The Federal Bureau of Prisons, NTIA and the FCC cooperated on a test of micro-jamming technology at the Federal Correctional Institution at Cumberland, Maryland, DOJ said. “The test was conducted to determine if micro-jamming could prevent wireless communication by an inmate using a contraband device at the individual cell housing unit level.” BOP conducted a limited cellphone jamming demo with NTIA in 2010 at the same location. Tuesday, “NTIA conducted an independent evaluation of micro-jamming technology to determine its efficacy and interference potential with Radio Frequency communications,” Justice said Wednesday. “The BOP and NTIA will review the data and analysis results from both BOP’s and NTIA’s testing and develop recommendations for strategic planning and possible acquisition.” Industry officials said last year that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears to be considering whether his agency can allow limited jamming to curb contraband cellphones in prisons (see 1711150023).

Sprint and Cox Communications said they signed a multiyear business agreement as part of a settlement of patent litigation between the two, which will help Sprint further densify its network. “Sprint’s Densification and Optimization toolkit includes a variety of solutions from traditional macro towers to small cells including Sprint Magic Box, airpoles, strand mounts and repeaters,” the carrier said Thursday. “Through this agreement with Cox, Sprint will significantly accelerate deployment of that toolkit throughout Cox’s national footprint.” Sprint noted it has spectrum holdings of 204 MHz, including more than 160 MHz of 2.5 GHz in the top 100 U.S. markets. Sprint Chief Technology Officer John Saw said his company will look for other ways to work with the cable operator.

APCO proposed revisions to draft wireless emergency alert rules, Thursday in FCC docket 15-91. The filing responds to the draft order circulated for the Jan. 30 commissioners' meeting (see 1801090050). APCO asked to clarify that a commercial mobile service provider’s “ability to claim that its network infrastructure is technically incapable of matching the specified target area is limited to circumstances including when the target area is outside of the Participating CMS Provider’s network coverage area, when mobile devices have location services disabled, and when legacy networks cannot be updated to support this functionality.” In all other cases, “the CMS Provider must deliver an Alert Message to 100 percent of the target area with no more than 0.1 of a mile overshoot,” APCO said. It asked the FCC to order that carriers “transmit Alert Message polygon coordinates to mobile devices without affecting the 360 character allotment for displayable Alert Message text,” with requirements kicking in Nov. 30, 2019.

The Wireless Bureau temporarily waived parts of FCC Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services rules for Ocean Signal's rescueME MOB1 maritime survivor locating device. MSLDs are intended for use by anyone at risk of falling into the water such as mariners and workers on marine installations or docks, or by divers returning to the surface out of sight of their dive boats, the bureau said. The company maintains the device meets required standards, but lab testing is unlikely to be complete before a Wednesday deadline, the order said. The company asked for and received a waiver until March 30. “The public interest would be served by a brief waiver to avoid disrupting the availability of a device that previously was found to be in the public interest, and which is expected to be found to comply with the current rule,” the bureau said.

The FCC should stick with rules as they are for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance President Kalpak Gude told an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. DSA said it opposes both longer license terms and bigger geographic licenses for priority access licenses (PALs) that are the licensed component of the band. In October, commissioners agreed to seek comment on revising the rules (see 1710240050). “The current three-year terms are better connected to return on investment than the ten-year terms as mentioned in the NPRM, and that renewability is counterproductive to the goals the Commission has articulated for the band,” DSA said in docket 17-258. “Both changes would create a need for more regulatory oversight in terms of build-out requirements and enforcement. Shorter terms with no right of renewal will allow for a much more market driven structure.”

CTIA welcomed amicus briefs as it seeks Supreme Court review of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision upholding an RF disclosure ordinance in Berkeley, California. The association petitioned Jan. 9 for writ of certiorari and gave blanket consent Wednesday to amicus briefs. The ordinance requires retailers to inform prospective cellphone buyers that carrying their devices in certain ways can cause exposure to RF radiation exceeding federal limits (see 1710120021). “It is important that the Supreme Court make clear that the First Amendment prohibits state and local governments from forcing retailers to convey the government’s message, particularly where the government’s message is misleading, contrary to science, and contrary to the retailers’ own views,” a CTIA spokeswoman said. Berkeley opposed Supreme Court review. "We do not believe there are any substantial questions decided by the 9th Circuit that conflict with the law elsewhere in the nation," said Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, representing the city.

Hybrid smartwatches, such as Fossil Q and Nokia Steel, will comprise more than half the smartwatch market in 2022, Juniper Research reported of the 80 million such devices to ship by then, up 460 percent from last year. Digital display smartwatches such as the Apple Watch are projected to jump 160 percent. Slowing growth for digital display smartwatches has driven manufacturers including Motorola, Huawei and Sony to leave, the researcher said Tuesday. Remaining makers are pivoting toward specific uses, said analyst James Moar. GPS is expected to be in nearly half of all smartwatches by 2022 as penetration of near-field communications will be minor because NFC is "locked into specific ecosystems."

Union wireless workers approved a four-year contract with AT&T covering 21,000 employees in 36 states until Feb. 12, 2021, Communications Workers of America said in a Friday news release. AT&T and CWA reached agreement last month (see 1712140014).

The Patent and Trademark Office declared dead the UHD Alliance’s application to register the “Mobile HDR Premium” certification logo for smartphones, tablets and laptops, said the agency’s Dec. 27 abandonment notice, giving the alliance two months to petition PTO. The alliance introduced the logo and certification program at last year’s Mobile World Congress for high-resolution, high-dynamic-range battery-operated devices (see 1702280045). The alliance filed a Feb. 27 application to register the logo as a "certification mark," but a PTO examiner rejected it in a May 23 notice for several flaws, including its lack of a “disclaimer” that the alliance would make no claim to the “exclusive right” to use the words “Mobile HDR Premium” apart from the logo. "We have every intention to absolutely retain the trademark for Mobile HDR Premium," alliance President Mike Fidler told us Monday.

The GSMA said it opened a North American regional office near Midtown Atlanta, with 15,000 square feet of office space and room to accommodate 90 employees, after opening its initial office in the area in 2006. Last year, GSMA held its initial Mobile World Congress Americas, in partnership with CTIA. The event is to shift from San Francisco to Los Angeles this year.