access System providers and establishing auction procedures for the new priority access licenses, he said. “We expect multi-stakeholder groups to agree on procedures for coordinating use in the band. And, as with any new spectrum band, technology vendors will have to design equipment that meets the technical requirements spelled out in the rules.” The FCC approved an order on the band Friday (see 1504170055).

Twenty-three non-national wireless carriers represented by the Competitive Carriers Association Wednesday asked the FCC to expand the amount of spectrum set aside for competitors to AT&T and Verizon in the TV incentive auction. The three-block reserve now in the rules for the auction is “too small to enable competitive carriers to secure sufficient spectrum in this important new frequency band,” their letter to the FCC said. “Increasing the size of the reserve helps fulfill Congressional goals and advances the public interest in promoting wireless broadband deployment.” The FCC should expand the maximum size of the reserve to four 10-MHz blocks, while limiting the amount of reserve spectrum that any one bidder can buy to 20 MHz, the small carriers said. CCA’s two biggest members, Sprint and T-Mobile, didn't sign the letter. “The very fact that twenty-three small, reserve-eligible carriers, all of whom are CCA members, have come together to stress the importance of the 600 MHz incentive auction should send a clear message to the Commission that these carriers must have a meaningful opportunity to bid on and win spectrum in the upcoming auction,” said Steve Berry, CCA president, in a news release. "Although some rural carriers buy spectrum and provide service to consumers, CCA's letter is unfortunately more of the same posturing -- rent seeking by certain companies who want to buy at a discount now, decline to build, and then later sell at a profit,” responded Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter. “There is simply no basis for the FCC to increase the size of the reserve."

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a zoning board in Paramus, New Jersey, violated federal law in denying a wireless tower siting application jointly submitted by Sprint and T-Mobile, agreeing with the federal district court in the District of New Jersey. The "effective prohibition" of wireless service violated the Communications Act, the 3rd Circuit panel said in an April 20 opinion in case number 14-2954. A "significant gap in wireless coverage existed within the area presented, the monopole proposed would adequately fill that gap, and [the carriers] had adequately considered alternative sites before arriving at the ones proposed." A distributed antenna system would be insufficient because it would be susceptible to outages, less flexible and cover a smaller gap, the court said. The wireless carriers don't bear the burden of proving that every potential alternative is unavailable, it said. The zoning board's denial of Sprint and T-Mobile's zoning variance violated the act's “effective prohibition” language, and wasn't based on “substantial evidence” required by the act and Municipal Land Use Law, so the 3rd Circuit affirmed the District Court. T-Mobile had urged the 3rd Circuit to affirm, in all respects, the lower court's judgment, Wiley Rein said Wednesday.

Google said it's launching a low-cost wireless phone service, in cooperation with Sprint and T-Mobile, in what it is calling Project Fi. The service is initially by invitation only and requires users to buy the Google Nexus 6 phone, which retails for $649 for a 32 GB handset, $699 for 64 GB. The handset is manufactured by Motorola Mobility. Google rolled out the announcement Wednesday on its blog. Under terms unveiled Wednesday, a subscriber gets basic talk, text, Wi-Fi tethering and international coverage for $20 a month. Subscribers also pay a flat $10 per 1 GB per month, but receive credit for unused data, Google said. Google doesn't require an annual commitment but also doesn't have the family plans offered by most carriers. “Similar to our Nexus hardware program, Project Fi enables us to work in close partnership with leading carriers, hardware makers, and all of you to push the boundaries of what's possible,” Google said. “By designing across hardware, software and connectivity, we can more fully explore new ways for people to connect and communicate.” BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk sounded a note of skepticism. “Google should either write Sprint or T-Mobile a large check for future capacity to help accelerate network buildouts, partner with them in the upcoming incentive auction or just buy one of them,” he wrote. Piecyk also said the Google service isn't necessarily cheap compared with the family data plans offered by the major carriers. The Google phone will also default to Wi-Fi, he said. “So if T-Mobile is offering blazing fast speeds in [New York City] that top the WiFi hotspot that is closest, the user will be stuck on the slower WiFi,” Piecyk said. “In our experience, which we regularly tweet about, that often results in inferior speeds that do not even enable mobile video of [Netflix] or YouTube.” The announcement wasn't a surprise, since details of Google's mobile virtual network operator launch “have been discussed for months,” wrote Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jennifer Fritzsche. “Since the service will not be available on the iPhone or smaller Android devices, we expect the initial impact to be fairly limited.”

