T-Mobile Monday unveiled SyncUp Drive, which “easily transforms your car into a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot and gives you extensive added vehicle diagnostics, safety and security features.” The carrier said starting Nov. 18, it's offering the product for free with a 2 GB or higher mobile internet plan. “We’re making it radically simple for customers to connect their cars with a complete, all-in-one package,” said CEO John Legere. SyncUp plugs into a vehicle’s on-board diagnostics-II port, which is standard on most cars built after 1996, "is always on, doesn’t require charging and can be managed right from your smartphone,” the company said in a news release.

Verizon completed its $2.4 billion acquisition of Dublin-based Fleetmatics (see 1608010013), a fleet and mobile workforce management company serving small and medium-sized businesses. With North American headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, it's “now part of the Verizon Telematics business, which offers comprehensive wireless, software and hardware solutions to consumers, enterprises, automakers and dealers to power connected-vehicle products around the world,” the carrier said in Monday news release: The business has more than 42,000 customers, 826,000 subscribers and a team of 1,200.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) filed at the FCC in support of a waiver request by Bresnan Communications, which wants to sell three 700 MHz licenses in the state to T-Mobile. Bresnan is a subsidiary of Charter Communications. The subsidiary has asked the FCC to approve the transfer and waive a pending accelerated buildout requirement (see 1610060062). “The unique topography, low-density population and extreme weather conditions in Montana and Wyoming make it hard for companies to provide telecommunications services to our residents,” Bullock said in a filing in docket 16-319. “There are too few providers in our states offering too little on the way of advance telecommunications services.” T-Mobile warns “that without the requested waiver or extension, it could not meet the existing buildout deadlines and is therefore unwilling to purchase the licenses,” Bullock said. State Rep. Daniel Zolnikov (R), who represents the Billings area, also pressed for the change, saying it could mean better access to broadband in parts of rural Montana.

CTIA urged the FCC to make permanent an exemption for small businesses of the enhanced transparency requirements in the 2015 net neutrality rules. The current exemption is set to expire Dec. 15. “As our comments in this proceeding noted, the enhanced transparency rules are unnecessary and unduly burdensome for all broadband providers, and particularly burdensome for smaller providers, many of which lack the monetary and/or staff resources to comply with complex disclosure requirements that will not provide any benefit to smaller providers’ customers,” CTIA said in a filing in docket 14-28. It said the agency should adopt “a more realistic definition of the small business entities to which the exemption would apply. Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an item on the exemption Oct. 25. CTIA noted that the FCC’s definition isn’t consistent with other definitions of small provider. The commission offers the exemption for providers with 100,000 or fewer broadband connections, as measured by a providers’ most recent Form 477, CTIA noted. In comparison, the Small Business Administration defines a small telecom carrier as either a nondominant carrier with fewer than 1,500 employees or one with 500,000 or fewer subscribers, the association said. Wheeler circulated an order and Further NPRM consistent with his commitment to let the full commission decide on any permanent extension, an FCC official said Monday.

Wearable health device maker Mio said a Norwegian Consumer Council report (see 1611030007) that criticized the privacy practices of several companies that make fitness wristbands does have merit. "Having reviewed the comments and concerns in the report, there are some immediate changes that we can address such as the privacy policy access on our website, formatting and layout," emailed a Mio spokeswoman Thursday. "Regarding the concerns around personal information required, Mio only requests information that is used in our algorithms -- the core part of how we set heart rate zones and supply accurate workout data to the end user." The NCC said Mio, Fitbit, Garmin and Jawbone's wristband devices collect more information than needed and don't provide clear enough language in their terms and conditions for collecting and sharing data. The Mio spokesman said the company is "putting significant effort into maintaining best practices in privacy and security to comply with all regulations, giving consumers the protective measures necessary."

Sprint defended its waiver request to begin operation on old National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) spectrum previously used by public safety entities in the Phoenix area. The FCC hasn't declared the 800 MHz rebanding “completed” in the area so Sprint said it needs a waiver from the FCC Wireless Bureau to deploy LTE in the spectrum. Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix and 24 other cities and towns, objected, saying it hasn't completed the 800 MHz rebanding and continues to experience some interference on the new frequencies it's using as part of a transition out of the old frequencies. Giving Sprint access to the spectrum “would eliminate the option to temporarily revert back to Maricopa’s old spectrum, should such action become necessary,” the county said. “More importantly, the addition of another potential interferor could cloud the ability to accurately determine the cause of the currently experienced interference.” Sprint told the FCC it has general support in Arizona for the waiver, except from Maricopa County. “Maricopa’s Comments indicates it is experiencing interference on its new replacement frequencies and despite working with technical experts at Sprint, Verizon, its consultant and its vendor, Motorola, the exact cause is still undetermined,” Sprint said in reply comments. “In fact, the impacts to the Maricopa system have not been witnessed by Sprint. Because the interfering signals Maricopa is experiencing on its system are irregular, intermittent and on specific frequencies impacting only Maricopa … it does not appear to be related to any broadband commercial operations of Sprint or Verizon.” Comments were filed in docket 16-295.

To ensure smooth 5G deployment in California, the California Supreme Court should grant review of T-Mobile’s appeal of a lower court’s decision upholding a San Francisco wireless siting ordinance, the Wireless Infrastructure Association said. In a Wednesday amicus curiae letter supporting a Oct. 28 petition by T-Mobile (case S238001), WIA said the decision by the California Court of Appeal for the First District, “if left in place, would threaten the deployment of essential new wireless communications facilities in public rights-of-way across California -- facilities that would benefit all residents of California.” In September, the appeals court said cities may consider aesthetics when assessing telco pole attachment applications (see 1609160052). But WIA agreed with T-Mobile that the court incorrectly interpreted California law.

Sprint is the first carrier to deploy upgraded text messaging, through a rich communications services (RCS) offering developed by Google, Google said Friday. RCS messaging is now available to Sprint customers using Android devices, Google said. “This will bring enhanced features including group chat, high-res photo sharing, read receipts, and more to the standard messaging experience on Android,” Google said in a news release. “Sprint subscribers will have their standard SMS experience upgraded through the Messenger app for Android devices, developed by Google.” More than 58 carriers and manufacturers have committed to supporting a single, standard implementation of RCS, Google said. “We are delighted that Sprint has become the first operator to roll out the Universal Profile to their subscribers and hope that this will encourage other markets across the world to follow their lead,” said Alex Sinclair, GSMA chief technology officer. “A single, open and common universal profile will help to drive the global adoption of RCS services, and make it easier for consumers to enjoy rich, consistent and interoperable messaging experiences regardless of device or network.”

In the next few years, consumers will continue moving to fully embedded connected-car systems from basic AM/FM, Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal told investors. Shares closed up 3.7 percent to $80.76 Thursday as its automotive business drove an 8 percent hike in total revenue to $1.8 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30. The company reported getting new and follow-on connected car contracts from Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and others in the quarter, and it partnered with AT&T. “If cars are going to be autonomous or semi-autonomous, you can’t run them from a handheld device,” said Paliwal, referring to a “post-device era.”

The first phase of wireless broadband transformed entertainment, news, telephony and finance and the next phases will transform much of the rest of the economy, said Bret Swanson, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in a report Thursday. “To drive and accommodate this cascading wireless boom, we will need wireless connections that are faster, greater in number, and more robust, widespread, diverse, and flexible,” the paper said. “We will need a new fifth generation, or 5G, wireless infrastructure. 5G will be the foundation of not just the digital economy but increasingly of the physical economy as well."