Many broadband innovations could help people get and stay healthier, Chris Gibbons, FCC distinguished scholar in residence, said Friday in an agency blog post. Gibbons highlighted wearables, like watches that track pulse rate and other vital signs. “Beyond medical monitoring, such wearables may also help improve athletic performance, track fitness goals or help prevent dangerous falls in the elderly,” he wrote. Gibbons mentioned “ingestibles,” including smart pills that use wireless technology to help monitor internal reactions to medications. Digital “embeddables” also offer a bright future, he said. “In the future, embeddables may use nanotechnology and be so tiny that doctors would simply ‘inject’ them into our bodies. Some promising applications in this area could help diabetes patients monitor their blood sugar levels reliably and automatically, without the need to prick their fingers or otherwise draw blood.”
The FCC released the notice of apparent liability against AT&T approved by commissioners Thursday after a contentious debate at the commission's open meeting (see 1501290062). The NAL said AT&T violated agency rules on 34 microwave licenses the carrier bought from other companies between 2009 and 2012. The commission approved a proposed $640,000 fine, an amount adjusted upward 400 percent to reflect alleged bad behavior on AT&T’s part, an allegation denied by the carrier. “We are particularly concerned that AT&T’s apparent unauthorized operations continued for an extended period of time,” the NAL said. “The unauthorized operations involved a large number of stations. Of the 59 licenses for which AT&T filed, has yet to file, or canceled in lieu of filing major modification applications, AT&T operated 26 of the stations at variance from the stations’ authorizations for more than four years, 26 stations for approximately four years, and seven stations for approximately three and a half years.”
Dozens of performing arts organizations across the U.S. are asking the FCC to rethink a proposal that only performing arts entities that regularly use 50 or more wireless devices will be eligible to apply for a Part 74 license and have their mics protected in a database. The organizations said the rule would leave them without protection from TV broadband devices. The filings were in docket 14-165. “Thousands of performances are held by professional performing arts organizations each year and the use of wireless microphones is both essential to producing high-quality performances and also mitigates against significant public safety concerns,” the Baltimore Symphony said, in a representative filing. “Professional wireless capability, with successful interference protection, is essential to our sector.”
Smartphone shipments vaulted to a record level in Q4 on seasonality, strong end-user demand and a “deep selection of models,” said preliminary data released Thursday from IDC. Vendors shipped 375 million units during Q4, according to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, up 28 percent over the year-ago quarter and 12 percent growth over Q3. For the year, 1.3 billion smartphones shipped, IDC said, up 28 percent from 2013. Juniper Research said it was the first year global smartphone shipments exceeded 1 billion units, at 1.2 billion. It said the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sold more iPhones in China than in the U.S. for the first time. Despite closing in on Samsung in Q4, Apple had a worldwide market share of 15 percent for 2014. The iPhone was the star of Apple's most recent quarter, CEO Tim Cook said earlier this week (see 1501280031). Both market research firms cited a narrowing gap between No. 1 smartphone maker Samsung and rival Apple. IDC said Apple cut the volume gap to 600,000 units in Q4 and said continued success -- along with challenges to Samsung from low-cost, low-margin Android smartphone makers -- could enable Apple to overtake Samsung as shipment leader sometime during 2015. For Samsung to hold on to the top spot, “it will either have to accept lower margins from here forward or revamp its high-end strategy to compete with Apple,” IDC said. While year-over-year smartphone unit growth slowed from 40 percent in 2013 to 27 percent last year, “the market clearly has legs,” IDC said. Growth is forecast to decline to the mid-teens this year, “but opportunity exists” as a large segment of the world population hasn't yet acquired a mobile phone or stepped up to a smartphone, IDC said. "Mature markets have become increasingly dependent on replacement purchases rather than first-time buyers, which has contributed to slower growth,” Ramon Llamas, research manager, said. In emerging markets, first-time buyers have provided momentum to the smartphone market, but “the focus has shifted toward low-cost devices, creating a different dynamic for both global and local vendors,” Llamas said. Facing increased pressure from Apple at the high end and from Chinese manufacturers Huawei, Xiaomi, ZTE and others at the mid- to low end, Samsung is facing a “multi-front battle” and has streamlined operations and its product portfolio to position itself more competitively, IDC said. Apple sales were up 44 percent in the U.S. to 74.5 million and up 97 percent in Brazil, Russia, India and China, IDC said. It “remains to be seen how long Apple can sustain this runaway growth,” IDC said. Juniper said the reception of the iPhone 6 Plus indicates “a large potential for Apple phablets” and will likely accelerate the trend toward bigger smartphone screens.
