ATIS is working on solutions key to completing the recommendations of the FCC's Robocall Strike Force, it said in a news release Thursday. The strike force made initial recommendations to the agency last week (see 1610260053). "The wide range of mitigation techniques ATIS has contributed and is currently developing are invaluable to the industry as it takes decisive and coordinated action to abate robocall proliferation," said ATIS President Susan Miller. "Our efforts address the problem from all critical angles. They center around authenticating and verifying calling party information to provide a necessary foundation for a wide range of innovative and flexible call screening/blocking applications. In addition to helping consumers, this work is essential to maintaining consumer confidence in communications networks and services." ATIS also said it released a new standard “Location Accuracy Improvements for Emergency Calls” (ATIS-0700028 v1.1), which defines the architecture and requirements for a 911 National Emergency Address Database (NEAD). “NEAD will store information related to the location of Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth beacons in an effort to provide dispatchable location information to public safety officials,” ATIS said.

The smartwatch category was hurt by a dearth of introductions in the first half of 2016, but sales during the holiday season will be “robust,” reported Parks Associates Wednesday. Apple had 39 percent market share in April, expected to grow after the recent release of Series 2, said Parks. Ten percent of U.S. broadband households own a smartwatch, and uses including mobile payments are emerging, said analyst Chris Tweedt.

Not all went according to plan on LeEco’s debut day for its LeMall.com, marking the U.S. debut of products including smartphones introduced Oct. 19 in San Francisco (see 1610180018). LeEco promised the Wednesday debut would include the announcement of a “truly disruptive” content partnership that will “break all boundaries here in this country.” The company will "provide details as soon as we can” on the content partnership, “but unfortunately, the lawyers got involved, so we're just waiting for final OK before we announce,” a spokesman emailed us.

Samsung will invest more than $1 billion by first half 2017 at its Austin semiconductor facility, it said in a Tuesday announcement. The investment will be used to shore up Samsung’s current System LSI business to meet demand for advanced SoC products for mobile and other electronic devices, said Samsung.

Vehicle-to-everything technologies will make driving safer, 5G Americas said in a white paper. V2X technologies also will make traffic move more efficiently, provide additional traveler information service and be good for the environment, the paper said. “LTE cellular technology can be an important enabler for a best-in-class vehicle connectivity solution,” said Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, in a news release. “A global LTE footprint and technology standards, combined with future-proof evolution, are enablers for Cellular V2X on the road to success in achieving the goals established for safety, information, ecology, maintenance and security, as well as entertainment, in the connected car of the future.”

North America’s mobile industry will be worth nearly $1 trillion a year to the region’s economy by 2020, up from $710 billion last year, GSMA reported Tuesday. The launch of 5G, the IoT, smart cities and connected cars will play a role in the growth, GSMA said. “Thanks to the billions of dollars of investment made by mobile operators in their networks in recent years, North America is a leader in mobile usage and engagement, characterised by huge levels of mobile data consumption,” said Michael O’Hara, GSMA chief marketing officer. “The recent decision in the US to identify and open up spectrum for 5G services -- alongside its leadership of the IoT market -- has reaffirmed the region as one of the world’s most advanced mobile markets and one that is leading the next wave of mobile innovation.” Among findings is that smartphones account for 75 percent of the region’s mobile connections, the highest smartphone regional adoption rate.

CTIA told FCC officials its Messaging Working Group (MWG) is developing principles and best practices that “reflect and encourage an evolving wireless messaging ecosystem.” The group reported in a filing in docket 08-7 on a meeting with FCC staff, led by CTIA General Counsel Tom Power. “MWG includes stakeholders throughout the wireless messaging ecosystem who are working to identify consensus based views on how to enable consumers and enterprises to exchange wireless messages, while investing all messaging stakeholders with the responsibility to protect consumers from unwanted messages,” said the association. “CTIA is working with toll-free ecosystem stakeholders, including Somos, ZipWhip, and RespOrgs [responsible organizations], to identify key principles that uphold the integrity of toll-free telephone numbers, provide transparency to RespOrgs and protect consumers from unwanted messages from toll-free telephone numbers.”

Operators of more than 750 communications towers nationwide have installed flashing lights, designed to save birds, but 15,000 towers remain unchanged, the American Bird Conservancy said Tuesday. Guidelines by the FCC and Federal Aviation Administration encourage the flashing lights, the conservancy said. Steady red or white lights attract or disorient migratory birds flying at night and as many as 7 million die each year in the U.S. after collisions with towers and the guy wires that support them, the group said in a news release. “By extinguishing the non-flashing lights on towers, we can reduce night-time bird fatality rates by as much as 70 percent,” said Christine Sheppard, manager of the group’s Bird Collisions Campaign.

Crown Castle International said Tuesday it's buying FPL FiberNet Holdings for $1.5 billion cash. FiberNet owns or has rights to about 11,500 route miles of fiber installed or under construction in Florida and Texas, including 6,000 miles in top metropolitan markets, said a news release. The deal “bolsters our fiber available for small cells in markets where we see significant demand from our wireless carrier customers,” said Jay Brown, Crown Castle CEO. “As demand for wireless connectivity continues to grow, small cells are playing an increasingly important role in adding the network capacity and density needed to provide ubiquitous high-speed, high-capacity wireless services.” The tower company said the deal should close in the first half of 2017 and should immediately add to earnings. New Street Research raised some concerns in a note to investors. “We remain wary of CCI’s outdoor small cell endeavors; while they have accelerated top-line growth and earn decent yields, we believe their returns are below those that towers offer and will likely face pressure as other players compete in the small cell realm,” New Street said.

Some 97 percent of American travelers who own smartphones use the devices to enhance their travel experiences, said a CTA survey released Tuesday. Respondents cited smartphones (64 percent), digital cameras (61 percent), tablets (27 percent) and laptops (17 percent) as the tech products they use most on vacation. Eighty-one percent said they value experiences more than possessions. About 9 percent said they favored possessions, while 10 percent said they value both equally. Among the most valued experiences were time with family and friends (40 percent), experiencing new cultures (28 percent), visiting new places (22 percent) and adventurous activities (14 percent). CTA worked with Integrated Insights on the survey, an online study of 600 participants done Aug. 1-8.