Alcatel began preorders Friday for the Idol 4S smartphone including a free virtual reality Alcatel-branded goggle bundle with pre-sale orders. The Android 5.5-inch phone, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, has a Sony sensor that supports 4K video recording, it said.
Toshiba and Western Digital commemorated Friday the completion of a 297,000-square-foot semiconductor plant in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan, to mark the transition from 2D NAND to 3D flash memory production. Flash memory in smartphones, solid-state drives and other applications is driving growth of the global flash memory market due to higher densities and better device performance, said the companies. First-phase production at New Fab 2 began in March for 3D flash memory and the companies plan an additional $8 billion investment to expand operations depending on market conditions, they said. Yokkaichi operations will use big data processing to analyze over 1.6 billion data points each day to improve manufacturing efficiency, they said.
AT&T is “reviewing next steps” after failing to reach a new healthcare contract with union workers represented by the Communications Workers of America, a company spokesman said Friday. “Employees continue to be covered under the terms of the current benefits contract, which does not expire until Dec. 31 and includes a no-strike provision.” CWA is “talking with AT&T about next steps and about moving forward to reach a new tentative agreement,” a union spokeswoman said. The failed four-year contract would have covered healthcare and other benefits for more than 40,000 AT&T Mobility employees with the union, AT&T said in a Wednesday news release. Wages, pension and work rules are negotiated under separate contracts. At least 36,000 CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers members struck Verizon's landline operations earlier this year (see 1605270050).
An FCC wireless hearing aid compatibility draft order builds on HAC rules and a proposal the agency issued in November (see 1511190032), Chairman Tom Wheeler said Thursday in a blog post highlighting one of the items on the agency's tentative agenda for commissioners' Aug. 4 meeting. "The new order would enshrine a consensus plan [(see 1511130027)] developed collaboratively by the wireless industry and groups representing people with hearing loss that puts us on the path to achieve hearing aid compatibility for 100 percent of new handsets within eight years," he wrote. "This evolution will greatly expand options for people with hearing loss, simplify the task of finding handsets that work with hearing aids and ensure that people with hearing loss have full access to innovative handsets. At the same time, the implementation time line would ensure that manufacturers and service providers will include HAC features from the earliest stages of the design process." Groups representing deaf and hard-of-hearing people recently asked the FCC to move forward on rules to improve access to HD voice-enabled phones and better noise-canceling technology (see 1606230053). Wheeler also summarized a second draft order to make permanent a pilot National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program: "Known as 'iCanConnect,' this program provides equipment needed to make telecommunications, advanced communications and the Internet accessible to Americans who have significant vision and hearing loss. The new NDBEDP would be able to spend up to $10 million annually to distribute equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind. The program would also provide training and other technical support, including individual assessments of each consumer’s specific accessibility needs, to help low-income people who are deaf-blind better utilize the communications equipment they need to fully participate in society." A third draft order would raise inmate calling service rate caps to account for "reasonable" correctional facility costs (see 1607140087).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau and Blue Jay Wireless settled an investigation into whether the company improperly enrolled Hawaii customers into enhanced tribal support options under the USF Lifeline low-income program. Under an order approving a consent decree, Blue Jay will reimburse USF about $2 million and undertake compliance measures, said an agency release Friday. "This settlement makes clear that no Lifeline provider should turn a blind eye to potential fraud on the program," said Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc. The bureau found the company incorrectly requested and received the extra tribal funding (up to $25 extra per subscriber monthly) for consumers not residing in the Hawaiian Home Lands, the release said. Despite being informed in 2014 by Hawaii state regulators that the number of tribal subscribers it was claiming appeared to exceed the number of households in the Hawaiian Home Lands, Blue Jay continued to seek tribal support while it gathered more information, it added. The consent decree said Blue Jay admitted that from May to August 2014, it certified that it obtained tribal certifications from some subscribers who were later determined by Blue Jay to be nonresidents of the Hawaiian Home Lands. Commissioner Ajit Pai said the settlement confirms Lifeline still contains waste, fraud and abuse: "I can confirm that Blue Jay Wireless is one target of my ongoing investigation and that I flagged further suspicious conduct for the Enforcement Bureau’s investigation earlier this year. I will continue to work with my colleagues, the Enforcement Bureau, the Inspector General, and the Universal Service Administrative Company to end the abuse of taxpayer money by unscrupulous wireless resellers." The commission last year sought public comment on whether to require additional evidence of tribal residency beyond self-certification and on how providers should provide proof in order to prevent waste, fraud and abuse, said the FCC release. Blue Jay said the settlement memorializes its process for verifying subscriber self-certifications, which included building its own geo-mapping tool. "USAC concluded that this process was 'conservative to the Fund' because FCC rules require only applicant self-certification," Blue Jay said in a statement. "The settlement also allows Blue Jay to make good on a prior commitment to 'make the Fund whole.'" CEO David Wareikis said that the carrier "made the commitment to make the Fund whole because it did not want to be seen as benefiting in any way from erroneous self-certifications made by subscribers." The agreement "contains no finding or admission of wrongdoing by Blue Jay, and affirms Blue Jay's good standing" as an eligible telecom carrier, he said. "The consent decree shows that Blue Jay took voluntary proactive efforts to protect against possible fraud and would never turn a blind eye to potential fraud in the program.”
