TriTech Software is developing public safety apps for the Samsung Gear S3, TriTech said in a Wednesday news release. The smartwatch could display alerts or GPS coordinates of an individual’s location, TriTech said. Among other possible applications, the watch’s motion detection capability could be used to automatically notify others in public safety when an officer is in pursuit or needs assistance, the company said.

​A day after Intel completed its tender offer to buy Mobileye (see the personals section of the Aug. 9 issue of this publication), the company announced its new subsidiary will start building a fleet of Level 4 autonomous vehicles for testing in the U.S., Israel and Europe. The Society of Automotive Engineers scale on autonomous driving defines Level 4 as “high automation,” meaning a human driver need not respond to an automated system’s “request to intervene,” and is one notch below the Level 5 definition for "full automation." The first test vehicles will be deployed later this year, and the fleet will “eventually scale” to more than 100 automobiles, said Intel in a Wednesday blog post. “Building cars and testing them in real-world conditions provides immediate feedback and will accelerate delivery of technologies and solutions for highly and fully autonomous vehicles," said Mobileye Chief Technology Officer Amnon Shashua, soon to be named an Intel senior vice president and CEO of the subsidiary. "Geographic diversity is very important as different regions have very diverse driving styles as well as different road conditions and signage. Our goal is to develop autonomous vehicle technology that can be deployed anywhere, which means we need to test and train the vehicles in varying locations."

The FCC “approved for filing” a third group of long-form applications by mostly smaller carriers for licenses on which they were the high bidders in the TV incentive auction. Blue Water Wireless, Gold Spectrum, James McCotter, Nex-Tech Wireless, Nova Wireless, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Sagebrush Cellular, Spectrum Financial Partners and Tradewinds Wireless Holdings were among those with applications approved for filing. The FCC approved more than 130 applications in the latest batch. “Initial review of the long-form applications of other winning bidders in Auction 1002 is ongoing,” said a Wednesday public notice by the Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau. “A subsequent public notice(s) will announce the acceptance for filing of additional long-form applications.” Petitions to deny are due Aug. 21, oppositions Aug. 28, replies Sept. 5. In June, the FCC cleared the first group of licenses purchased in the auction (see 1706140048), which ended April 13.

The parties involved in Crown Castle’s proposed buy of Lightower from Berkshire Partners, Pamlico Capital and other investors told the FCC the $7.1 billion cash transaction is in the public interest. The deal, announced in July (see 1707190020), will mean quicker deployment of wireless broadband, they told the FCC. Lightower’s dense metropolitan fiber footprint “is well-located and has ample capacity to accommodate significant small cell opportunities with the backing of Crown Castle’s small cell platform experience,” they said. “Financial, technical, and managerial resources that CCIC [Crown Castle] will bring to Licensees are expected to enhance the ability of Licensees to compete in the telecommunications marketplace,” said an application. “The existing network and systems of Licensees will enhance the ability of CCIC’s other indirect subsidiaries to serve their customers.” Customers won’t be affected negatively, the companies said. “Licensees will continue to provide service at the same rates, terms, and conditions, as governed by existing contracts,” the filing said. “The Transaction will be transparent to customers because the only change immediately following the closing from a customer’s perspective is that ultimately CCIC will be the new indirect owner of Licensees.” The deal will mean quicker deployment of wireless broadband, the companies told the FCC.

CTIA approved National Technical Systems (NTS) as a CTIA-authorized testing laboratory for over-the-air performance (OTA) testing, NTS said in a news release. “OTA measurement is essential to capture the antenna performance of a variety of wireless technologies, including cellular (2G, 3G, LTE), Bluetooth, ZigBee and Wi-Fi.” As IoT devices “become increasingly more compact, antennas are sometimes forced to be placed near other antennas, displays, computer processors [and] high-speed memory, all of which can interfere and degrade" the devices' OTA performance, it said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau sent a message Tuesday -- keep all nonemergency communications off the 121.500 MHz band. The FCC, in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, has been investigating misuse of the frequency, set aside for emergency and distress communications, said an enforcement advisory. “The FAA has reported to the FCC that the FAA’s ability to monitor aviation channel 121.500 MHz for actual emergencies is being impaired by an increase in the use of 121.500 MHz for non-emergency communications,” the FCC said. “The Enforcement Bureau will aggressively enforce the rules related to aviation radio operations.”

