"Smart connected devices” will grow increasingly mainstream by 2018, when 43.3 percent of new shipments globally will be priced under $200, compared with 32.7 percent in 2013, IDC said in a report (http://bit.ly/1vQ2HTV). Included in those shipments are desktop and laptop PCs, tablets and 2-in-1s, but predominantly smartphones, said the industry research firm Tuesday. The high end will take a hit as the share of total shipments priced above $500 falls to 21.1 percent in 2018 from 33 percent in 2013, it said. The smartphone installed base is quickly approaching 2 billion units, and vendors are “scrambling” to find the next 2 billion users in emerging markets like Brazil, China and India, it said. By comparison, sales in “mature” markets like the U.S. and Western Europe are slowing to single-digit annual percentage growth rates “as the installed base swells,” it said. Still, IDC estimated that by 2018, six smartphones will ship for every PC.

More than two-thirds of U.S. mobile phone subscribers prefer data plans that cover only smartphones, while the rest prefer plans that would extend to multiple devices, such as tablets and laptops, Parks Associates found in a study released early Wednesday (http://bit.ly/Ubnio3) in anticipation of Amazon’s announcement of a smartphone and subsidized mobile data plan. Two in every three subscribers would rather buy a smartphone at full price in return for scrapping a contract. Lower-income subscribers especially like the idea of unsubsidized handsets because they believe it will lower their monthly fees, the study found.

Representatives of handset maker HTC cautioned the FCC against imposing overly aggressive timetables for improved wireless E911 location accuracy, in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and an aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai. The FCC should keep in mind “the nascent state of location technology,” HTC said in an ex parte filing posted by the FCC Wednesday (http://bit.ly/T7tzjH) in docket 07-114.

Almost three-fourths of Americans are unfamiliar with the Internet of Things (IoT), according to a survey released Tuesday by Soasta, a cloud and mobile testing company (http://bit.ly/1vI6SB7). Soasta commissioned Harris Poll to conduct the online survey, which reached 2,051 adults May 28-30. Only 6 percent of those surveyed said they were “very familiar” with IoT, Soasta said. The survey gave some examples of IoT technology, with Americans expressing the most excitement -- 39 percent -- about connected cars, according to Soasta.

The FCC Wireless Bureau gave Mobile Relay Associates part of what it asked for in its request for waiver of rules to allow MRA to operate on frequency pairs 451/456.0000, 451/456.00625 and 451/456.0125 MHz at locations in California, Florida and Nevada. The bureau noted that while the request was pending, other entities submitted waiver requests for use of one or more of the same frequency pairs or frequency pair 451/456.009375 MHz in various areas. The bureau approved a waiver “with respect to frequency pairs 451/456.00625 MHz, 451/456.009375 MHz, and 451/456.0125 MHz, but not with respect to frequency pair 451/456.0000 MHz,” said an order released Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1oBBxjN). The frequencies are located on the band edges between Broadcast Auxiliary Service spectrum and Industrial/Business Pool spectrum. The bureau said that since frequency pair 451/456.0000 MHz “would overlap BAS low power auxiliary station spectrum we conclude that the purpose of the rules would not be served by assigning that channel” to private land mobile radio use as requested by MRA.

The FCC Tuesday posted a June 12 ex parte filing by CTIA on a meeting two days earlier between association officials and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Among those attending were new CTIA President Meredith Baker, former President Steve Largent and CTIA Chairman Dan Mead, CEO of Verizon. “CTIA highlighted the essential role that spectrum plays in facilitating the cycle of innovation and investment that characterizes the mobile wireless ecosystem,” the filing said (http://bit.ly/SR3V2i). It didn’t say what Wheeler’s message was to the CTIA officials. Industry officials said last week Wheeler made clear to Mead that the FCC expected Verizon to play an active role in the TV incentive auction (CD June 13 p8). The filing was made in four dockets, including 12-268, which covers the incentive auction.

ARRI agreed to pay $80,000 to the U.S. Treasury and implement a three-year compliance plan to end an FCC investigation of charges the company unlawfully marketed digital cameras and wireless accessories in America before they were certified by the commission. FCC rules are designed to assure that such devices don’t cause interference to other spectrum users, said an order Tuesday from the Enforcement Bureau (http://bit.ly/1lBHJoa). “These rules protect consumers by requiring manufacturers to label these devices properly and provide necessary information in user manuals so that consumers operate the devices in a compliant manner.” The Munich-based firm makes professional motion picture equipment. It had no immediate comment.

Sprint said Monday it will expand its 4G LTE Rural Roaming Preferred Program through agreements with 12 rural and regional carriers. The program, developed in conjunction with the Competitive Carriers Association, will now extend roaming coverage to areas of 23 states and a population of more than 34 million people, Sprint said. The 12 carriers are C Spire, Carolina West Wireless, Flat Wireless, Illinois Valley Cellular, Inland Cellular, James Valley Telecommunications, Nex-Tech Wireless, nTelos, Phoenix Wireless, SI Wireless, SouthernLINC Wireless and VTel Wireless, Sprint said. The agreements will increase competition by giving the carriers “low-cost access” to Sprint’s network, as well as accelerate Sprint’s 4G LTE deployment in areas where deployment and roaming costs may be “prohibitively expensive,” Sprint said. The agreements follow Sprint’s agreement in May with nTelos to extend their network alliance through 2022, giving Sprint customers access to nTelos’ 4G LTE network in rural portions of western Virginia and West Virginia, Sprint said (http://bit.ly/1juEXwG).

American Tower agreed to buy Brazilian tower company BR Towers for the equivalent of $978 million. BR Towers owns 2,530 towers and has exclusive use rights on an additional 2,110, American Tower said in a news release Sunday. The additional towers gained through the deal will generate the equivalent of $131 million in annual revenue, American Tower said. The deal is set to close in Q4, following regulatory reviews (http://bit.ly/1qXcogp). In October, American Tower bought MIP Tower Holdings, parent of Global Tower Partners (CD Oct 3 p8).

A new Texas Instruments “Internet-on-a-chip” family of devices will allow manufacturers to “easily add embedded Wi-Fi and Internet to a wide range” of consumer electronics and industrial products, the company said Monday. Its SimpleLink CC3100 and CC3200 platforms for Internet of Things (IoT) applications feature the industry’s lowest power consumption for battery-operated devices with a low-power radio and advanced low-power modes, TI said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1p9aUjZ). The CC3100 can be flexibly meshed with any available microcontroller, while the CC3200 has an integrated, programmable microcontroller, allowing manufacturers to add their own code, it said. The chipsets offer “easy development for the IoT with quick connection, cloud support and on-chip Wi-Fi, Internet and robust security protocols, requiring no prior Wi-Fi experience to get a product connected,” it said.