Giesecke & Devrient expects about 75 percent of all cars shipped globally in 2020 to have embedded connectivity, the German security firm said in a Monday report. Of the 70 million passenger cars registered worldwide in 2014, only 10 percent had embedded connectivity, it said. The forecast is consistent with SiriusXM's forecast that most vehicles built at the end of the decade will include embedded LTE modems (see 1602020055). “As societies are becoming increasingly urbanized and hyperconnected, mobile connectivity is emerging as a core topic for the automotive industry,” Giesecke & Devrient said. “Vehicles of the future will be fully networked, independent, mobile ecosystems with specific services.”

The type of investment in mobile infrastructure enhancements seen during Super Bowl 50 in the communities around Levi's Stadium -- located in Silicon Valley and home to the NFL's San Francisco 49ers -- will be required to bring 5G networks "everywhere," said David Young, Verizon vice president-Internet and technology policy, in a company blog post Monday. The "explosion" of data traffic during Super Bowl weekend was made possible because of additional small cells that were "widely deployed" and connected through fiber networks, said Young. Deploying the large number of new small cells required "working closely" with property owners and local governments, and is the same type of cooperative approach that will be needed to bring infrastructure improvements in "thousands of communities" throughout the country, he said. Young also said much of the discussion about the creation of 5G networks has revolved around the need for additional high-frequency spectrum, but what's less understood is that 5G networks will need new infrastructure -- mainly fiber-connected small cells. "The [IoT] and the flood of network traffic that will come with it will be here soon," said Young, and all levels of government need to "modernize practices and fees in a way that will encourage and facilitate the infrastructure deployments that are needed to support the 5G future that is just around the corner so everyone can reap the benefits." Comcast has said that 10-plus terabytes were uploaded or downloaded at the game (see 1602090063).

AT&T said it's offering up to $650 in credits to encourage people to switch to AT&T. Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon already have made similar offers. Customers who choose the offer can combine it with AT&T's buy-one, get-one free promotion that covers a number of popular smartphones, AT&T said in a news release Monday.

Qualcomm announced new Snapdragon processors for wearables and smartphones, it said. LG and Qualcomm, which have collaborated on smartwatches based on Android Wear, will continue their relationship via the Wear 2100 processor, said LG Vice President-Wearables David Yoon. New LG smartwatches and “other wearable devices” will launch later this year, he said. The Snapdragon Wear platform comprises silicon, software, support tools and reference designs available in tethered (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) and connected (4G/LTE and 3G) versions, said Qualcomm. It also announced Thursday three upcoming Snapdragon processors for mid- and high-end smartphones, supporting LTE with carrier aggregation and HEVC video compression.

Collaboration by the FCC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) "appears to be having an impact" on the safety and decreased number of fatalities of tower climbers, FCC and Department of Labor officials said in a joint blog post Thursday. OSHA is a DOL agency. The FCC hosted a workshop with the DOL on tower climber safety earlier on Thursday, during which government and industry representatives called for a culture change that emphasizes safety and an increased focus on proper training (see 1602110044). Technological innovation in the wireless industry is advancing at an "amazing pace," which will result in towers that always need work and workers to complete it, but the FCC and DOL's work to increase safety is not meant to "hamper innovation," wrote FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman and David Michaels, OSHA assistant secretary. Instead, they said, the partnership is meant to "assist the industry in advancing safer practices so these new technologies can be deployed without the tragic loss of life that we have seen in the past.”

The Wi-Fi Alliance could have its Wi-Fi/LTE-U coexistence test plan nearly done in March, around when the 3rd Generation Partnership Project comes out with licensed assisted access LTE standards, CableLabs said in a blog Friday. The Wi-Fi Alliance released a draft test plan Wednesday (see 1602110041) with the promise it would be the first of several such tests. CableLabs -- a member of Wi-Fi Alliance according to the group's website -- said some test cases remain to be written, including a means of verifying that Wi-Fi users "will be able to choose their preferred network even in the presence of LTE-U." It also said the Wi-Fi Alliance testing "is likely to only be a start" to assuring coexistence. "It is possible that evolution in LTE-U technology will be needed as well," CableLabs said.

