The FCC Wireline and Wireless bureaus Wednesday proposed to release minimum advertised or expected 4G LTE speed data from the Form 477 filings that carriers must make. Release would help Mobility Fund II analysis, the bureaus said in a public notice. “Disclosure of the minimum advertised or expected speeds associated with service providers’ 4G LTE coverage submitted in their Form 477 filings will enable a transparent process for challenges, and final determinations of areas eligible for Mobility Fund II support,” the PN said. “Strong public interest benefits support disclosing the minimum advertised or expected 4G LTE speeds.” The bureaus tentatively found “the public interest in providing such speed information would substantially outweigh any potential competitive harms to the providers in maintaining its confidentiality.” Staff said it would start with disclosure of data from Dec. 31, 2015, and June 30, 2016, Form 477 filings. Carriers have until April 12 to make a case for why individualized data shouldn't be released. “Affected parties must oppose disclosure of their aforementioned Form 477 4G LTE speed data and provide a full justification in support of their request for confidentiality,” the notice said.

THX bowed a mobile certification program for smartphones, tablets and laptops, it announced Tuesday.

Intel representatives met with Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, and other OET officials on the FCC’s controversial 2015 NPRM proposing new RF device certification rules (see 1510130052). Discussion focused on modifying the rules to permit certification of a “family of devices” and on the rules for device labeling, said a filing in docket 15-170. “To accommodate smaller devices, reduce burdens on manufacturers, and eliminate potential consumer confusion, the labels required under Sections 2.803 and 2.805 be shortened to simply read ‘This device has not been authorized by the FCC.’”

Ericsson said it's realigning its business strategy to focus on a few key areas, including “networks” and technology for 4G, 5G and the IoT. The firm also said it will have to write down $1.8 billion-$2.4 billion in charges as part of its turn-around strategy. Ericsson “will pursue a more focused business strategy to revitalize technology and market leadership, improve group profitability and enable customer success,” the company said in a Tuesday news release. “The overall strategy is to enable service providers to expand their business across industries and into new profit pools. We will drive the development of market-leading solutions, fully leveraging the potential of 5G, IoT and cloud. Restoring profitability is key and we will start by focusing the portfolio to fewer areas and securing effectiveness and efficiency in operations.” The changes were announced by CEO Borje Ekholm, who took over in January. Ekholm was chosen to lead the company by the Wallenberg family, which is the largest shareholder in the company through its Investor AB. Also, the company named an executive team as part of what it said was simplifying its organization (see the personals section of this publication.)

The Competitive Carriers Association met with Amy Bender, aide to FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, about ISP privacy rules and CCA’s petition for reconsideration. CCA representatives “stressed how the 2016 Privacy Order applies undue burdens to small providers,” said a filing in docket 16-106. “CCA commended Commissioner O’Rielly’s recent blog post stressing the need to reign in FCC-imposed information collection burdens, track associated cost data, and analyze that data to eliminate duplicative or unnecessary paperwork burdens. CCA agrees that tracking cost and time burdens is important, especially to ensure small providers are not overburdened.”

The Rural Wireless Association fired back at T-Mobile in their dispute over 700 MHz licenses in Montana and Wyoming. RWA earlier asked the FCC to review a December Wireless Bureau waiver of 700 MHz buildout rules for Bresnan Communications (see 1612210038). Bresnan plans to assign the three licenses to T-Mobile. The carrier said in a recent filing the FCC should reject the request since it “merely reiterates arguments” already raised and dispatched. “The waiver request represented a case of first impression where the Commission’s prior waiver decisions would be of limited applicability,” RWA said in a new filing in docket 16-319. “This can hardly be characterized as routine. Under prior buildout policies, failure to meet required coverage benchmarks would result in loss of license and rendered the licensee ineligible to reapply for it. The policy adopted for the 700 MHz licenses in question in this proceeding replaces the former draconian approach with a reliance on market forces and competition to incent licensees to meet their buildout obligations.”

Target is giving away a $300 gift card in an iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus promotion running through Saturday. The deal is available to customers who sign up for a new line of service or a smartphone upgrade, with a two-year contract, on AT&T Wireless, Sprint or Verizon Wireless.

The number of global cellular IoT connections is likely to grow to more than 2.4 billion in 2025, Strategy Analytics reported. The top three “vertical markets” -- automotive, utilities and security -- will have more than 46 percent of global IoT cellular connections in 2025, said a Monday SA news release: “Across the forecast period, the automotive vertical market will not only remain the single largest global consumer of IoT cellular connections, but increase its market share position by 2025.”

NTT and Toyota agreed to collaborate on developing, verifying and standardizing connected car technology. Goals are to research and develop ways to address issues such as traffic accidents and congestion and to offer customers new mobility services, they announced. The collaboration will focus on a platform for collecting and analyzing big data; IoT networks and data centers for safe and reliable collection and distribution of data; 5G and edge computing communications in vehicles; and artificial intelligence to improve the in-vehicle experience for drivers, they said Monday. The companies plan a 2018 field trial.

Samsung Electronics America officially ruled out offering refurbished Galaxy Note7s for commercial availability in the U.S., after SEA's South Korean parent announced plans from Seoul Monday to market refurbished Note7s as replacement or rental devices in one of three “environmentally friendly” measures to recycle an estimated 4.3 million units of the twice-recalled fire-prone smartphones. The company’s “objective” in introducing refurbished Note7s “is solely to reduce and minimize any environmental impact” from the recall, an SEA spokeswoman emailed us Monday. “The product details including the name, technical specification and price range will be announced when the device is available. Samsung will not be offering refurbished Galaxy Note7 devices for rent or sale in the U.S.” On how the public can be assured refurbished Note7s will be safer than the twice-recalled originals, “the Note7 battery issue was due to an isolated battery manufacturing error and we have disclosed the root cause in January,” the spokeswoman said of Samsung’s report on the Note7 fiasco in which it said it will address the safety of future phones "from the component level to the assembly and shipment of devices" (see 1701230048). Samsung is scheduled to bow the Galaxy S8 Wednesday, its first new smartphone introduction since the Note7 debacle in the fall. For the refurbished Note7s, “we will make sure the refurbished product will be equipped with a new battery, which has gone through new safety measures," including the "eight-point battery safety check” that Samsung disclosed in January, the SEA spokeswoman said.