The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved a waiver for Kyma Medical Technologies to start selling a medical imaging and diagnostic device. The uCor 3.0 is designed to monitor patients with congestive heart failure but required a waiver for unlicensed ultra-wideband (UWB) devices. The waiver covers rules for definition, measurement procedure, permissible frequency range and coordination, OET said in a Tuesday order. “The device employs a very low power RF signal that is directed into the patient’s torso via a small transmitter that is temporarily attached to the skin,” OET said. “Signals from the uCor propagate through the chest and lungs and reflect back from the heart. Data collected by the uCor is transferred via standard wireless interface over the internet and on to a data center where it can be analyzed by a healthcare provider.” After taking comment on a waiver request, OET said it found that granting the waiver wouldn’t undermine FCC rules. “The uCor device is functionally equivalent to other types of UWB imaging devices contemplated under the rules and that the risk of interference from the uCor device will be no greater than from other such UWB imaging devices,” the order said.

New T-Mobile and Sprint rate plans appear to test the limits of FCC net neutrality rules, said CCMI telecom consultant Andrew Regitsky in a Tuesday blog post. Regitsky cited new plans by T-Mobile and Sprint that charge more for better data connections. For example, Sprint launched its “Unlimited Freedom” plan in mid-August, with limits on video, music and gaming streaming, he said. Later, the carrier added the “Unlimited Freedom Premium” plan, “which is $20 more a month and allows for higher quality streaming than the original offering,” he said. “What are the FCC’s options?” Regitsky asked. “If the Commission stays on its current course, it would most likely not take any formal action against T-Mobile or Sprint but instead would hold informal meetings to warn them off these plans. If those carriers persist, only then would the Commission be likely to begin a formal complaint process. Of course consumer groups can pressure the Commission to take action.” Sprint emailed in response: "The FCC's open internet decision encourages giving customers the opportunity to choose plans with different performance options. Allowing customers to select plans that have performance options tailored to different needs or different classes of applications is good for consumers, net neutrality, and mobile competition."

Ericsson said tests it concluded in August on LTE-unlicensed and Wi-Fi showed the two services can safely coexist. Ericsson filed the results at the FCC in docket 15-105. “Results of our testing of channel selection, reselection and co-channel operation demonstrate that LTE-U will fairly coexist with Wi-Fi,” the company said. “The channel selection and reselection tests demonstrate that LTE-U channel selection is an extremely effective coexistence procedure, even in extremely dense deployments. The co-channel testing demonstrates that LTE-U has no more impact on a Wi-Fi end user’s experience than another Wi-Fi Network.” In the report itself, Ericsson said LTE-U, using a small amount of 5 GHz spectrum, can provide up to a 135 Mbps speed increase over LTE. LTE-U is likely to be especially helpful in supporting indoor data traffic, the report said. “LTE on the unlicensed band serves as a secondary carrier and provides bursts in the data speed to increase the delivery speed of the data payload.” The LTE-U secondary cell serves only downlink traffic, the report said: “LTE-U has been designed to achieve fair sharing between LTE and Wi-Fi and other technologies within the 5 GHz band, to benefit all users. The goal is to impact Wi-Fi end users experience no more than an additional Wi-Fi network would do on the same channel.” The FCC is pushing Wi-Fi and LTE-U advocates to work together on coexistence testing (see 1608040060).

CTIA asked the FCC for an extra 30 days to file replies on a Further NPRM proposing changes to Part 4 network outage reporting rules. The association and other industry groups opposed changes in the initial comment round (see 1608290045). Comments are due Monday. Initial comments were “voluminous and addressed a wide variety of technical and other issues raised by the Commission’s proposed revisions to the outage reporting rules,” CTIA said. “Providing stakeholders additional time beyond the current 15-day reply period will allow for review of these extensive initial comments, consideration of the varied proposals therein, and the development of more robust replies and a more useful record.” The FCC also allowed only 10 business days to craft replies, part of which includes CTIA’s annual conference in Las Vegas this week, CTIA said. The filing was posted in docket 15-80.

Sprint pushed various business data service regulatory proposals in meetings and filings at the FCC last week. Sprint argued for business data services "reforms" to achieve FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's wireless objectives, outlined its recommendations for a "competitive market test" and "Ethernet benchmark remedy," and provided BDS declarations from its chief economist and a former FCC chief economist in four submissions in docket 16-143 posted Tuesday through Thursday.

T-Mobile representatives explained the carrier’s work with the government on the Space-Ground Link Subsystem “and associated coordination requirements” as it deploys in the AWS-3 bands. The explanation came in a meeting with FCC staff. Among those at the meeting was Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, said a filing in docket 13-185. “We acknowledged T-Mobile’s obligation to successfully coordinate its operations with the Department of Defense in advance of commencing commercial service and addressed potential concerns related to possible operational changes after a mutually agreed upon plan had been approved by the parties,” T-Mobile said. “To address those concerns we noted that should either entity (licensee or incumbent) make changes to its network outside the parameters to which the agreement was granted, that entity must work with the other to revise the coordination agreement to reflect the revised operations.”

Samsung’s statement Friday that it halted sales of Galaxy Note7 smartphones a month into their introduction (see 1608020036) and will replace phones already purchased “over the coming weeks” made no specific mention of the widely reported fire hazard that prompted the recall. Samsung “is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously,” the statement said. “In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.” Samsung is aware of 35 “cases” globally through Thursday and is “conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market,” it said. “We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.”

Smartphone malware infections rose 96 percent in 2016's first half, from the same 2015 period, reaching an all-time high in April, Nokia said in a Thursday report. Android devices “were the most targeted mobile platform by far,” with 74 percent of all mobile malware infections, it said. "Attackers are targeting a broader range of applications and platforms, including popular mobile games and new IoT devices, and developing more sophisticated and destructive forms of malware." On the new sophistication in malware, new variations of threats “attempt to root the phone in order to provide complete control and establish a permanent presence on the device,” Nokia said.

IDC sees global smartphone shipments growing at a relatively flat 1.6 percent rate this year, reaching 1.46 billion units, the research firm said in a Thursday report. Though growth “remains positive, it is down significantly” from the 10.4 percent growth rate in 2015 compared with 2014, IDC said. “Much of the slowdown is attributed to the decline expected in developed regions in 2016, while emerging markets continue with positive growth.” Consumer preference for larger screens is expected to continue and the growing interest in virtual and augmented reality “will only drive that forward” as models with screens 5.5 inches and larger go from roughly a quarter of the smartphone market to a third by 2020, IDC said. As larger-screen models gain in share and popularity, “we expect to see a myriad of vendors further expanding their portfolio of large-screened devices but at more affordable price points compared to market leaders Samsung and Apple," it said. IDC fixes Android’s 2016 share at 85.3 percent vs. Apple’s 13.9 percent, it said. By 2020, it pegs Android’s share at 85.7 percent to Apple’s 14.2 percent, with other platforms like Windows Phone approaching extinction.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) board agreed to draft a statement in general support of FirstNet, said Mike Worrell, FirstNet senior fire services adviser, in a blog post. FirstNet Chairwoman Sue Swenson and Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson were at the recent IAFC Fire-Rescue International (FRI) in San Antonio to meet with the IAFC board, Worrell wrote. “FRI 2016 was a great opportunity for us to debut our new exhibit booth. As an extension of our outreach efforts with public safety, more than 300 conference attendees visited the booth, and FirstNet staff fielded questions from many eager to learn about the future of public safety communications.”