A looming “digital traffic jam” requires “an inflection point in global communication standards, and that's 5G,” said Skyworks CEO Liam Griffin on a Monday earnings call. The chipmaker thinks 5G “will be a key enabler to a massive rollout of IoT,” said Griffin. There are roughly 5 billion smartphones, he noted, and "to make the leap to 5G, system architectures will require significantly more powerful connectivity engines to ensure the intense performance challenges are realized. This upgrade wave will create an enormous growth catalyst for the entire smartphone ecosystem.” There’s "definitely going to be some early elements of 5G stepping into this market by 2018 into 2019,” he said: “It will take a while” before 5G becomes “fully implemented,” though migration to 5G “is on the road map.” There's “a lot of work that we can do in 4G to grow our content and grow our business by populating existing customers with new technology," he said. If smartphones rise to 25 billion by 2020, "we're going to need a new network to deliver those frequencies and deliver that data,” said Griffin. That will create “another opportunity for connectivity,” whether it will be Wi-Fi, or ZigBee or cellular, he said.

Starry Internet CEO Chet Kanojia told staff the FCC should reject any move to scuttle commercial-to-commercial sharing in the lower 37 GHz band as part of the broader spectrum frontiers proceeding, meeting with Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale, Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and others. The lower 37 GHz band “represents only 4 percent of the aggregate amount of spectrum made available through the First Spectrum Frontiers” order, the company said in docket 14-177. “This de minimis amount of spectrum does not significantly alter any company’s decision in their investment in millimeter wave bands or significantly impact any auction.”

CTIA and Wireless Infrastructure Association officials met with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale and others to make a case for wireless infrastructure reform. A draft order on the agenda for the Nov. 16 commissioners’ meeting, making it easier for the wireless industry to site small cells and other facilities, must offer “meaningful relief from unnecessary regulatory requirements for replacement facilities that have no potential to affect historic properties,” the groups said in Monday in docket 17-79. Chairman Ajit Pai circulated the order Oct. 29 (see 1710270040). They discussed the "dual goals in the proceeding: protecting sites of historic, religious, and cultural significance to Tribes while enabling the efficient delivery of advanced communications services and technologies nationwide,” the filing said, urging, “Update the Section 106 Tribal consultation process and procedures to reflect these goals.”

Real-world experience showed Verizon densifying its network often works better than just deploying more spectrum, said John Stratton, president-global operations, at a Wells Fargo conference Tuesday. Stratton cited operations in Chicago, where the company has relatively thin spectrum holdings. The carrier “massively densified” its network there, he said. The performance since has been “stunning,” he said. Verizon’s moves on densification are a natural prelude to 5G, he said. “Moving to a densification regime to increase capacity under LTE is a very natural sequential step towards supporting the architecture of the next-generation networks.” The company has plenty of spectrum in its portfolio, he said. Its network is “still best-in-class, among the best, if not the best, in the world,” but the carrier is using just over half its spectrum, Stratton said. Verizon is interested in the 3.5 GHz shared band when that becomes available, he said: “We haven't even begun to leverage the unlicensed spectrum that will come available at that band. We see that as an opportunity to augment capacity as we go.”

LG’s flagship V30 smartphone is the first to incorporate Qi wireless charging Extended Power Profile based on Integrated Device Technology wireless power chips, LG and IDT announced Monday.

​Qualcomm’s board will weigh Broadcom’s “unsolicited” takeover proposal of $70 a share -- $60 a share in cash, the rest in Broadcom stock, said Qualcomm in a Monday statement. The board will do what’s best for Qualcomm shareholders, and the company will have no further comment until the board finishes its review, it said. Broadcom, in a Monday statement, said its $70-a-share offer is a 27.6 percent premium over Qualcomm’s $54.84 closing price Thursday, “the last unaffected trading day prior to media speculation regarding a potential transaction.” Reports speculating on a deal that would be valued at $103 billion sent Qualcomm shares soaring 12.7 percent Friday to close at $61.81. Qualcomm shares closed 1.2 percent higher Monday at $62.52, while Broadcom shares closed up 1.4 percent at $277.52. A combined Broadcom/Qualcomm would become “a global communications leader with an impressive portfolio of technologies and products,” said Broadcom CEO Hock Tan in the statement: “We would not make this offer if we were not confident that our common global customers would embrace the proposed combination.". The combined company would become the No. 3 global semiconductor supplier, said Stuart Carlaw, ABI Research chief research officer. Qualcomm shareholders “are likely to be split” over the Broadcom offer, “with many viewing this opportunity as a solution to the worsening relations with Apple, whom Broadcom has a good relationship with,” he said. Broadcom/Qualcomm “raises significant questions surrounding the difficult takeover of NXP by Qualcomm and much is still to be discerned regarding the value of the Qualcomm patent holdings and its associated lucrative high-margin revenue stream,” he said. Qualcomm still hopes to close its $110-a-share NXP buy by year-end, but the slower than expected regulatory approval process may cause the close to slip into 2018, executives said last week.

