Sprint became the first U.S. wireless carrier to sign a direct roaming agreement with Telecommunications Co. of Cuba, Sprint said in a Monday news release. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure was in Havana as part of the U.S.-Cuba Business Council delegation to Cuba, where he made the announcement. “As the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Cuba continues to progress, it is expected that the number of travelers to Cuba will increase exponentially,” Claure said. “We want to make sure any Sprint customer traveling to Cuba can use their phone the same way as they do in the United States.” More than 3 million people are expected to visit Cuba this year; within 10 years, that number is projected to grow to more than 5 million, Sprint said.
The Alaska Wireless Network (AWN) told the FCC it will be in compliance with the commission’s text-to-911 requirements by the end of the year. The company sought a waiver last year, saying it needed additional time to put in place a workable solution. In May, the FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment on the waiver request (see 1505040032). The FCC approved an order in August 2014 (see 1408110031) requiring carriers and interconnected over-the-top text providers to have the capacity to transmit emergency texts to 911 public safety answering points by the end of last year. “AWN noted that, though it had been working with two text-to-911 vendors for several months, neither vendor was able to implement location and routing for texts sent to 911 on LTE networks deployed alongside GSM/UMTS technology,” the carrier said. “AWN is pleased to inform the Commission that AWN entered into a contract with TCS [TeleCommunications Systems] earlier this month. TCS has confirmed to AWN that AWN will be able to respond to any PSAP request for text-to-911 service within six months. AWN wishes to note that, to date, no Alaska PSAP has requested text-to-911 service.” The AWN filing was posted Monday in docket 10-255.
PTC-220 continues to make progress on building out a positive train control system serving major freight railroads using 220 MHz spectrum, the group said in a report to the FCC. Since the last report in May (see 1305030039) “PTC-220’s member railroads have continued to build new or prepare existing base station sites and install base station radios,” PTC-220 said. “Despite substantial progress on radio deployments, other delays related to some of the non-RF components required for the launch of a fully operational PTC service have made it unrealistic to expect nationwide PTC service by the end of the year,” the group said. “By year end, PTC-220 plans to file substantial service showings and/or requests for extension of the FCC’s current December 31, 2015 substantial service deadlines, as needed, for its 220 MHz licenses.” Among issues that remain is spectrum, the group said. PTC-220 has sufficient spectrum in most areas. “The most immediate concern” is the need for additional spectrum in the New York/Newark area, “where PTC-220 has received recent requests from commuter railroads for additional PTC spectrum,” the group said. “PTC-220 is acquiring additional spectrum through the secondary market in Philadelphia, New York/Newark and New Jersey to help address this spectrum shortfall and to provide additional spectrum for PTC-220.” PTC-220’s members are Class I freight railroads BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. The report was posted in docket 08-256.
Outerwall agreed to pay $18 million cash to buy Gazelle, the privately held online smartphone trade-in service, to bolster its ecoATM kiosk-based trade-in business, Outerwall CEO Erik Prusch said on an earnings call. It “will enable ecoATM to gain critical mass, provide margin revenue uplift opportunities and leverage a direct-to-consumer channel for collected devices,” he said. The ecoATM segment generated $31 million in sales for Outerwall in Q3, Smith said. “While it was the highest ever quarterly revenue, we're not where we should be yet as it relates to revenue on a per-kiosk basis,” he said. “And we continue to look for ways to drive the top line, including optimizing the user experience and making it easier for customers to transact with us. With the Gazelle assets, we expect to accelerate our progress to profitability.” Gazelle is a “direct-to-consumer channel” that would bring ecoATM the “critical mass” it has lacked, Prusch said Thursday. “They're online and ecoATM is physical with kiosks.” Outerwall expects the Gazelle deal to close in Q4, the company said in an SEC 10-Q filing Thursday.
CTIA released a request for proposal seeking a vendor for its 911 National Emergency Address Database platform. The NEAD platform responds to a January FCC order updating wireless location accuracy rules (see 1501290066). NEAD will put together a national database of access points, including Wi-Fi hot spots, and beacon location information that will enable wireless operators to deliver a “dispatchable” location that will help 911 call centers respond to emergencies, CTIA said in a Friday news release. CTIA also picked the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions as NEAD project manager. “Through the NEAD platform and by using technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, first responders will see improved indoor location to help save lives,” said NEAD Vice President Thomas Sawanobori, who's also CTIA chief technology officer. “Our partnerships with ATIS and platform providers, along with member companies and public safety stakeholders, will enable dispatchable location in accordance with the FCC’s aggressive timelines.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau released a pleading cycle Friday on a complicated deal unveiled in August, in which Sprint affiliate Shentel would acquire Sprint wholesale partner nTelos Wireless and spin off some of its assets back to Sprint (see 1508100063). “The Applicants assert that the proposed transaction will promote competition and improve service for rural customers,” the bureau said. Applicants claim that post-transaction “Shentel would upgrade the remainder of NTELOS’s current network to Sprint’s enhanced LTE architecture,” the bureau said. They also said "Shentel would invest approximately $350 million and deploy approximately 150 additional cell sites to expand coverage in the NTELOS service area.” Sprint would get an additional 135 MHz of spectrum in 153 counties in parts of Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, the bureau said. Petitions to deny are due Nov. 30, oppositions Dec. 10 and replies Dec. 17, an agency notice said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday rejected one of the few remaining challenges to the FCC's 2004 800 MHz rebanding order, a challenge by James Kay. The court issued an order rejecting Kay’s claims, saying he lacked legal standing. The FCC earlier urged the court to rule as it did. Kay held two 800 MHz licenses, revoked by the FCC in 2002, and his only other connection is that he claims to be the sole owner of Third District Enterprises, which holds licenses in Southern California that must still be relocated, the FCC told the court in a March pleading (see 1503100051). “It is hornbook corporate law that a corporation, whether large, closely held, or solely owned, is a separate juridical entity from its shareholders,” the court said. “As a result, a shareholder cannot bring a personal suit in his own name to vindicate the rights of that separate legal entity except under limited exceptions. … The fact that Third District is a limited liability company, rather than a traditional corporation, does not change this analysis. ” Kay has made no argument and it can find no evidence that Kay qualifies for an exception to the rule, the court said.
American Tower rescheduled its Q3 earnings conference call after a "significant outage" of the conference call provider prohibited the event from taking place Thursday, it said in a news release. American Tower moved the call to 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Samsung is billing the Galaxy View, its 18.4-inch Android tablet due Nov. 6 at $599, as “home entertainment reimagined” because it’s designed to be carried from room to room within the home, the company said in a Thursday announcement. The 1080p tablet has Wi-Fi and optional LTE connectivity, making it easy “to enjoy the latest entertainment from anywhere with no cords, extra equipment or cable connections,” the company said. It has a “grab-and-go” handle for better portability throughout the home, and its battery provides eight hours of power on a single charge, it said.
Sony sold 6.7 million smartphones in Q2 ended Sept. 30, a 32 percent decrease from the year-earlier quarter, the company said Thursday. The company left unchanged its July forecast that it will sell 27 million smartphones this fiscal year, which would be a 31 percent decline from the 39.1 million units it shipped a year earlier. Sony attributed the "significant" decline in smartphone unit sales to "a strategic decision not to pursue scale in order to improve profitability."