FCC field agents helped safeguard massive wireless traffic flows at the Super Bowl, said Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc and Acting Field Director Charles Cooper in a blog post Thursday. "Whether in the vicinity of the stadium or streaming the game online, the wireless network traffic is immense," they said. "During this year’s Super Bowl, according to one media report, more than 10 terabytes of data traversed the WiFi network at Levi's Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday, the equivalent of streaming 6,000+ hours of HD video." Such usage creates huge spectrum demand, making it critical that FCC rules are followed, they said. EB field agents formed "a defensive line" against harmful or malicious interference to the communications at the game, they said, noting the Public Safety Bureau also works on big special events. Team members worked to resolve numerous interference issues "before, during, and after the game," using various resources, including "next generation monitoring and direction-finding technology," they said.

Two camps continued FCC lobbying last week on equipment rules for 5 GHz devices, ex parte filings in docket 13-49 showed. Broadcom said it's concerned an adjustment proposed by others to tightening out-of-band emissions to weather radar could hurt retail routers. Cambium Networks, Fastback Networks, JAB Wireless, Mimosa Networks, Nokia, Ubiquiti Networks, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and Zebra Technologies, meanwhile, want the commission to act on what they called a modified consensus proposal before a March 2 new-equipment certification deadline. Broadcom proposed an emissions mask for devices with low-gain antennas, which it said "are very unlikely to pose a risk of harmful interference," it said executives and lawyers told Chief Julius Knapp and others in the Office of Engineering and Technology. "In the alternative, Broadcom suggested extending the deadline for certifying U-NII-3 devices under the new rules for a minimum of 24 months, and extending the deadline for marketing U-NII-3 devices certified under Section 15.247 for a minimum of 48 months." Earlier last week, the other companies and WISPA, seeking FCC action on their proposal, said they had no opinion on the merits of what Broadcom wants. But they said that company's proposed changes to the modified consensus proposal "should not be the basis for delaying action on the extensive record developed prior to Broadcom’s submission." If the agency "is unable to address Broadcom’s proposal prior to March 2," it should "consider it alongside any unresolved issues in this proceeding, including the proposal by Fastback Networks to modify the out-of-band emissions limit in the U-NII-1 band," said WISPA and the seven companies. While what Broadcom seeks may have merit, the commission shouldn't wait to act on what WISPA and its allies want, because the company's request came after the so-called consensus proposal, said an official of the association in an interview Friday. "There has been a lot of time spent" on what the group calls the consensus proposal, said WISPA President Alex Phillips, who isn't sure what Broadcom seeks is significant enough to "halt the proceeding." A follow-up proceeding could address Broadcom's concerns, Phillips said: "They need to let this particular process go forward and then make their case in a separate proceeding or reconsideration. It should not delay a decision."

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and International and Wireless bureaus will host a workshop on developments raised in the FCC NPRM on spectrum frontiers, the commission said Thursday in a public notice. The workshop will address the "state of technological developments in the millimeter wave" bands and future 5G networks, the FCC said. The workshop will take place March 10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the FCC Meeting Room.

A financial institution can expect 1-2 percent of cardholders to use Apple Pay two or more times, said First Annapolis Consulting, on results of a survey on U.S. mobile payments. The survey of 1,300 households, including 580 iPhone 6 users, indicated awareness of Apple Pay is “quite high” among iPhone 6 owners, at 84 percent, but a “long adoption curve is ahead,” said principal Hugh Gallagher. Twenty percent of iPhone 6 owners said they used Apple Pay at least once, down from 22 percent in a survey last spring. Of Apple Pay adopters, 15 percent use it more than once per month, down from 19 percent in spring, said the report. On average, it said, Apple Pay users have loaded 2.3 cards into the Apple Wallet app: 75 percent credit, debit or prepaid cards and 25 percent retail store or loyalty cards. Physical point of sale terminals remain the primary channel for Apple Pay purchases, with 66 percent of Apple Pay users buying in-store versus 52 percent via app, it said. Among those who have used Apple Pay, 60 percent said they were “very satisfied” with the experience and 94 percent “somewhat satisfied.” While early adoption of Apple Pay isn't as high as expected – and has plateaued since the October 2014 launch – usage is likely to increase as the number of mobile payment solutions grows and merchant acceptance of mobile pay expands, Gallagher said.