The use of additional C-band spectrum (3.4-4.2 GHz) for mobile broadband in just two cities, London and Shenzhen, China, would generate $440 million in economic benefit while protecting C-band incumbents, GSMA said in a report released Tuesday. The findings were presented at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Hong Kong, coinciding with the start of the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva. “The report highlights an urgent need for regulators across the globe to address the allocation of spectrum required to meet the huge growth in mobile data traffic, especially in densely populated urban areas,” GSMA said. “C-band spectrum can provide large contiguous channels that support the delivery of high data rate services such as video.” The study was written by Plum Consulting with analysis from the GSMA and Huawei. “The report shows that use of C-band spectrum for mobile broadband can be achieved through the development of sharing techniques to allow mobile services to co-exist with other users of the band, such as satellite and fixed link services,” GSMA said. “Plum’s study and other independent studies show that C-band small cells can successfully co-exist with satellite services, provided that an exclusion zone of a 5-kilometer radius is established around the satellite installations.” Administrations worldwide should make available more contiguous spectrum to meet growing demand for high-speed connectivity in densely populated environments, said David Wang, president of Huawei Wireless Networks. “C-Band discussions during the WRC-15 offer a unique opportunity which should not be missed.”

Connected car platform company Zubie launched an in-car Wi-Fi device that operates over the Verizon 4G LTE network. The $99 mobile hot spot, with a $10/month data fee, is available at Best Buy. The Zubie is targeted to families looking to stream entertainment or mobile workers wanting to take their offices on the road, the company said. The Zubie in-car Wi-Fi device is based on a Sequans Communications LTE chipset for connectivity and processing, and plugs into a vehicle's OBD-II port under the dashboard. Zubie accommodates multiple users and devices, the company said.

Pump Alarm, a sump pump monitoring device that works on the Verizon Wireless network, is available in 96 Home Depot stores in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, the companies said Monday. The device is targeted to the 43 percent of U.S. homes with basements that have sump pumps installed, allowing property owners to remotely monitor pumps, dropping temperatures and power outages, said the companies. The product's built-in wireless capability bypasses power outages giving homeowners an immediate notification when the power goes out and when it returns, the companies said. Pumpalarm.com is a partner in Verizon’s Innovation Program that is designed to help innovators bring machine-to-machine and wireless technology innovations to market, they said.

Lease-to-own chain Aaron’s in the past week began offering smartphones online and through about 80 percent of its 2,100 stores, President Steven Michaels said on an earnings call Friday. That's a reversal of the chain’s policy announced in July of putting off launching smartphones until 2016, Michaels conceded. “We believe in the smartphone category, as we did back in the summer when we announced our delay,” Michaels said. “Our customers are asking for these devices and it continues to be the category that gets searched most often on Aarons.com.” The chain wanted to address several “issues” before it felt “comfortable” jumping into the category, he said. For example, Aaron’s has partnered with a third-party service vendor to “ensure a proper wiping and refurbishment on the phones as they come back off of lease,” he said. “We've got a tight and narrow device lineup of current-generation phones that we feel good about. And we're going to be conservative in our inventory positions and continue to pay attention to the industry and make sure we're reacting and dunk it home.” Aaron’s plans to partner with a “national” wireless carrier in 2016, he said. But for now, customers who walk into Aaron’s stores can procure “unlocked GSM-capable devices,” he said. “We've asked the stores to partner with local stores to get the activation on from a prepaid standpoint, assist the customer in doing that,” he said. “We are talking to carrier partners, and we do think that activation is a key component of the program, and we do intend to have a second phase in 2016 via a national partner carrier and that will help provide us some additional margin through the activation and refill of the airtime.”

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.