The FCC is getting dozens of comments from amateur radio operators on a proposal that the agency give them lifetime, rather than 10-year, licenses, under Part 97 of agency rules. Amateur radio operator Mark Krotz, of Mesa, Arizona, requested the change in a November petition, on which the commission sought comment. “The FCC processes about 70,000 renewals per year (10 percent of 700,000), or about 5,830 per month, or nearly 300 per workday,” Krotz wrote. “Depending on the amount of human interaction required, this could be quite costly.” The 10-year license renewal requirement creates “a huge regulatory paper mill with questionable benefits,” he said. ARRL, formerly known as the American Radio Relay League, told members in a release how to file comments. James Smith of Atascadero, California, said his main concern is the impact on vanity call signs. “Good call signs would never expire,” he wrote. But most amateur radio operators appeared to support Krotz. “This would save me the hassle of having to mail in a renewal form every ten years, and would also I believe save the FCC administrative costs,” said Pat Kilcoyne, of Rockville, Maryland, who identifies himself as a licensee. The comments were posted by the FCC Wednesday in RM-11760.

A new consortium led by Ordnance Survey, Britain’s official mapping agency, secured 20 million pounds (about $27.9 million) in U.K. government funding to position the U.K. as a leader in connected and autonomous vehicles, the consortium said in a Wednesday announcement. The new consortium, code-named Atlas, officially opens for business in May and counts Sony Europe as one of its several members, the announcement said. Atlas will “study data critical to the efficient operation of autonomous vehicles” and “the feasibility of maintaining, processing and distributing this data is a core element of the project,” it said. “If Atlas is successful, we could see a more rapid take-up of connected and autonomous vehicles, consolidating the UK’s position as a global leader in driverless car technologies and innovation.” Autonomous vehicles “will need to find their way reliably and safely through a vast network of streets while interacting with driven and other autonomous vehicles,” it said. Self-driving cars “will combine the power of advanced sensors to detect road conditions, cutting edge, 5G communications technology to access a stream of data about the world around them, and geographical databases of routes, destinations and points of interest,” it said.

Microsoft agreed to buy mobile app developer Xamarin, it said Wednesday. In a blog post, Scott Guthrie, Microsoft's executive vice president-cloud and enterprise group, said Xamarin’s open cloud-based platform allows developers to share common code across iOS, Android and Windows apps while delivering native experiences for each, he said. Xamarin has more than 15,000 customers in 120 countries, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies, said Guthrie. Terms weren't disclosed.

Issues involving text-to-911 and wireless location accuracy for 911 call routing should be referred to the FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council or the Office of Engineering and Technology for consideration, said the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority in a filing in docket 11-153. BRETSA is concerned that as wireless services migrate to LTE-IMS, vital text-to-911 capabilities will be lost, it said. SMS text messaging over cellular-mobile service (CMS) control channels currently allow CMS subscribers to communicate by text message well beyond the area where CMS coverage is sufficient for subscribers to make voice calls, it said. BRETSA worried that even as text-to-911 is being deployed, substantial public safety benefits of the service will be eliminated as a result of the evolution of CMS technology and systems. These issues require technical information and analysis, knowledge of the capabilities of CMS provider systems, and cost-benefit analyses that aren't generally available to public safety agencies and public safety answering points, the filing said. BRETSA asked the Public Safety Bureau to refer these concerns.

Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry and others from CCA met with Jon Wilkins, FCC managing director and soon-to-be Wireless Bureau chief, to discuss issues most important to small carriers, said a filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 10-208. Top among CCA’s issues is USF reform and the launch of Mobility Fund Phase II “or another ongoing support program,” CCA said. “CCA will continue to collaborate with the Bureau to further develop its Mobility Fund II proposal.” It called on the agency to distribute $73 million left over from the first mobility fund. Just as important, CCA said, is access to spectrum. CCA reiterated its support for requiring broadcasters to move within 39 months of the TV incentive auction. “Likewise, it is increasingly difficult for competitive carriers to get access to additional low-band spectrum through secondary market transactions,” CCA said.

Representatives of Samsung Electronics said they discussed high-frequency spectrum with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel and others at the FCC. “Samsung noted its support for establishment of a regulatory framework for provision of mobile services in the 28 GHz (27.5-28.35 GHz), 39 GHz (38.6 to 40 GHz), and 37 GHz (37 to 38.6 GHz) bands,” said a filing on the meetings in docket 14-177. “Samsung also urged the Commission to make development of a regulatory framework for the millimeter wave spectrum bands a priority.” The FCC approved an NPRM in October on spectrum frontiers (see 1510220057). Reply comments are due at the agency Friday.

Ericsson officials discussed a company white paper on 5G security during a call with FCC staff, Ericsson said in an FCC filing. "5G Security: Scenarios and Solutions" argues that 5G will present new challenges. “It is easy to think of 5G networks as mainly a quantitative evolution similar to previous transitions, such as higher bitrate, lower latency and more devices,” the paper said. “But this is not the case: 5G security will just as much be a qualitative leap forward to meet the demands of a Networked Society.” Such networks will connect industries as well as people, creating new challenges, the paper said. In the call, Ericsson encouraged the FCC to let industry work through issues as they develop. “We encouraged the FCC to use a light regulatory touch and to focus on ways of facilitating a collaborative, public-private partnership approach to engaging 5G security rather than to impose mandates by regulation,” the filing said. It was posted Tuesday in docket 14-177.

Mobile money accounts increased globally 31 percent to 411 million in 2015, the GSM Association said in a report released Tuesday. More than a billion transactions were processed in December, and mobile money is available in 85 percent of nations where most of the population lacks access to formal financial institutions, GSMA reported. In 2015, there were 29 cross-border mobile money initiatives that connected 19 countries, the group said. “Mobile money is driving social and economic impact for millions of people in emerging markets,” said John Giusti, chief regulatory officer of GSMA, in a news release. “Over the last decade, mobile money has done more to extend the reach of financial services than traditional bricks and mortar banking were able to do over the last century.”

Global wearable device suppliers shipped a total of 78.1 million units in 2015, a strong 172 percent increase over 2014, IDC said in a Tuesday report. “Triple-digit growth highlights growing interest in the wearables market from both end-users and vendors," IDC said. "It shows that wearables are not just for the technophiles and early adopters” but also have mass-market potential, it said. “Since wearables have yet to fully penetrate the mass market, there is still plenty of room for growth in multiple vectors,” including new vendors, form factors, applications and use cases, it said. “This will help propel the market further.” Fitbit, which Monday reported a 92 percent increase in its holiday-quarter sales (see 1602230049), ended 2015 “the same way it began the year: as the undisputed worldwide leader of wearable devices,” IDC said. Fitbit’s shipments climbed 93.2 percent in 2015 to 21 million units, enough to solidify its market leadership position with a 26.9 percent share, IDC said. Apple, which began shipping the Apple Watch last April, shipped 11.6 million such devices for the year, placing it as the world’s No. 3 wearables supplier with a 14.9 percent share, it said. China's Xiaomi shipped 12 million units in 2015, making it the world's No. 2 supplier with a 15.4 percent share.

Intel and LG are collaborating to develop and pilot 5G-based telematics technology, with a goal of being first to market with 5G solutions, the companies said Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The effort will combine Intel’s experience in connected cars, sensor fusion and distributed deep learning with LG’s connectivity expertise, said Aicha Evans, general manager, Intel communication and devices group. 5G has been a point of focus at the conference, which ends Thursday (see 1602220064).