New 5G deployments will require wide channel sizes and spectrum in a variety of bands, 5G Americas said in a report released Wednesday, by Rysavy Research. The report sums up much of what has been learned so far on 5G. “The mobile industry is in the process of massive transformation, creating vast new capabilities that will benefit businesses and society as a whole,” the report said. “The step from 3G to 4G was dramatic, and the advances the industry is unleashing, initially in LTE and then in 5G, will be even greater.” Standards bodies are unlikely to complete a standard before 2020, but that isn't slowing progress, the report said. “Engineers have demonstrated many of 5G’s expected capabilities, and some operators have stated they will deploy pre-standard networks for fixed applications as early as 2017. 5G will not replace LTE, but in most deployments will co-exist with it through at least the late-2020s with the two technologies tightly integrated in a manner transparent to users.”
Union workers for AT&T Mobility voted to ratify a four-year healthcare contract. The carrier and workers represented by Communications Workers of America reached agreement on terms in early August (see 1608030065). “Our main goal was to put health care benefits bargaining back in the regional bargaining agreement process and to make health care affordable for all Mobility workers,” CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor said in a news release Tuesday. “This new contract reduces healthcare costs and will improve the standard of living for our members.” An AT&T spokesman said, “Our objective in these negotiations was to reach a fair agreement that enables us to continue providing excellent union-represented careers to our employees, and we believe this contract does that.” Wages, pension and work rules for union-represented Mobility employees are negotiated under separate contracts.
Samsung began mass production of a mobile application processor, it said in a news release. It's designed for the budget smartphone market and other IoT devices, said Samsung Monday, and integrates an LTE modem with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM and global navigation satellite system.
French software company Oberthur Technologies launched the Flybuy series of wearables with mobile payment capability, it said in a Tuesday news release: It's a SIM-size contactless card with an antenna that can be inserted into a silicone or leather wristband, key chain or accessories for fitness trackers or watches.
Verizon is offering for preorder the latest versions of Fitbit, the carrier said in a news release. The Fitbit Charge 2 and Flex 2 can be preordered online for $149.99 and $99.99 respectively, the telecom company said. The Charge 2 is a smartwatch that includes “a plethora of features to make fitness tracking simple while maximizing workouts,” the carrier said. “SmartTrack technology automatically recognizes certain exercises, such as running and biking, and records them for you in the Fitbit app.” The device also connects to a phone for mapping routes and tracking stats like pace and distance traveled. The Flex 2 is an ultra-slim fitness wearable that records “all day activity tracking for steps, distance, calories, burned, active minutes, and hourly activity,” Verizon said.
Huawei joined the ZigBee Alliance at the Promoter level and accepted a seat on its board, said the alliance in a Monday announcement. The ZigBee Alliance “is heading in the right direction” toward the IoT, and Huawei is throwing its support behind ZigBee’s approach to device intelligence, said David Hoelscher, Huawei chief marketing director.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology published a guide on its rates for handling applications for approval of equipment and experimental licenses as of Tuesday. “This Fee Filing Guide is considered a reference guide to identify and describe the fee filing requirements for the Office of Engineering and Technology,” OET said Tuesday. “It is meant to be a handy reference of the services and requests for FCC actions that are subject to a fee.”
Weakening consumer spending for PCs, tablets and smartphones will dampen overall information technology revenue for the 2015-2020 forecast period, said an IDC report Monday. Consumer purchases generated nearly a quarter of IT revenue in 2015, it said. Stronger momentum will come from financial services and manufacturing, it said, and healthcare is expected to remain the fastest-growing industry, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 5.7 percent. Commercial segments rather than consumer sales will drive moderate growth for the tablet market, said IDC. Worldwide revenue for IT products is projected to grow from $2.4 trillion this year to more than $2.7 trillion in 2020, said the research firm.
Fitbit introduced the Fitbit Charge 2 and Fitbit Flex 2 wristbands, it said in a news release. Charge v2 adds health and fitness tools, smart notifications, a larger display and interchangeable bands, said the company. Retailers include Amazon.com, Best Buy, Brookstone, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom, REI, Target and Verizon. In its Blaze smartwatch line, Fitbit announced new features that will be available via a September software update including extended smartphone notifications.
Verizon Wireless announced LTE Advanced service promising 50 percent faster peak wireless data speeds in 461 cities. There’s no additional cost to customers for the software, which combines multiple channels to shoot data over the network more quickly, said Verizon in a Monday announcement. Verizon LTE Advanced uses carrier aggregation, which combines two or three channels of bandwidth into one larger channel to send data sessions over the most efficient route using a combination of 700 MHz, AWS and PCS spectrum, Verizon said. Customers will continue to experience typical download speeds of 5-12 Mbps, said the carrier, but two-channel carrier aggregation has shown peak download speeds of up to 225 Mbps, and three-channel carrier aggregation provides logged speeds greater than 300 Mbps.