LTE is becoming the most used wireless cellular technology, with 38.5 percent share in Q1, 5G Americas said Friday. North America leads the world with 76 percent of connections LTE, the group said. “Latin America and the Caribbean had significant growth of LTE market share to 31.5 percent at the end of 1Q,” 5G Americas said. “5G is on the horizon and will be built upon the most solid of foundations -- LTE,” said President Chris Pearson. “We are already hearing news of planned 5G deployments beginning later in 2018 and early 2019, however, LTE will continue to grow until 2022, when we will begin to see some substantial uptake in 5G connections.”
AT&T said Thursday that more than 1,000 public safety agencies in 52 states and territories have signed on to FirstNet, “nearly doubling the network’s adoption since April.” Among them are 11 state patrol agencies, AT&T said.
Nearly two-thirds of teens say they wish they could “self-limit” the time they spend on their smartphones, reported the Screen Education advocacy group Thursday. Screen Education, which bills itself as “dedicated to mitigating the negative consequences of screen addiction,” canvassed just over 1,000 teens online in April and found 68 percent said they attempted to reduce smartphone use, and 37 percent said they tried to persuade a friend to do so.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau established a pleading cycle Thursday on a complaint by Paperkidd Productions & Publishing and Jarrell Curne alleging Verizon Wireless’s offerings of phone service violate “the Communications Act’s prohibition against unjust and unreasonable discrimination.” A June complaint said Verizon “violated Sections 201(b), 202, 205, 206, 207, 215, 217, and 218 of the Act, by failing to furnish communication services upon reasonable request.” The complaint seeks damages totaling $101.5 million. The bureau instructed Verizon to file its request for interrogatories and “serve an answer to the complaint that complies with this Notice of Formal Complaint” by July 18. The pleading cycle wraps up Aug. 8. The docket is 18-140. Verizon didn't comment.
The growing aftermarket in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) is grappling with integrating advanced functions from smartphones and other electronics, a Society of Automotive Engineering panel at CE Week was told Wednesday. Ted Cardenas, marketing vice president for Pioneer’s car electronics division, said the dashboard has evolved and most new cars with integrated systems make it more challenging to integrate advanced functionality. With the smartphone evolving “about every four months,” Cardenas said Pioneer is focusing on developing an interface that can tie technologies together in the vehicle, “and it might not even be a smartphone.” John Waraniak, Specialty Equipment Market Association vice president-vehicle technology, predicted more personalization is coming for cars and their occupants.
Sprint is working with NXM Labs to launch a 5G-ready connected car platform that combines high-speed passenger Wi-Fi with advanced vehicle health monitoring and safety. The platform includes the first blockchain powered IoT security system that guards against hackers, Sprint said. “The NXM platform includes a powerful automotive router that keeps people connected on the road, and through mobile apps, helping to save money and keep track of vehicle performance and location,” the carrier said Wednesday.
AT&T said it will launch next year a narrowband IoT network operating on licensed spectrum, “to meet the growing needs of business customers for a wide range of IoT solutions” in the U.S. and Mexico. The NB-IoT network will complement AT&T’s existing IoT network -- called LTE-M for LTE Cat M (see 1705180058), the carrier said Wednesday. “NB-IoT and LTE-M offer longer battery life, coverage extension, and lower costs than traditional cellular LTE connectivity,” AT&T said. “NB-IoT is ideally suited to meet basic data requirements, while LTE-M provides more robust capabilities including bandwidth for firmware and software updates, mobility and VoLTE (Voice over LTE).”
The Wireless ISP Association generally supports the framework for opening the 6 GHz band while protecting incumbents, as proposed by tech companies last week (see 1806130048), it told the FCC in docket 17-183. “Overall,” the framework is “an excellent starting point for a notice of proposed rulemaking,” WISPA said. “The framework recognizes that indoor devices and outdoor devices should be treated differently given their potential impact on existing operations,” WISPA said. “Ex ante interference protection measures and a periodic database check are essential parts of a comprehensive regulatory framework. Applying these functional requirements will pave the way for shared use of a new unlicensed band that could bring significant benefits.”
T-Mobile and Sprint asked the FCC for a declaratory ruling that “it would not serve the public interest to prohibit indirect foreign ownership of T-Mobile and its subsidiaries of up to 100 percent.” The two filed a petition for declaratory ruling in docket 18-197 as part of the process for T-Mobile’s planned buy of Sprint (see 1806190062). “On multiple occasions in previous granted declaratory rulings, the FCC has repeatedly approved 100 percent indirect ownership in T-Mobile and its wholly owned subsidiaries by T-Mobile’s ultimate parent, Deutsche Telekom,” they said. The FCC has authorized similar ownership of Sprint by Japan’s SoftBank, they said: “No new foreign entities are being introduced as a result of this transaction."
The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet July 24, NTIA says in Wednesday's Federal Register. The meeting starts at 9 a.m., at the Renaissance Boulder Flatiron Hotel in Broomfield, Colorado. CSMAC is expected to play a role in helping the administration develop a new national spectrum strategy (see 1806130080).