Some carriers treat the wireless industry like a version of the board game Monopoly, but hopefully the FCC is reinjecting some competition into the market, said Competitive Carriers Association officials in a blog post Friday. Tim Donovan, senior vice president-legislative affairs, and Rebecca Murphy Thompson, general counsel, hailed commissioners' approval Thursday of the Mobility Fund II order (see 1702230042). “Dominant carriers may have already scooped up Park Place and Boardwalk, but competitive carriers have made investments to build innovative, far-reaching networks serving Indiana Avenue, Kentucky Avenue, Tennessee Avenue, and Pennsylvania Railroad,” they wrote. “With the help of Universal Service funding and smart infrastructure policies, carriers can continue to expand to areas where the business case for doing so is absent, either because private investment does not suffice or a dominant carrier has asserted their market power to lock other players in ‘jail.’”

T-Mobile sought clarification of one aspect of the FCC December order establishing a common standard for the transition from text technology (TTY) to real-time text (RTT), an order approved 5-0 under former Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1612150048). The order "in places, seems to inaccurately describe the way carriers deliver calls to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in some cases,” the carrier said in a filing in docket 16-145. “T-Mobile therefore requests the Commission clarify carrier obligations with respect to delivery of RTT calls to PSAPs using an Emergency Services IP Network to ensure that regulatory requirements do not conflict with real-world deployments.”

Cambridge Broadband Networks Ltd. (CBNL) raised concerns about the current state of frequency-division duplexing (FDD) in high-band spectrum, during a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau staff. They discussed "CBNL’s current US base of FDD customers in bands between 24-40 GHz,” the company said in a filing in docket 14-177. “CBNL expressed deep concern over the state of FDD deployments in the 37-40 GHz band and the impact changes to the band would have on CBNL customers who operate thousands of … links in a dozen US States at 28 GHz and 39 GHz.” Also troubling is the recent FCC action against Straight Path Communications (see 1701120046), which could affect deployments by a number of companies, the firm said. Straight Path agreed to pay the government $100 million to settle FCC allegations the company violated agency buildout and discontinuance rules for licenses it owns in the 28 and 39 GHz bands. In July, commissioners approved 5-0 the use of the 28 and 39 GHz and other bands for 5G (see 1607140052).

Wi-Fi advocates are collectively holding their breath as carriers start to deploy LTE-unlicensed, said Fletcher Heald lawyer Mitchell Lazarus in a blog post. The FCC said Wednesday it certified the first LTE-U devices (see 1702220066). “The announcement reiterates that coexistence with other unlicensed devices is not an FCC requirement,” wrote Lazarus. “But it mentions that the new devices were successfully evaluated for coexistence under a test plan worked out by industry -- in this case, LTE-U and Wi-Fi stakeholders under the auspices of the Wi-Fi Alliance.” Lazarus, who represents wireless clients, noted Wi-Fi is inexpensive and loved by consumers because it always works. “The real test of coexistence between Wi-Fi and LTE-U begins now, in the millions of homes and offices that rely on both Wi-Fi and cell phones to stay connected,” he said.

SoftBank, Sprint and TBCASoft said they're working toward a technology partnership jointly developing blockchain technology for telecom carriers. Blockchain technology is used by companies to jointly manage the database that records Bitcoin transactions. SoftBank owns a majority interest in Sprint. “TBCASoft is a startup company developing consortium-based blockchain technology specifically for telecommunication carriers,” said a Friday joint news release. “SoftBank, Sprint and TBCASoft will promote research and development with the aim of building a cross-carrier blockchain platform for various services, such as secured clearing and settlement, personal authentication, IoT applications, and other services provided by telecommunication carriers.” The three plan a technical trial starting in June that connects TBCASoft’s blockchain platform to carriers’ systems, the announcement said: “The three companies will collaborate closely on issues related to technology, business and the regulations of various jurisdictions.”

CBRS Alliance founding members Nokia and Federated Wireless said they’re working together on an LTE technology for the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service band. Nokia will provide indoor and outdoor CBRS small cells through its Flexi Zone solution, and shared-spectrum company Federated is offering a cloud-based spectrum controller giving operators a “cost-effective and dynamic option for accessing this new spectrum,” the companies said in a Friday news release. “The CBRS 3.5 GHz band provides much needed spectrum to meet the rapidly growing demand for wireless network capacity, while addressing potential interference and coordination issues with new spectrum sharing and management techniques. Operators have taken notice, and several US operators have escalated their plans to trial the new technology as they continue to densify their mobile networks and prepare for 5G.”

