AT&T released a report detailing the business opportunities provided by the IoT and providing information on the cost-cutting and revenue-boosting effects of the IoT, it said in a news release Monday. The report highlights several areas where it says the IoT can be used to improve business strategies, including connected cars, smart cities, fleet management and supply chain monitoring, and "identifies insights from industries already transforming with [the] IoT," AT&T said. The company touted itself in the report as the "North American IoT leader," and said more than 25 million connected devices were on its network in Q3 2015 and 1.6 million devices were added to its network during that quarter. AT&T also launched a website to coincide with the release of the IoT report, which "offers an interactive experience showing how every day, objects ... are evolving to help create an interconnected world," it said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after a vigorous internal debate, backed away from a warning 18 months ago urging caution on cellphone use because of the cancer risks, The New York Times reported, citing internal documents and interviews with former CDC officials. The CDC initially advised “caution in cellphone use,” but then rethought that warning. “Although the initial C.D.C. changes, which were released in June 2014, had been three years in the making, officials quickly realized they had taken a step they were not prepared for,” the paper reported. “Health officials and advocates began asking if the new language represented a policy change.” The CDC didn't comment Monday.

General Motors said it’s investing $500 million in Lyft to aid the mobile taxi service’s continued “rapid growth” and entering into a “long-term strategic alliance to create an integrated network of on-demand autonomous vehicles in the U.S.” GM said Monday it will get a seat on Lyft’s board. GM’s investment was part of a fundraising push that netted Lyft $1 billion that will go toward additional branding and product development. “Working with GM, Lyft will continue to unlock new transportation experiences that bring positive change to our daily lives,” said Lyft President John Zimmer in a GM news release. The GM-Lyft joint development of on-demand autonomous vehicles will “leverage GM’s deep knowledge of autonomous technology and Lyft’s capabilities in providing a broad choice of ride-sharing services,” GM said. The car company will also become the “preferred provider” of short-term use vehicles to Lyft drivers. GM and Lyft will “provide each other’s customers with personalized mobility services and experiences through their respective channels,” GM said. GM CEO Mary Barra is scheduled to keynote CES on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council asked the FCC not to approve an AT&T request for waivers to use power spectral density (PSD) measurements to comply with effective radiated power limits for 800 MHz cellular operations in eight cellular market areas in Kentucky and Tennessee. The FCC should address changes to cellular service power limit rules through the pending rulemaking proceeding and not through waivers, NPSTC said in comments filed in docket 15-300. “However, should the Commission decide to grant AT&T’s waiver request, NPSTC urges that the waiver include conditions similar to those the Commission attached to previous grants in Missouri and Kansas, plus a condition requiring AT&T to compensate public safety entities for their time and expenses involved in investigating and resolving any interference that occurs,” NPSTC said. NPSTC had objected as well to other PSD waiver requests by AT&T (see 1505010039).

FirstNet is gaining momentum as it heads into 2016, Vice Chair Jeff Johnson said Thursday in a year-end blog post. Among the areas of progress, FirstNet is researching indoor location technologies at its technical headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, Johnson said. “FirstNet views in-building coverage as a critical part of public-safety users’ needs in the field; solving in-building coverage will improve operations and the safety of first responders,” he said. FirstNet also completed initial consultations with 55 states and territories in the last half of the year, “from the Northern Mariana Islands to Florida,” he said. “It’s great to see FirstNet gaining momentum, as public-safety stakeholders throughout the country ask the types of questions that they should.” Johnson also said that with the appointment of Mike Poth as CEO and TJ Kennedy as president “FirstNet has developed a leadership team with the right blend of public-safety and technology experience required to make the network a reality.” FirstNet is also moving “with strategic urgency” to put out a request for proposal “that will help us determine a network partner,” he said (see 1512090071).

