Fletcher Heald lawyer Mitchell Lazarus questioned the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s logic in its recent fine against Mobile Relay Associates, not for causing harmful interference but for failing “to take reasonable precautions to avoid causing harmful interference.” Lazarus summed up the bureau’s arguments in a blog post Tuesday: “The rule says to take precautions, but not what precautions to take. The licensee says it took precautions, but they didn’t work. The Enforcement Bureau says, ‘$25,000, please.’” The bureau could have cited MRA “for unnecessarily long transmissions or for not trunking, charges to which MRA would have had no real defense,” Lazarus said. “The Bureau should not have followed the course it did without first issuing a clear public statement -- or, perhaps better yet, revising its rules -- to make very clear what is and is not permitted.” The bureau released its forfeiture order last week against the Malibu, California-based provider of private land mobile radio services. “MRA argues that its actions did not violate any of the Commission’s rules (Rules) and that imposition of a penalty would be unduly discriminatory,” the bureau said. “We find that MRA’s actions did result in Rule violations and that it is not the subject of disparate treatment.” The firm doesn't represent MRA, Lazarus said. MRA didn't comment.

T-Mobile doubled branded postpaid net adds and nearly tripled branded postpaid phone net adds during the "Black Friday/Cyber Monday" weekend, compared with the same period in 2014, T-Mobile said in an SEC filing Monday. T-Mobile also confirmed guidance for 2015, projecting adjusted EBITDA of $6.8 billion to $7.2 billion, branded postpaid net adds of 3.8 million to 4.2 million and capital expenditures of $4.4 billion to $4.7 billion.

The FCC should take steps to protect electronic maps that carriers submit to the FCC as they document that they have met build-out requirements for 700 MHz licenses, the Competitive Carriers Association said in a filing in docket 12-69. “Certain submissions may contain proprietary information, such as exact site locations, particularly for service providers located in rural and remote areas.” CCA recommended the agency adopt universal procedures “to protect competitively sensitive information that may be included in new shapefile submissions to streamline certification filings and reduce burdens on filers.”

Spectrum Financial Partners supports a request by the Blooston Rural Carriers that the FCC change a requirement that bidders in the TV incentive auction are active on 95 percent of their eligibility from the start of the auction, without activity waivers even for small carriers. The wireless carriers represented by the Blooston law firm asked the FCC for changes to the rule last month. Spectrum Financial Partners said it's “partnering with others in bidding in the upcoming 600 MHz incentive auction, and is keenly interested in the opportunities for small businesses to competitively participate in these transactions.” The forward auction is more likely to be a success “if the Commission adopts procedures that allow greater bidding flexibility by smaller applicants to reduce the risk of their prematurely exiting the auction,” the firm said. The filing was posted Friday in docket 15-146.

LTE represents 51 percent of mobile connections in North America, or 219 million, 4G Americas said in a news release Thursday. That's 69 million new LTE customers since September 2014, and the expectation is LTE connections in North America will hit 392 million by 2021, it said. Latin America had LTE growth of close to 350 percent over the past 12 months, with LTE and high-speed packet access mobile broadband connections combined being close to half of all mobile connections in the region, 4G Americas said. The trade group said LTE penetration for North America is at 61 percent, with the next highest global market Western Europe at 27 percent. There are 68 commercial LTE networks in the U.S and Canada, and 435 worldwide, 4G Americas said. Globally, there were 908 million LTE connections as of the end of Q3, up 152 million in one quarter.

IDC sees 2015 as the first year of single-digit percentage worldwide smartphone sales growth, 9.8 percent to 1.43 billion units. The forecast reflects a slowdown in growth in most Asian markets and in Latin America and Western Europe, it said Thursday. With the smartphone market “finally slowing” to single-digit year-to-year growth, maintaining market momentum will depend on “the success of low-cost smartphones in emerging markets,” it said. “This, in turn, will depend on capturing value-oriented first-time smartphone buyers as well as replacement buyers.” IDC sees Android smartphones finishing 2015 with a 9.5 percent global shipment increase to 1.16 billion units, enough for an 81.2 percent market share. Shipments of iPhones will rise 17.3 percent this year to 226 million units, for a 15.8 percent share, it said. IDC sees Windows Phone shipments declining 10.2 percent to 31.3 million units for a 2.2 percent share.

