Verizon’s existing wireless advertising programs -- Relevant Mobile Advertising and Verizon Selects -- will be combined with the AOL Advertising Network starting in November, wrote Verizon Chief Privacy Officer Karen Zacharia in a blog post Wednesday. “The combination will help make the ads our customers see more relevant to them, and therefore more useful, across the different devices and services they see.” Verizon is changing how its programs operate, including who receives the Verizon advertising identifier or Unique Identifier Header (UIDH), which is essentially a string of random characters that's transmitted with unencrypted Internet requests over the Verizon Wireless network, Zacharia said. UIDH doesn’t contain or transmit personally identifiable information; doesn’t broadcast Web browsing information to advertisers or others; and when the AOL and Verizon programs are combined, will be transmitted only to entities that are on a preapproved white list, she said. Verizon’s advertising approach is “in line with best-in-class industry standards for privacy protection,” Zacharia said. “Our customers will continue to have choices about whether or not to participate in these programs.”

The Federal Aviation Administration wants to levy the “largest civil penalty" it has proposed against an unmanned aircraft system operator "for endangering the safety of our airspace” by operating drones in a “careless or reckless manner,” the agency said in a Tuesday announcement. The proposed $1.9 million civil penalty against SkyPan International of Chicago alleges that between March 21, 2012, and Dec. 15, 2014, SkyPan conducted 65 unauthorized operations “in some of our most congested airspace and heavily populated cities [including New York City and Chicago], violating airspace regulations and various operating rules,” the FAA said. The flights involved aerial photography, and the aircraft were “not equipped with a two-way radio, transponder, and altitude-reporting equipment,” the FAA said. SkyPan also failed to obtain a certificate of waiver or authorization for the operations, the release said. SkyPan has 30 days to respond to the FAA’s enforcement letter, it said. SkyPan didn’t have an immediate comment.

The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau will host a webinar on recent modifications to Part 1 rules on designated entities and other auction-related matters, including joint bidding, Oct. 28, the FCC said. The session starts at 1:30 p.m. EDT, the agency said. An agenda is to be announced later.

National Consumers League officials asked the FCC to conduct a new "bill shock" survey, "given the proliferation of smartphones, data intensive applications, and international roaming fees." There's anecdotal evidence of consumer concerns over bill shock due to international roaming, said an NCL ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 10-207. NCL repeated a recommendation that wireless carriers require "an affirmative opt-in from subscribers before roaming charges are assessed."

FirstNet released what it said is the last in a “long line of ongoing consultation efforts" toward the release of requests for proposals (RFPs) on a national broadband network for first responders, this time seeking comments on cybersecurity. Cybersecurity “is prominent among the high-level objectives" for the network, FirstNet said. The authority said it already has gathered “an extensive amount of information.” Comments are due 1 p.m. EDT Oct. 16. FirstNet said it wants “feedback from stakeholders, including states, tribes, territories, public safety stakeholders, and market participants” on protecting the network against attack. “A paradigm shift in how cyber security is defined and delivered is required, and FirstNet seeks input to effect this paradigm shift so that the [network] can be appropriately defended,” it said. FirstNet President TJ Kennedy said in a Tuesday blog post that the authority wants to be leading edge. “We have an opportunity to innovate and be creative in addressing cyber security from the ground up for one of the most diverse, complex, and unique broadband networks in the country,” he wrote. “After all, this will be the only nationwide network that is dedicated to public safety and can provide first responders with true priority and rural coverage.”