The launch of FirstNet is moving more quickly than expected, with 11 states and one U.S. territory opting in, AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said at an Oppenheimer financial conference Tuesday. “The election period has just begun,” he said. “It’s very early and we are pleased.” AT&T had wireless communications service and AWS-3 spectrum in which it hadn’t deployed service, he said. The plan is to use that spectrum with 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum from FirstNet to deploy three 2 by 10 channels at the same time, he said. AT&T will use the $6.7 billion it's getting from FirstNet to cover the costs. “It’s very efficient -- pay for one tower climb and get three units of spectrum put into service,” he said. “You do it on a national basis.” The 60 MHz is on top of 100 MHz of low- and mid-band spectrum already in use in AT&T’s network, but it will start at LTE speeds and eventually move to 5G, Stephens said. Parts of the network are still 3G, he noted. The carrier plans to start construction as soon as possible in states that opted in, he said. Most of the buildout will be done within three years, he predicted: “It’s a very efficient build.” AT&T still expects to close its buy of Time Warner this year, Stephens said. “Things are going as expected,” he said. “We are in the process of working with the DOJ.” AT&T projects $1 billion in savings through the transaction, he said. Stephens also offered a network virtualization update. At the end of last year, 34 percent of AT&T’s network functions were virtualized, at 40 percent at the end of the June, he said. AT&T expects to be at 55 percent by the end of this year and 75 percent by 2020, he said. Stephens said AT&T’s dividend is up to the board, but he doesn't expect major changes. The board “has been speaking pretty clearly [on dividends] for close to 35 years,” he said. Many who hold AT&T stock “really value” the dividend, he said. Last week, Windstream eliminated its dividend in favor of buying back stock, sending its shares down along with some other telcos (see 1708030010).

Samsung wants a court to "compel" a California man to resolve his grievances over the safety of the Galaxy S7 Edge through binding arbitration. Daniel Ramirez claims his S7 Edge overheated while it was in his pants pocket, injuring him, said Samsung’s complaint (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in Youngstown, Ohio. Ramirez sued for liability and negligence in New Jersey Superior Court, but withdrew the action Wednesday with announced intentions to refile, said Samsung. “Through his purchase and use of his S7 Edge, Ramirez entered into a binding arbitration agreement.” Compelling arbitration in such cases is "routinely rejected in multiple federal courts,” Ramirez attorney Andrew Felix emailed us Monday. “Samsung seeks to deprive all consumers of their right to a jury trial based solely on obscure arbitration provisions that are intentionally hidden behind shrink wrap, inside the product box and buried in the manual.” Though Samsung does not comment on pending litigation, "we have established a dispute resolution procedure for some of our products, which has been enforced by numerous courts, to enable consumers to have a fast, fair, easy, and efficient resolution through the arbitration of any claims or issues they may have,” a company spokeswoman emailed us Monday. Samsung's U.S. headquarters is based in New Jersey; Ramirez was injured while working in Ohio.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Monday on a request by FELHC, BPC Spectrum, Dominion 700 and Access 700, which want an extension of time or waiver of the FCC’s substantial service requirement for 700 MHz guard band A-block licenses. “The companies say the spectrum 'will be deployed as a private, internal radio system to support utility operations and the reliable monitoring and control of electrical equipment at thousands of locations across several states,'” the notice said. But the companies also argue they need until the end of 2021 “to transition from legacy copper communications facilities,” the bureau said. Comments are due in docket 17-201 on Sept. 6, replies Sept. 21.

FCC Form 605, the “Quick-Form Application for Authorization in the Ship, Aircraft, Amateur, Restricted and Commercial Operator, and General Mobile Radio Services,” is being revised to ask whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony, said a Monday Wireless Bureau public notice. The change is consistent with similar forms, the PN said. The previous edition will become obsolete and the new edition must be used starting Sept. 7, it said. Applicants are required to answer the question only if they're filing an application for a new license, an application to modify or renew and modify an existing license, or an amendment to a pending application, the bureau said. “If the answer to the question is ‘Yes,’ the applicant must attach as an exhibit a statement explaining the circumstances and giving the reasons why the applicant believes that grant of the application would be in the public interest notwithstanding the misconduct.”