Tarpon Towers II secured more than $100 million to acquire and build wireless communications towers and other infrastructure, the company said Tuesday. Tarpon II is a newly formed joint venture created by new funding consisting of a $60 million equity commitment from Redwood Capital Investments and Tarpon’s management team, the release said. Tarpon II will use the new capital to acquire existing towers and build new towers by partnering with local tower developers and through entering into build-to-suit agreements with national and regional communications carriers, it said.

British Telecom launched what it’s calling an “ethical hacking service” to test the exposure of connected cars “and help all market players develop security solutions,” the company said in a Monday announcement. Connected cars rely on a variety of connectivity options, including WiFi, 3G or 4G mobile data links, Bluetooth and other wireless technologies, BT said. “These provide a range of new on-board features and value-added services, such as predictive systems to bypass traffic jams, reduce carbon emissions, improve safety and vehicle performance. Vehicles are also becoming more connected through electronic systems like navigation, infotainment, and safety monitoring tools.” The proliferation of these services also “raises concerns about the ability of hackers to gain access and control to the essential functions and features of those vehicles and for others to use information on drivers' habits for commercial purposes without the drivers' knowledge or consent,” it said. BT is extending its security expertise to “advise vehicle manufacturers, insurance companies and other players in the automotive industry, with the aim of identifying and fixing vulnerabilities before the keys of a new vehicle are handed to a proud owner,” it said. The program it’s launching involves a range of tests targeted at the “attack surfaces” of the vehicle, BT said. “These cover interfaces that are accessible inside the car, such as Bluetooth links, USB ports, or the DVD drive, as well as external connections such as links to mobile networks or power plugs. BT looks at the end-to-end security by testing and verifying all the systems that interact with the connected vehicle. The ultimate objective is to identify vulnerabilities that would allow unauthorized alteration of configuration settings or that would introduce malware into the car.”

The FCC Enforcement Bureau ordered China-based Shenzhen Tangreat Technology to show cause why certification shouldn't be revoked for a device it offers as a Part 15 Class B computing peripheral for preprocessing data. The device is also an illegal cell-signal jammer, the bureau alleged Tuesday. “We take this action based on evidence that Shenzhen apparently misrepresented to the Commission the equipment to be marketed and sold under the Disputed Authorization,” the bureau said. “Instead of the approved use, Shenzhen apparently marketed and sold jammer equipment, in violation of Sections 302(b) and 333 of the Communications Act of 1934.” In November 2010, agents from the bureau’s Atlanta Field Office examined a unit of the TxTStopper, manufactured under the certification, installed in a vehicle owned by Just Driver Training, a driver’s education training school in Canton, Georgia, the bureau said. “Tests conducted by the agents indicated that the TxTStopper was in fact a cellular/PCS jamming device and that, when installed in a vehicle, the TxTStopper was capable of blocking cellular communications initiated from both inside and outside of the vehicle, apparently including 9-1-1 and other emergency calls,” the bureau said.

The FCC released its order on the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band, approved at last Friday’s open meeting (see 1504170055). “We live in a world of wirelessly connected people, apps, and things,” the Tuesday order said. “The 3.5 GHz Band has physical characteristics that make it particularly well-suited for mobile broadband employing small cell technology. The creation of our new Citizens Broadband Radio Service in this band will therefore add much-needed capacity to meet the ever-increasing demands of wireless innovation.” A further notice asks a battery of questions on how the agency should define the rights of priority access licensees (PALs), allow for a secondary market for PALs and protect fixed satellite service use of the 3650-3700 MHz portion of the band.

Sisvel is expanding the scope of its LTE patent pool, offering patent licenses covering all LTE and LTE-Advanced specifications, a news release from Sisvel said Monday. The portfolio includes patents owned by Airbus DS, Bräu, the China Academy of Telecommunication Technology, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, KPN, Orange and TDF, Sisvel said. The patent license covers the most recent LTE and LTE-Advanced specifications without any additional changes to the terms and conditions set for the license previously offered only for the LTE patent portfolio, providing for the same running royalty rate.