Broadcom is "cautiously optimistic" a solution on "workable coexistence" could be reached on a model for licensed assisted access unlicensed LTE deployment, but less so on Wi-Fi and LTE-U, it said its executives told FCC officials. While the 3rd Generation Partnership Project isn't "a traditional venue for developing standards for unlicensed operation," Broadcom said that it "nevertheless" is hopeful that solutions are possible. On "LTE-U, however, Broadcom stated that the situation is far different," it said in an ex parte filing on its meeting with Chief Julius Knapp and others in the Office of Engineering and Technology and with a Wireless Bureau official, and another meeting with Jessica Almond, aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Planned Wi-Fi/LTE-U co-existence mechanisms will not be effective, and co-existence analyses performed by LTE-U supporters to date are deeply flawed." The LTE-U specification doesn't "mandate any meaningful co-existence features, only requiring co-existence capabilities," said the company in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-105. "This distinction is critical." The company is a member of the Wi-Fi Alliance, according to that group's website. The group in the FCC docket has asked the agency not to certify LTE-U equipment “until such time as it is fully satisfied that fair sharing of unlicensed spectrum will be achieved” (see 1508260039). Backers of LTE-U like Qualcomm have said it can work well with Wi-Fi. A Qualcomm executive didn't immediately comment Tuesday. LTE-U and Wi-Fi issues also were discussed at an FCBA panel Monday (see 1510060010). After the panel, an FCC spokesman said the agency is waiting for standards bodies to discuss LTE-U/Wi-Fi issues, has no LTE-U devices before it to look at, and will evaluate and ask technical questions about any products that do come in.

Verizon said LTE-Unlicensed is no threat to Wi-Fi and won’t even use 2.4 GHz, the main Wi-Fi band. The comment came in a public explanation of why it wants to move forward quickly on LTE-U that it posted Monday in an FAQ document on its policy website. Why the rush to deploy? Verizon asked. “The work currently underway with LTE-U is providing real-world experience that will help improve the next versions of the 3GPP [3rd Generation Partnership Project] standard,” Verizon said. “But more importantly, because Better Matters. Consumers don’t want to wait for better, they want it now. LTE-U provides a better mobile experience, and it won’t adversely impact Wi-Fi or other unlicensed technologies. There is no reason to delay providing consumers with a new option for better service.”

Some 50 million vehicles will offer built-in wireless device charging by 2020, up from 4 million this year, said a report by Juniper Research released Monday. Wireless charging will enable new in-vehicle services including on-board audio streaming and context-specific notification filtering, said the industry research firm. Data exchange capability via wireless charging will enable automatic driver adjustments such as the height, incline and position of the seat and mirrors when the driver’s phone begins to charge, analyst James Moar told us. The transmission range via wireless charging is short enough to prevent the transmission of conflicting signals from passengers’ phones, unlike Bluetooth, he said. Data exchange could automate other driver user experiences such as climate control and music playlists, Moar said. Automakers will be able to provide software-based services via streaming notifications between a smartphone and the dashboard rather than having to keep on-board firmware and hardware updated, said the report. Several smartphone brands have incorporated wireless charging capability into devices, but consumers are largely unaware of the feature, Juniper said. Samsung is leading the way with the Galaxy S6, and more brands will begin to promote the concept over the next few years, though phones will continue to ship with a wired charger as a standard accessory in the near term, it said. Over a third of all smartphones shipping in 2020 are forecast to have wireless charging built in, said Juniper. For wireless charging to succeed, carriers and phone retailers will have to give consumers an option for wireless chargers supplied with new devices, said Moar in the report. "The technology will not take off if it remains a $30+ additional purchase.”

T-Mobile and Verizon don’t agree on everything, but they’re united on the benefits of LTE-unlicensed, representatives said in a meeting with Brendan Carr, aide to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. The carriers reported on a meeting, held along with Qualcomm, to make the case there's ‘”broad” industry consensus on "the remarkable consumer benefits of LTE-U,” said a filing in docket 15-105. “We emphasized our longstanding support of unlicensed spectrum and our strong commitment to Wi-Fi,” they said. “We explained that LTE-U is based on 3GPP’s [3rd Generation Partnership Project] current standards … and fully complies with the FCC’s Part 15 regulations.” In a second filing, this time joined by the Competitive Carriers Association, they reported on similar meetings with Erin McGrath, aide to Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, and Johanna Thomas, aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Earlier, they met with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

The Federal Aviation Administration failed to develop a comprehensive drone regulation plan allowing the integration of drones in national airspace by the congressional deadline of Sept. 30, the Electronic Privacy Information Center said in a blog post Friday. The FAA has granted more than 1,700 exemptions for drones to operate in the U.S. “even as safety and privacy concerns increase,” the post said. On Sept. 28, EPIC filed a lawsuit against FAA to establish privacy rules for commercial drones, it said. The FAA didn’t comment.