The market for sensors used in smartphones and tablets is forecast to triple for the 2012-2018 period, driven by competition between Apple and Samsung for sensor dominance, said a report from IHS Technology (http://bit.ly/10qLhmA). Worldwide market revenue for sensors used in smartphones and tablets will rise to $6.5 billion in 2018, from $2.3 billion in 2012, with the fastest growth coming from emerging devices whose revenue will reach $2.3 billion in 2018, IHS said. “The mobile market is moving beyond simply integrating established devices like motion sensors and now is including next-generation features like fingerprint and environment/health sensors,” said Marwan Boustany, IHS senior analyst for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors. Established sensors in mobile devices include motion sensors, light sensors and MEMS microphones, while emerging sensors include fingerprint, optical pulse, humidity, gas, ultraviolet (UV) and thermal imaging. Apple initiated the market for fingerprint sensors in mobile devices with the release of the iPhone 5s in 2013, and IHS predicts shipments of fingerprint-enabled devices will reach 1.4 billion units in 2020. The fingerprint sensor market “has all its requirements for success converging at the right time,” Boustany said, citing Apple Pay and the growing number of banks supporting mobile payments and biometric authentication. Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and Huawei’s Ascend Mate 7 also sport fingerprint sensors, IHS said. Meanwhile, Samsung pioneered the use of humidity sensors in the Galaxy S4, a pulse sensor in the S5 and a UV sensor in the Note 4, and IHS expects Chinese smartphone OEMs to be the next driver for the new generation of sensors. Humidity sensors have been used in Chinese handsets since 2011, and air-quality sensors are expected to find growing usage in the China market, IHS said, citing specific demand for sensors that can detect particle pollution in large Chinese cities. Thermal imagers using microbolometer sensors emerged from the technology of forward-looking infrared (FLIR) systems in 2014 as accessories for the iPhone 5s, but it will take several years before they’ll be incorporated into phones due to cost, IHS said. Samsung is expected to adopt gas/chemical sensors in the Note 6 for introduction in 2016 when the technology is more mature and use cases have been clearly defined, IHS said.

T-Mobile representatives stressed the importance of quick action on its May petition seeking clarity on data roaming rules, in a meeting with FCC staff. T-Mobile asked for a declaratory ruling containing guidance and “predictable” enforcement criteria for determining whether terms of data roaming agreements meet the “commercially reasonable” standard adopted in a 2011 data roaming order (see 1408220055). “Action is needed now, as new data roaming agreements -- many of which are replacing legacy agreements negotiated prior to release of the Data Roaming Order -- are being negotiated across the industry,” T-Mobile said. An ex parte filing by the carrier was posted Thursday in docket 05-265 (http://bit.ly/1FKb8WG). Many of the agreements "include 4G/LTE data roaming for the first time, and additional guidance is essential for carriers to expedite the negotiation of commercially reasonable agreements,” T-Mobile said.

The FCC released the broadband infrastructure order approved by the agency last week (see 1410170048). The FCC said the order (http://bit.ly/1rqlBvN) takes into account a “technological revolution” that has changed the wireless landscape. “The Commission’s current rules for deploying infrastructure were drafted at a time when antennas were huge and bolted to the top of enormous towers,” it said. “While that kind of macrocell deployment still exists and will continue to exist, there are now a variety of complementary and alternative technologies that are far less obtrusive.” Distributed antenna system and other small-cell deployments “use components that are a fraction of the size of macrocell deployments, and can be installed -- with little or no impact -- on utility poles, buildings, and other existing structures,” the order said.

Carrier aggregation (CA), in which carriers combine spectrum to create larger “virtual” bandwidths for LTE, will grow in importance, 4G Americas said in a white paper the group released Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1raszpz). CA, a key feature of LTE-Advanced, allows bandwidths of up to 100 MHz, the group said. “Basically all of an operator’s frequency allocations can be used to provide LTE services.” CA offers spectrum efficiency and peak rates “nearly on par with single wideband allocation,” the group said. The paper cited CA deployments in Australia, South Korea, the U.K. and elsewhere. In the U.S., AT&T plans the use of CA capability in Chicago and other markets to aggregate 2.1 GHz and 700 MHz spectrum, 4G Americas said. “Sprint plans to use CA as part of the Sprint Spark service to combine LTE spectrum across the 800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2.5 GHz spectrum. T-Mobile & Verizon plan to use carrier aggregation to further enhance their AWS spectrum holdings.”