T-Mobile CEO John Legere is predicting continuing success next year for his company. Among his predictions: “T-Mobile will keep eliminating industry pain points, and we will absolutely keep creating new ways to delight and surprise our customers” and “our LTE coverage will keep improving faster than the other guys -- and perception will start catching up to reality,” he said in a letter posted Wednesday on the company’s website. Legere also took on Verizon directly. “Big Red is FINALLY starting to realize they have a real fight on their hands!” he wrote. “Now that T-Mobile’s LTE coverage has reached near parity and is still the fastest LTE network in the country (AND we continue to improve and build out our network faster than Verizon can even imagine), we are starting to see them sweat!” Verizon didn't comment.

AT&T is getting rid of two-year contracts, the way subscribers historically tied themselves to a wireless carrier, said an internal document posted Wednesday by website Engadget. The document said new and existing customers will be able to get new devices only by paying the full price upfront or by buying it in installments over time. The change kicks in Jan. 8. An AT&T spokesman confirmed the development. “With $0 down for well-qualified customers, the ability to upgrade early and down payment options available with even lower monthly installments, our customers are overwhelmingly choosing AT&T Next," the spokesman emailed. "Starting January 8, AT&T Next will be the primary way to get a new smartphone at AT&T. This does not apply to business customers under a qualified wireless service agreement.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Maryland want the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to uphold a lower court decision that suppressed evidence that police obtained using a cell-site simulator without getting a warrant. Both EFF and ACLU wrote blog posts Tuesday about the case, which they said is possibly the first in the nation where a judge threw out evidence obtained through these devices. Commonly known as Stingrays, the simulators mimic cellphone towers and trick all nearby phones to connect to them, and the signals can be used to locate individuals (see 1510210060). The three groups filed an amicus brief in support of Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Ausby, who ruled Aug. 20 that the Baltimore Police Department's use of a Hailstorm cellphone surveillance device violated the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights, and ordered information generated from the device be suppressed. The government appealed. ACLU Staff Attorney Nathan Freed Wessler wrote that there's "extreme secrecy" about Stingray use, largely due to the FBI imposing a nondisclosure agreement on local police. "The ruling is important because it is the latest example of judges taking their role seriously, and pushing back against law enforcement’s wanton disregard for constitutional limits on their surveillance activities and their duty of candor to the courts," he wrote. EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch wrote that it's vital that police not only get a warrant based on probable cause in using such a device, "but also commit to minimization procedures, including immediately deleting information about all phones not covered by the warrant and limiting the time period during which the device is used."

The FCC Wireless Bureau had two late Christmas presents for AT&T Wednesday, approving the carrier's buy of low-band 700 MHz spectrum licenses in Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania. The first order approved AT&T’s acquisition of six C-block and two B-block licenses in Michigan from Agri-Valley Communications. The deal required extra scrutiny under the FCC’s mobile holdings order because it would give AT&T more than one-third of the low-band spectrum available in six of the seven local market areas covered, the bureau said. “We find that the proposed assignment of licenses would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity, and therefore we approve the proposed assignments,” the bureau said in the order. The two companies sought FCC approval in May. The bureau also approved AT&T’s buy of a 700 MHz B-block and PCS A-block license covering all or parts of three local market areas in New York and Pennsylvania from NEP. The deal required additional scrutiny because it gives AT&T more than one-third of the low-band spectrum in one of the markets. The bureau also found that buy wouldn't harm competition. The transaction had been in front of the FCC since June.

Wireless carriers represented by the Blooston, Mordkofsky law firm said they support a petition filed by Bulloch Cellular, Pineland Cellular and Planters Rural Cellular seeking changes to the FCC’s incentive auction rules (see 1512010046). The companies said the FCC should tweak the rules since they wrongly limit eligibility for rural credits for the auction. The Blooston rural carriers agree with the petitions “that it would be a good idea for the Commission to more explicitly clarify that the Rural Service Provider Bidding Credit will be available if the owners of the bidding entity are rural service providers,” provided that "the applicant together with its controlling interests, affiliates, and the affiliates of its controlling interests has fewer than 250,000 combined wireless, wireline, broadband and cable subscribers; and these entities serve predominantly rural areas, defined as counties with a population density of 100 or fewer persons per square mile,” the firm said. The filing was posted Tuesday in docket 12-269.