The FCC was right to issue a strong warning against blocking Wi-Fi (see 1501270037), said the Wireless Innovation Alliance Wednesday in a news release. “As the FCC has said before, and was forced to say again: blocking legal communications from wireless users is unequivocally wrong,” the group said. “Unlicensed spectrum is our best bet for wireless innovation; it supports billions of dollars of economic activity every year and serves as an essential on-ramp for communications through services like Wi-Fi.”
More than 400 million phablets will ship in 2019, up from 138 million forecast for this year, a Juniper Research report said. While the early success of the iPhone 6 has driven the category since its fall debut, budget phablets with 5.5- to 6.9-inch screens are expected to push the category into the mainstream market, the researcher said in a Wednesday news release. With smartphone screen sizes trending larger, many flagship smartphones are likely to be phablets by default within two to three years as consumers increasingly use smartphones for media consumption and gaming that benefit from the larger screens, Juniper said. The trend will have an impact on smaller-screen tablets that are closer to phablets in size and could affect sales of larger tablets, too, if consumers shun the larger, more expensive models, it said. The trend is likely to slow tablet adoption in markets where consumers already do most computing on smartphones, such as China, Juniper said. Stakeholders are likely to feel less of an impact from a shift away from tablets as the same chips are now powering the gamut of mobile devices ranging from smartphones to laptops, analyst James Moar said. "Hardware capabilities are blurring,” Moar said, adding that cellular-connected tablets, phablets and smartphones are all now including console-level graphics and sound systems. “This shifts device design parameters to budgets and use cases, rather than technological features." Among the report’s findings: Chinese vendors hoping to expand tablet and phablet offerings globally are likely to see slower growth due to “low-key marketing strategies” and online-only distribution. Juniper forecasts growing use of phablets at work, spurred by vendors offering productivity software standard with some devices.
FiberTower said it opened a millimeter wave spectrum technology laboratory in Silver Spring, Maryland. The lab will focus on "research and development in the wide-area licensed millimeter wave bands, and is especially focused on the revolutionary small cell backhaul and 5G mobile access technologies that are emerging in these bands,” the company said in a news release. “These bands are key to current 4G and LTE small infrastructure proliferation, and due to their low-latency and high spectrum re-use capabilities, such millimeter wave enabled sites will be the core infrastructure sites from which 5G operations will be deployed.” At its October meeting, the FCC approved a notice of inquiry on new technology developments that could increase the viability of operations above 24 GHz (see 1410170048) .
TracFone, the nation’s largest prepaid mobile provider, agreed to pay $40 million to settle FTC allegations that it didn’t deliver on promises to customers who bought “unlimited” data service. The complaint alleged TracFone has advertised since 2009 prepaid monthly mobile plans for about $45 per month offering “unlimited” data under various brands -- including Straight Talk, Net10, Simple Mobile and Telcel America, said an FTC Wednesday news release. “Despite emphasizing unlimited data in its advertisements, TracFone drastically slowed or cut off consumers’ mobile data after they used more than certain fixed limits in a 30-day period,” the FTC said. “The issue here is simple: when you promise consumers ‘unlimited,’ that means unlimited,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC Consumer Protection Bureau. The agency's proposed order was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. TracFone didn’t comment.
A sneak preview of T-Mobile’s Super Bowl ad, a spoof PSA featuring Kim Kardashian, is now online. “Each month millions of gigs of unused data are taken back by wireless companies. Tragic,” Kardashian intones, as she takes a series of selfies. “Data you paid for that could be used to see my makeup, my backhand, my outfits, my vacations and my outfits. Sadly, all lost. Please, help save the data.” A 30-second ad like the one from T-Mobile costs an estimated $4.5 million, according to news reports.
The FCC should adopt a “mobile-specific, Title I approach” to net neutrality rules, CTIA officials said in a meeting with Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman. CTIA emphasized the level of competition in the wireless industry and the challenges of providing mobile versus fixed broadband, said an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-28. “Wireless is different and the Commission was correct in 2010 in its decision not to subject mobile broadband to the same requirements as wireline broadband,” CTIA said. “Any additional rules that apply to wireless must take into account the unique competitive and technical attributes of wireless service and avoid impeding the differentiated offerings and choices mobile consumers enjoy today.”