A Ford software update made available to Sync-equipped vehicle owners Thursday adds Apple Siri capability for hands-free access to iPhone features, Ford said. Siri Eyes-Free allows drivers to activate Siri with a long press of the voice recognition button on the steering wheel that’s similar to activating Siri on an iPhone, said the carmaker. Voice requests drivers can make to Siri include calling contacts in the address book, looking up phone numbers for points of interest, setting a reminder or alarm, getting weather information, selecting and playing music, sending and receiving text messages by voice and getting directions from Apple Maps, it said. The update is compatible with vehicles dating back to 2011, Ford said.

Internet companies shouldn't have to choose between engaging in necessary communication with their users and the threat of class-action litigation, Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman said of the FCC's recent Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) order. The Internet Association filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, urging the court to overturn the FCC's TCPA order. The FCC declaratory ruling interpreted the TCPA in a way that expands its scope beyond any reasonable interpretation of Congress’ original intent, a news release from the association said. The ruling exposes any company using a modern phone system, including Internet companies simply attempting to communicate with their users, to a dramatically increased risk of frivolous litigation, it said. “In an unlawful attempt to respond to changing technology, however, the Commission has interpreted the TCPA in such a way that it now potentially reaches almost any form of electronic communication -- a far more sweeping (not to mention unconstitutional) and ambitious rule than Congress’s much more modest focus on the specialized automated dialing equipment that telemarketers used in 1990 … . [T]he Commission’s Order rolls out the welcome mat for lawsuits threatening the innovative approach to communication that the Internet Association members promote and on which their business models depend,” the brief said.

Public Knowledge's FCC push on Communications Act Section 333 rules and Part 15 devices "is nothing more than a ploy designed to limit the competitive roll-out of LTE-U products under the guise of protecting the Wi-Fi/unlicensed commons," MediaFreedom said in comments posted Wednesday in docket 15-105. Beyond "help[ing] its corporate supporters compete in the marketplace," MediaFreedom said, PK also is "recklessly invit[ing] the agency's novel and potentially deleterious participation in the Part 15 device development process -- a process that has thrived precisely because the Commission has not been actively involved in it. Section 333 cannot presently be reconciled with Part 15 permission-less innovation." Public Knowledge last month submitted comments asking the agency to make clear unlicensed and licensed spectrum are on equal footing (see 1511200036). The effect of that would be compatibility and coexistence requirements for Part 15 devices that give them interference protections "that well exceeds their Part 15 status," especially since the FCC hasn't ever required interference-free operation between Part 15 devices, MediaFreedom said. Public Knowledge didn't comment Thursday. When asked about MediaFreedom's own financial funding, Director Mike Wendy emailed that the nonprofit has taken direct corporate support in the past from the cable and telecom industries, but in the past two tax cycles it hasn't received direct corporate support from the cable, telecom, or information and communications technology industries. "I presently operate on two small, private grants. The rest comes out of my pocket," he said.

"Contraband wireless devices in jails continues to be a problem that affects the safety of officers and the public," said National Sheriffs' Association Executive Director Jonathan Thompson and others on behalf of that group known at a meeting with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai's chief of staff, Matthew Berry. "There needs to be flexibility at the local level to manage this issue to accommodate the needs and budgets of different sheriffs." A filing on the meeting, which also included Pai aide Brendan Carr, was posted Wednesday in docket 13-111. Pai has said the agency isn't acting aggressively enough on illicit cellphones in prisons, while Chairman Tom Wheeler said regulation is possible and the commission is working with industry on the issue (see 1510220047). CTIA declined to comment Thursday.