Verizon met with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on its positions on infrastructure issues, said a filing in docket 17-84. “We discussed actions the Commission should take to promote access to state and local rights-of-way and municipally owned poles, and to speed local zoning processes,” Verizon said. The FCC should say “Sections 253 and 332(c)(7) of the Communications Act bar state or local actions that erect substantial barriers to wireless facilities deployment, and that fees for access to rights-of-way and municipal poles that exceed cost violate Sections 253(a) and (c),” Verizon said. The carrier also sought a 60-day shot clock for acting on small-cell applications.
Touch-feedback technology licensor Immersion will cut about 41 percent of its global workforce in a restructuring that will include reducing its presence in China to focus mainly on mobile OEM licensing, said the company Wednesday. Immersion also will focus its development efforts to boost its patent licensing model for the gaming and virtual reality markets and cease its involvement in mobile advertising, it said. Streamlining will save about $10 million a year, it said. This follows Immersion’s Nov. 30 announcement installing Chairman Carl Schlachte as interim CEO after the board asked Vic Viegas to quit his CEO post and resign as a director (see personals section of the Dec. 1 issue of this publication). Immersion incurred a $33 million net loss for the nine months through Sept. 30 on a 41 percent decline in revenue to $28.1 million, it reported Nov. 2. Immersion shares closed 1.75 percent higher Wednesday at $6.99.
The market for wearables will nearly double to 222.3 million units in 2021 from this year, said IDC Wednesday, based on more cellular connectivity and other enhancements, led by Apple Watch. “Basic wristbands” are the most popular category of wearables, “quickly becoming commodities,” and will yield to smartwatches, said IDC. Basic wristbands have 40 percent unit share to 28 percent for smartwatches.
The FCC provided clarification Wednesday on requirements for handsets used to test whether an area already has 4G LTE service or should qualify for Mobility Fund II support. The FCC said it will require that the handsets used are “officially supported by the latest versions of industry-standard drive test software” and “engineering-capable and able to be unlocked and put into diagnostic mode to interface with drive test software.” The FCC is also requiring that all tests be run using three devices, at least one of which uses the Android operating system. The agency said some commenters asked it to limit the cost of approved handsets to cut the costs of testing. “Handset acquisition costs are likely to be relatively small when compared to the total cost of testing and submitting challenges,” the commission said. “The record lacks evidence that handset acquisition costs will reduce challenger participation.” Test results are due Jan. 4. The FCC also adopted procedures for challengers to request access to Universal Service Administrative Co. challenge process portal. The order was by the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force and Wireless and Wireline bureaus.
CTIA released best practices to help keep wireless service up during natural disasters. The recommendations build on the wireless network resiliency cooperative framework proposed by carriers and agreed to by the FCC last year (see 1612210008), CTIA said Wednesday. “The initiative will enhance coordination between wireless carriers and local governments in preparing for a natural disaster or emergency and speed the restoration of wireless services,” said a news release. Among best practices: “Wireless providers, local governments, and states should develop and maintain an index of the zoning and related local ordinances that could affect service restoration efforts and, where permitted by law, identify an accessible, available, and expedited process for obtaining a waiver.” The guidelines urge carriers to work with local governments to develop recovery plans.
"Incorporating device-based solutions to enhance [Wireless Emergency Alerts] geo-targeting represents a fundamental shift in the design and use of WEA -- from a network-based approach that disseminates emergency information across a wide area with minimal network impact, to device-based technologies that confine receipt of the alerts to a more focused geographic area that will likely have network impacts,” CTIA said it told the FCC Public Safety Bureau: This “fundamental” change will require new or modified wireless networks “and device standards and solutions, as well as new or modified technologies and practices for alert originators.” CTIA in docket 15-91 urged an “aggressive, yet achievable, timeline to implement enhanced geo-targeting.” CTIA said some member companies, APCO representatives, emergency managers from New York City and Harris County, Texas, and officials from the National Weather Service attended. APCO said there's no consensus on “timing of improvements and how they should be implemented.” APCO said the FCC should establish “straightforward minimum requirements” for geotargeting effective by May 1, 2019. It suggested a requirement that alerts not extend beyond 1/10 mile of a specified area’s boundary. “APCO agreed with concern over proposals to improve geo-targeting by sacrificing characters in the WEA message to specify the target area,” the group said. “APCO would prefer that methods to improve geo-targeting not entail a trade-off with other improvements to WEA.” The New York City Emergency Management Department said “existing level of geo-targeting is not sufficient as clearly demonstrated by the City’s use of WEA following the Chelsea Bombing in 2016.” The department "continues to strongly support these enhancements and encourages the Commission to adopt an implementation timeline consistent with other WEA improvements that are expected to come online in 2019.”
Next year should be good for the major U.S. tower companies, Well Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche wrote investors Tuesday of "the year when small cells are pursued in earnest.” Small cell densification is a key "part of 5G infrastructure," the analyst said. "We expect all 4 carriers will move on this initiative in a more urgent way (led by [Verizon]) in 2018.” Wells Fargo expects capital expenditures by Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint to increase 12 percent next year to $34 billion.
The FCC approved for filing the long-form applications for additional 600 MHz licenses bought in the TV incentive auction, a key first step toward deployment. A total of 26 licenses were involved -- 24 by New Level and two by the Iowa RSA 2 Limited Partnership. “The Commission may return or dismiss any application if it is found, upon further examination, to be defective or not in conformance with the Commission’s rules,” said a public notice by the Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau. The agency approved the first grants of licenses purchased in the auction in June (see 1706140048).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau said Lumenier agreed to pay $180,000 and institute a compliance plan to end investigation of the company’s alleged sale of noncompliant audio/visual transmitters for use with drones, in a consent decree. The noncompliant transmitters “could operate in bands that are reserved for Federal government and other important operations, including Federal Aviation Administration airport operations and satellite communications,” the bureau said. “Some of the AV transmitters also operated at power levels that exceeded limits set by the Commission’s rules.” The closely held company acknowledged it violated equipment authorization and marketing rules and didn’t comment further.
The FCC released the text of its order, approved by commissioners last week (see 1712140054), designed to “update, harmonize, and streamline” agency regulations on commercial mobile radio services by eliminating sections 20.7 and 20.9 of the rules. “Eliminating Section 20.9 is consistent with the Commission’s ongoing efforts to facilitate flexible use of spectrum, and will allow licensees to respond more quickly to consumer demand and competitive forces,” the order said. “The public interest is best served by treating similarly situated entities on a more equal, comparable basis.” The order, in Tuesday's Daily Digest, notes the regulator received only one comment on Section 20.7. The section provides “an outdated and incomplete list of some, but not all, services that meet the definition of ‘mobile service’ as used” in the Communications Act, the FCC said. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn dissented, saying the order was more than a streamlining of the rules, removing "important procedural safeguards.”