Google Access reported progress on spectrum-sharing efforts in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service band (3.55-3.7 GHz). Access completed testing of consumer devices connecting to CBRS base stations and formed a trusted tester program to test interoperability between the base stations and the Access spectrum access system, wrote Mobility Product Lead Mathew Varghese in a Friday blog post. CBRS allows large venues to deploy private wireless LTE networks at low cost, he said. Access tested phones using Qualcomm Snapdragon X20 Gibabit LTE and Spreadtrum SoCs and mobile Wi-Fi hot spots by Juni and Infomark, it said. The mobile hot spots are expected to come to market before the phones, he said. The trusted tester program includes Nokia, Juni, ZTE, Sercomm, Ericsson and Ruckus Wireless, Varghese said.

Nine in 10 mobile device owners have at least one subscription to access coupons, promotions and special discounts, and they actively seek alerts to offers and sales, said a CTA study Thursday. “Every step of the consumer’s path to purchase has dramatically changed with the use of smartphones, from triggering interest in considering technology products to purchase and sometimes post purchase behavior that includes posting online reviews,” said Steve Koenig, senior director-market research. Innovations associated with smartphones continue to change the retail market, Koenig noted, citing location-based services and apps that are creating opportunities for brick-and-mortar and online retailers. Despite high ownership of mobile devices, 41 percent of consumers use a computer to assist in shopping, preferring websites to mobile apps due to accessibility and convenience, CTA said. Online and mobile research leading to a brick-and-mortar in-store purchase remains the primary path for consumer purchases, said CTA, with 61 percent of purchases made in-store and 29 percent of consumers looking for product information while shopping at a store. Smartphones offer quick access to information but using a phone in a store can be distracting, said the report. Most online purchases are made via online-only retailer websites (51 percent), such as Amazon or Newegg, rather than with online-only retailer apps (24 percent), said CTA. Some 76 percent of consumers use existing online accounts to make a purchase, with the remainder using guest checkout options or signing up for a new account, it said. The group estimated U.S. online consumer spending via mobile devices nearly doubled during the holiday season, climbing 45 percent to $20.1 billion. Smartphone unit sales are projected to rise 3 percent this year in the U.S. to 185 million, representing $55.6 billion in revenue.

Numerous LG mobile devices infringe three 4G LTE patents owned by Wi-LAN, the wireless technology and licensing company alleged in a Thursday complaint (in Pacer). LG’s products “include software and associated hardware that prioritize the transmission of data generated by various applications that run on these LG products, and in doing such prioritization utilize the claimed inventions of the patents asserted in this action,” said the complaint in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California. LG’s infringement gives it “an unfair advantage” over its competitors, “many of whom have chosen to do the right thing and license their use of Wi-LAN’s wireless technologies and patents,” it said. LG “knew or should have known” for months it was infringing the patents, it said. Wi-LAN since April “invited LG to renew its license” to Wi-LAN’s patent portfolio, but LG “declined to substantively engage in licensing negotiations with Wi-LAN or take a license,” it said. “As a matter of policy, LG doesn’t generally comment on such pending legal matters,” spokesman John Taylor emailed us.

Harman said its implementation of Apple CarPlay integration, through a wireless connection, is being deployed in the market for the first time. A photo in a Thursday news release showed a BMW steering wheel, and BMW announced last fall its 5 Series vehicles would include wireless CarPlay integration. In Harman’s infotainment system, available to select OEMs, a vehicle’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks will enable the connectivity required for Apple’s CarPlay technology vs. other solutions that support CarPlay through a USB connection, said the company. Harman’s system is said to provide flexibility between native and CarPlay human machine interfaces, allowing simultaneous operation of head unit functions and CarPlay navigation. Users can control through the car’s display their iPhone calls, music playback, mobile office and navigation functions, it said. The system also has voice recognition, it said. Samsung is buying Harman (see 1612210031).