The IEEE Broadcast Technology Society told the FCC it should protect the 6425‒6525 and 6875‒7125 MHz bands, in reply comments in the mid-band spectrum proceeding. The two bands “are used extensively by the broadcast industry in the USA,” the group said in a filing in docket 17-183. “While some well-engineered sharing may be possible in these bands, IEEE-BTS believes that these bands should not be designated for unlicensed use at this time. The Commission’s own records clearly demonstrate that the use of database or dynamic frequency selection (DFS) techniques to prevent interference to incumbent services has been ineffective.”

T-Mobile Friday got the clarity it sought from the FCC on a December order establishing a common standard for the transition from text technology (TTY) to real-time text (RTT). T-Mobile sought clarification (see 1702240035) on the obligation of carriers to deliver calls to 911 call centers using an emergency services IP network (ESInet). ‘We clarify that when a Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) provider connects to an Emergency Services Internet Protocol Network to deliver RTT 911 calls, the CMRS provider need not convert RTT to TTY format,” the order said in docket 16-145. “Rather, any conversion from RTT to TTY (or other delivery means) is the responsibility of the ESInet provider.” The order was handed down by the Public Safety and Consumer and Governmental Affairs bureaus.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology granted Evolv Technologies a waiver of part of the FCC’s Part 15 rules so it can apply for FCC certification to market its Edge system, a walk-through security screening system intended for use at airports and other indoor locations. “The device transmits a swept frequency signal over the range of 24.0 to 28.8 GHz from an array of antennas mounted in the columns,” OET said. “It is designed to capture 30 three-dimensional video frames per second of each person passing through it. The device analyzes the captured information and uses an indicator light to show whether any potential threats were detected.” Evolv needs a waiver because the device produces signal levels that exceed the limits in the Part 15 rules, OET said. The device offers public-interest benefits, making screening more effective without requiring people to remove outer garments or objects in their pockets, the order said. “We also conclude that, with appropriate operational and technical restrictions to prevent harmful interference to authorized services, granting Evolv’s request for waiver does not undermine the purpose of the rules, i.e., to prevent harmful interference to authorized services.”

PdvWireless and the Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked the FCC to change its rules for the 900 MHz band in light of changing communications needs. In 2014, the two asked the FCC to launch an NPRM on the plan. In 2015, the FCC sought comment on the petition and several critical infrastructure industry commenters raised concerns (see 1506300047). On Aug. 4, the agency released a notice of inquiry seeking comment on ways to increase access to spectrum and improve flexibility and efficiency of the 900 MHz band (see 1708070043). “The record in this proceeding confirms that the diversity of the businesses that comprise the Private Enterprise (PE) community, including those classified as Critical Infrastructure Industry (CII), is mirrored in the complexities of their communications demands,” pdv and EWA said in reply comments in docket 17-200. “Those whose communications systems must be capable of processing significant amounts of data for purposes such as control, telemetry, IoT, network and security management, and cybersecurity monitoring, in addition to voice dispatching, need a private carrier broadband option. The 900 MHz Band rule changes proposed by EWA/PDV are premised on this concept of optionality for this user community.” The Critical Infrastructure Coalition said many commenters share concerns about the NOI’s proposals to reconfigure the 896-901/935-940 MHz band. “Coalition members and their partners use 900 MHz band spectrum and adjacent bands for a wide range of critical communications that serve the public interest,” the group said. “The Commission must continue to recognize the critical importance of 900 MHz band and adjacent spectrum networks and ensure they remain free from interference and available to serve the public.” Some "questions that surround the proposal by EWA/PDV have been answered in their comments in response to the NOI, although there are still more questions that need to be answered,” said the Utilities Technology Council and the GridWise Alliance in joint comments. “Importantly, there are areas of consensus, though sharp differences remain and some issues warrant additional clarification.” The Association of American Railroads said the FCC should instead consider its proposal to change the band by providing for the possibility of wideband channels -- channels that are 50-500 kHz wide. “Railroads and other mission-critical wireless users have growing -- yet still relatively modest -- spectrum needs and stand to benefit from the greater flexibility that wider channels permit,” the railroads said. “AAR’s wideband channel proposal would satisfy these needs while allowing 900 MHz band operators to remain in control of their own wireless networks, thus protecting vital communications.”