The Rural Wireless Association raised concerns about parts of the FCC’s rules for the Mobility Fund II challenge process, in a Wednesday filing in docket 10-208. “In particular, RWA is very concerned about the … decision to move forward with the use of a square kilometer grid cell as a part of its ‘multi-step geospatial-data-processing approach,’” RWA said. “Specifically, the [FCC] ‘will determine whether a challenger’s speed test points substantially cover a challenged area (i.e., cover at least 75 percent of the challenged area) by buffering each speed test point that reports a downstream speed less than 5 Mbps, calculating the buffered area, and then comparing the area of the buffered points to the challengeable area within a 1 km by 1 km grid cell.’” But, RWA said, in most of rural America, roads are situated directly on the borders of a 1-mile by 1-mile grid. A square kilometer grid cell “could be entirely encapsulated within a square mile road grid cell, leaving no access to drive any portion of a single kilometer-based grid cell,” RWA said. The FCC’s decision “to ignore this reality has yielded a challenge scheme in which thousands of kilometer grid squares lack the necessary roads to access and test the claimed coverage using drive tests,” RWA said.

IDC sees global smartwatch shipments increasing at a 17.9 percent compound annual growth rate in the next five years, to 84.1 million units in 2022 from 43.6 million in 2018, it said in a Tuesday report. "Consumers are finally starting to understand and demand the utility of a smartwatch," said IDC. Fitness leads other smartwatch uses “by a mile but mobile payments and messaging are starting to catch on,” it said. “The addition of cellular connectivity is also starting to resonate with early adopters and looking ahead the emergence of new use cases like music streaming or additional health sensors will make cellular connectivity pivotal to the success of the smartwatch." Apple shipped more than half the world’s smartwatches in 2017, said IDC. Though it expects that Apple “will maintain its lead in this category,” competing products from Fitbit, Garmin and Wear OS vendors “will gain traction over time,” it said.

The FCC extended some filing deadlines in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to April 3 while reminding parties of their regulatory deadlines as they face the challenges caused by hurricane devastation. The Wireless and Public Safety bureaus noted they previously gave parties filing waivers. "We extend certain deadlines occurring between September 20, 2017 and March 19, 2018 ... until April 3, 2018, for affected licensees, applicants, and registrants in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands," said a public notice Tuesday.

Towerstream, which offers a fixed-wireless alternative to fiber, said Monday its board is examining possible strategic repositioning. Towerstream said it hired Bank Street Group as its independent financial adviser as it explores strategic alternatives. "After reviewing the core assets of the company, the Board has decided to work much more closely with other operators which have had a difficult time penetrating important markets," said CEO Ernest Ortega. "Towerstream's footprint in a dozen Tier 1 markets enable it to reach nearly 400,000 buildings. We already provide high speed broadband services to over 2,800 buildings in those markets, and carriers are looking to our leading footprint as a means of serving their own customers."

CTIA denied allegations by some tribes that the FCC didn’t do the required consultations before acting on revised wireless infrastructure rules. Tribal interests made the claim in several recent filings before a vote set for Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting (see 1803150058). CTIA filed in docket 17-79 on a call last week with Will Adams, aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr. “Contrary to recent filings asserting that the Draft Second Order does not properly reflect the Commission’s trust responsibility to Tribal Nations, the Commission’s proposals reflect years of discussions between industry, Tribes, and the Commission and will advance the goal of facilitating broadband deployment without diminishing Tribes’ ability to protect historic sites of cultural or religious significance,” CTIA said. Major tribal groups didn't comment. While not directly addressing Thursday’s draft order, Brenda Bethune, mayor of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said she spoke by phone with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on infrastructure more generally. Clyburn is from the state. “The Mayor opened the meeting by sharing Myrtle Beach’s desire to be a smart city, with the latest and best wireline and wireless connections for its residents and visitors alike,” said a filing. “But in meeting residential and visitor communications needs, the city also sought to preserve the integrity of the community’s look, which the City has invested over $110 million to achieve.” TechFreedom reported on questions the group raised in a call with Carr about the order. The group “discussed whether the Commission’s analysis contained in the proposed Order is adequate to justify excluding new structures -- or at least new structures on previously undisturbed ground -- from [National Historic Preservation Act] review,” TechFreedom said. “We discussed whether the process by which the Commission developed that part of the proposed amendment is adequate to fulfill the FCC’s special trust relationship with America’s tribes.” The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council Monday said the FCC should balance interests on the order. The order promises to speed deployment of small cells and be good for the economy, MMTC said. “Noting the objections of several Native American tribes and organizations to certain elements of the process, MMTC strongly encourages the Commission to work closely with the tribal and environmental associations and stakeholders to resolve their concerns expeditiously and fairly.”

Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9+ went on sale Friday, with suggested retail prices of $719 and $839 in unlocked and carrier versions. The company focused on the “reimagined” camera features of the flagship smartphones for the “visual and social generation,” said Samsung Electronics North America CEO Tim Baxter. The spotlight is on the cameras’ dual aperture (F1.5-F2.4) lens said to work “just like the human eye to adjust to different lighting conditions.” The cameras capture up to 12 versions of the same photo to create an optimal image with high contrast, and less noise and grain, said Samsung. Carriers pitched various deals. Sprint said it will shave $30 off the price for phones purchased online, and it's hawking a free S9 or S9+ customers who sign up for two 18-month leases with one new line and an upgraded lease required. AT&T Wireless offers an S9 at half off until March 31 to customers who sign up for the AT&T Next plan with credits issued over 30 months. Verizon’s lead offer on its website Friday was for up to 50 percent off the iPhone in a trade-in offer. Its Samsung Galaxy promotion was a buy-one-get-one-free deal (up to $799) for customers who bought a minimum $929 Galaxy phone, no trade-in required, with credits applied over 24 months. T-Mobile is dealing the S9 at 50 percent off with a 24-month contract and a trade-in. C-Spire is giving discounts up to $400 for a limited time for customers who trade in a smartphone and sign up for $29- and $35-per month plans, it said.

Ex-CEO/Chairman Paul Jacobs told the board "he has decided to explore the possibility of making a proposal to acquire Qualcomm," the wireless/intellectual property company announced Friday evening. It said he won't be renominated for the board at this coming Friday's annual meeting. "Following the withdrawal of Broadcom’s takeover proposal, Qualcomm is focused on executing its business plan and maximizing value for shareholders as an independent company," it said. "There can be no assurance that Dr. Jacobs can or will make a proposal, but, if he does, the Board will of course evaluate it consistent with its fiduciary duties to shareholders." Also last week, Broadcom pulled its bid after President Donald Trump blocked the potential deal, which the would-be acquiree had been rebuffing (see 1803150060).

ZTE’s Blade V9 phone is the first device to incorporate technology from Xperi’s FotoNation and DTS subsidiaries, said the companies Thursday. The smartphone, introduced at Mobile World Congress, will include portrait enhancement and panorama technologies from FotoNation and the DTS Sound audio post-processing solution.

Southwire recalled in-wall Wi-Fi switches sold under the WiOn name due to fire hazard, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission Thursday. The switch lets consumers control and monitor lights and appliances at home with a smartphone from anywhere by app. Consumers should contact Southwire to receive $4 to purchase a non-Wi-Fi replacement switch. The recall affects about 24,000 switches sold in home improvement and hardware stores nationwide, at Amazon.com and Walmart.com. No incidents or injuries were reported.

New York City Emergency Management filed at the FCC a report it commissioned arguing for requiring the capacity to include transmission of photos and other media as part of wireless emergency alerts. The department said it submitted the report at the request of the FCC Public Safety Bureau. The report examines public reaction in the wake of the use of alerts as police searched for Ahmad Rahami, the suspect in the 2016 Chelsea bombing. The vast majority believed it was an "appropriate use of the system (89 percent appropriate) and less than 1 percent unsubscribed from the service following the alert,” the report said. “Although most could not correctly recall what time they received the message by the time our survey was conducted, over a quarter reported receiving the message between 7:30 and 8:30 am (27 percent).” Given limitations of WEAs, the city had to refer people to media reports for a photo of Rahami and 45 percent reported they took this step, the city said. “Those who didn’t said it was because they did not have time, were at work, or believed it was too much work to turn to the media for the picture. The survey shows broad support for updating these messages to include a direct link to view photos of the suspect, as 83 percent believe it would be useful to include such a link in wireless alerts.”