LTE connections climbed to 1.1 billion worldwide based on data by Ovum, with North America contributing 237 million connections, 5G Americas said Tuesday. The data is from Q4. Sixty-nine commercial LTE networks were deployed in the U.S. and Canada, the group said. “It is no surprise that LTE has become the standard mobile technology for the North America region and continues to flourish as more consumers are adopting the technology year after year,” said Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, in a news release. “The rapid increase in LTE connections, not only in North America but worldwide, is leading the industry on the right track to the commercial standardized deployment of 5G in 2020 and beyond.”
CTIA posted an infographic demonstrating the U.S. is the leader in 4G LTE, the group said. With 219 million active LTE subscribers, more than half of U.S. connections are 4G LTE and 99.5 percent of the population is covered, CTIA said. Consumers see average throughput speeds of 10-30 Mbps, and sometimes higher, the group said. “Even though the U.S. is larger and both the nation and individual states are more geographically diverse than most countries, we have made great strides in rolling-out next generation networks."
The full FirstNet board and board committees plan an open public teleconference and four-hour webinar at noon March 16, said a notice on the website and one to be published in Tuesday's Federal Register.
Just 35 percent of respondents in a recent ABI Research study are considering buying a smartwatch in the next 12 months, said ABI Monday. More than 80 percent of those not planning to buy said their primary reason is that they believe their smartphones can adequately address all the necessary functions a smartwatch can provide, said NPD. Most consumers have the impression that a smartwatch “is a smartphone accessory rather than an independent device," said analyst David McQueen. Voice interaction "will help fit more features in a smaller, fashionable package," said analyst Sam Rosen.
The American Cable Association (ACA) and ITTA proposed again to shift a disproportionate share of regulatory fees onto wireless regulatees and away from wireline interests (see 1512090061), CTIA said in an ex parte letter in docket 15-121. Just because wireless providers also offer voice services, doesn't mean they need to be included in the wireline Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers regulatory fee, the filing said. Despite ACA and ITTA's claims, FCC regulatees don't pay regulatory fees to different bureaus for the same service, CTIA said. The wireless group asked the FCC to reject ITTA and ACA's attempt to change the current regulatory fee methodology for assessing fees on Wireless Telecommunication Bureau and Wireline Competition Bureau regulatees "because it's fair, administrable and consistent with Section 9.”
The ZigBee Alliance passed the 1,500-product milestone and added two vice chairmen, an indication that growth “is happening and going to continue to grow at a faster pace,” CEO Tobin Richardson emailed us Friday. Musa Unmehopa, Philips Lighting director-intellectual property standards, moved from secretary-treasurer to vice chairman, and board member Jean-Pierre Desbenoit, Schneider Electric ICT standardization and industry relations director-global strategy, was elected vice chairman. Michael Koster, SmartThings principal research engineer, succeeds Unmehopa as board secretary and Dee Denteneer, Philips Lighting director-standards, was elected treasurer. The board shift means there’s "more interest in leadership of the ZigBee Alliance across industry segments,” said Richardson. The alliance passed 1,500 certified products, from more than 200 manufacturers, last month, spanning applications in smart home, smart building and smart city that are in use “across continents, in space and under the oceans,” it said. At The ZigBee Alliance Winter Summit last month, participants shared developments on ZigBee 3.0 and the alliance’s Common Applications Library that consolidates previous market-specific ZigBee profiles into a single offering, it said.
An FCC workshop Thursday on the spectrum frontiers NPRM will kick off with remarks by Chairman Tom Wheeler and then Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, according to an agenda released Friday. Ted Rappaport, professor of electrical engineering at New York University, is to deliver a keynote address. The workshop's four panels include "Creating a Regulatory Scheme for Flexible Use in the mmW Bands” and “Fireside Chat -- Furthering Spectrum Policy and Promoting Wireless Technology." The session starts at 9 a.m. in the Commission Meeting Room at the FCC.
FirstNet provided additional information on its January request for proposal. Friday's Q&A document provides the third set of vendor clarification questions, covering questions 86 through 394 posed to the authority, FirstNet said. “However, this set does not contain all questions and answers (86 through 394) as there are gaps,” the authority said. “Responses to questions will be provided on a rolling basis as expeditiously as possible.” FirstNet released its first set of answers to questions on the RFP two weeks ago (see 1602190058).
Verizon hosted FCC officials, including Wireless Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins, at 5G demonstrations at the carrier’s Basking Ridge, New Jersey, headquarters. “Verizon provided an overview of Verizon’s plans for 5G and the current status of several field trials that its 5G Technology Forum partners are conducting in various locations,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 14-177. “Verizon also showed the FCC officials a live demonstration of a Samsung base station with both fixed and mobile equipment.” Verizon officials discussed the NPRM on high-frequency spectrum, the filing said. Rules should provide for “wide channels (at least 200 MHz wide) because 5G technologies will require substantial amounts of spectrum for low-latency and high-speed applications,” Verizon said. The carrier recently also gave a 5G demo in Basking Ridge to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1602180058).
The U.S. wireless tower industry is "facing some growing pains right now" and was downgraded from "outperform" to "market weight" by Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche Friday. Her investor note cited carrier resistance to current tower pricing, as well as a difficulty achieving "new incremental growth" due to the lead up to the FCC broadcast incentive auction, the creation of the FirstNet system and the development of 5G standards. "Additionally, our sense is AT&T... has still not yet turned on the wireless spending faucet" and instead is focusing capital on fiber deployment, said Fritzsche. "Carriers are indeed saying 'enough,'" Fritzsche said, saying carriers are "definitely pushing back on the structure of amendments and pricing for the tower companies." The current lull in spending is consistent with historical spending plateaus before FCC spectrum auctions and the transition to a new wireless technology, such as 5G, she said. Fritzsche said "little or any of current tower business is at risk." Fritzsche also said the increase in size of cell sites and tower equipment "helps [the] longer term amendment revenue outlook."