Asus released in Taiwan Thursday the 6.8-inch ZenFone 3 Ultra with DTS Headphone:X, the first smartphone with 7.1-channel surround sound, said DTS. The ZenFone 3 Ultra is one of 15 mobile devices expected to ship with Headphone:X in coming months, CEO Jon Kirchner has said.
Samsung bowed its latest Galaxy tablet, a 10-inch model with a Full HD display, 13-hour battery life and microSD support for up to 200 GB storage, and two apps can be opened side by side, said the company.
The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, which is nearing the end of its current two-year term, will meet Aug. 1, NTIA said in a notice to be published in Friday's Federal Register. CSMAC is to meet from 1 to 4 p.m. MDT at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder Campus, 325 Broadway St., Boulder, Colorado.
Parents for Safe Technology filed various public comments at the FCC raising concerns about the agency’s proposals to speed deployment of 5G, citing RF safety. “The 5G rollout plan is a dangerous, public health and safety threat,” the group said. “The FCC and industry has IGNORED the thousands of studies that confirm the problems, cancers and deaths of many from wifiradiation cellular/smart meter technology. The 5G rollout is a telecom industry freeforall with NO GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT.” The filing was posted in docket 14-177.
FCC leadership on spectrum is the nation’s “secret weapon” for the U.S. to lead the world on 5G, said Peter Pitsch, Intel associate general counsel, during a Telecommunications Industry Association webinar Thursday. “Getting the spectrum in the marketplace is going to create an investment climate.” What a 5G world will look like remains to be seen, he said. “How many intelligent cars … how many machine-to-machine configurations,” how 5G will look in different industries, “that’s all unclear,” Pitsch said. “What is clear is the potential to profoundly change the world.” The FCC was right not to impose tough performance rules on the licensed spectrum in the bands, Pitsch said. “Coming up with performance requirements for 5G when we’re not entirely sure what it’s going to be, is fraught with the possibility of impeding innovation and imposing unnecessary costs,” he said. The FCC’s spectrum frontiers order approved Thursday (see 1607140052) is “hugely important,” said Rob Kubik, Samsung Electronics America director-public policy, engineering and technology. “So far, when the FCC allocates new spectrum, it has been small chunks,” Kubik said. “This is the first, wide-license chunk that’s going to be available for new systems.” There’s a lot industry can do with wide channels, he said. The order appears to offer a balanced approach with lots of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, Kubik said. The FCC was right to approve multiple bands at the same time, along with flexible rules, said Jeffrey Marks, senior counsel at Nokia. “Just saying that 5G is important, saying that it’s a government initiative, is important in and of itself.” Marks said the agency should impose cybersecurity rules. Companies like Nokia are fighting to stay ahead of threats, he said. “Strict regulations … top down from the government aren’t the best way to be nimble and to keep up with the bad guys,” he said. While Nokia still has to see the text of the order, Marks said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the cybersecurity rules “won’t be too onerous.”