The FCC should approve AT&T’s buy of spectrum licenses from Plateau only if AT&T agrees to keep in place a roaming deal with T-Mobile, T-Mobile said in a petition to the FCC. “If AT&T acquires Plateau, AT&T will become the only option for GSM roaming in the former Plateau markets and T-Mobile will be required to adhere to the terms of AT&T’s expansive and inflexible roaming agreements which generally do not permit roaming over limited geographic areas,” T-Mobile said (http://bit.ly/ZF7Dzx). Plateau serves New Mexico and west Texas. The FCC posted the filing in docket 14-144 Tuesday.

Verizon reported earnings of 89 cents per share in Q3 on $31.6 billion in revenue. The carrier also added 1.5 million retail wireless connections and finished the quarter with 6.5 million FiOS connections, an 8.8 percent increase year-over-year (http://vz.to/1Fy0O40). A big part of the wireless growth was tied to tablets, Verizon said, with the company adding 457,000 postpaid phones and 1.1 million postpaid tablets in Q3. “We see continued, healthy customer demand for wireless and broadband services, and we are encouraged by the growth we are starting to see in the areas of video delivery and machine-to-machine,” said CEO Lowell McAdam. Verizon officials declined to answer any questions from analyst about the upcoming AWS-3 or TV incentive auction during the quarterly financial call. Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo was asked directly about Verizon's plans for the incentive auction. Shammo said the company wouldn’t have anything to say, since it's in the quiet period leading up to next month’s AWS-3 auction.

The Tizen Association said it has added 16 partner companies, bringing membership to more than 100 companies since its launch in November. The association is holding its second Tizen Developer Summit in Shanghai Monday and Tuesday. Tizen encompasses a “wide range of connected devices, generating opportunities for a broad range of partners including application developers, wireless operators and device manufacturers," said Ryoichi Sugimura, a Tizen Association board member from NTT Docomo, Monday. New association members are CloudTrains Systems, Digital Horizons, Dotscreen, Fractal Media, Fresvii, Integral and Open Systems, Jongla, Kitsilano Software, Max Secure Software, Mobile Inform Group, Ngine Networks, Phaymobile, ReyLabs, Salt and Pepper, SaturnMob and Vserv.

The Competitive Carriers Association asked the FCC to deny AT&T’s proposed buy of lower 700 MHz licenses in California from Club 42. Oppositions to the deal were due at the FCC Friday. CCA filed Friday and the petition was posted by the Monday in docket 14-145 (http://bit.ly/1t2scC1). The deal would result in AT&T holding more than one-third of the spectrum below 1 GHz in the California 12-Kings and California 5-San Luis Obispo markets, CCA said. “AT&T has failed to meet the applicable heightened standards for demonstrating that the proposed transaction is in the public interest when balanced with the serious anticompetitive risks posed by the increased concentration of below-1-GHz spectrum.”

CTIA filed an infographic at the FCC showing the competitiveness of the U.S. wireless industry in 2013, relative to 2010 when the FCC imposed the first net neutrality rules. It said smartphones were eight times faster in 2013 than in 2010 and data traffic grew 732 percent during the period. “The facts noted on the infographic are clear: the wireless industry is robustly competitive and innovative, and is working for Americans and America’s economy,” CTIA said in the filing in docket 14-28 (http://bit.ly/1sGLJ9x). CTIA opposes a move by the FCC to impose stronger net neutrality requirements on mobile broadband than were imposed in the 2010 rules (see 1409160019).

Giving industry time to develop a solution is critical if the FCC imposes location accuracy rules for wireless calls made indoors, said Chris Pearson, president of 4G Americas, in a meeting with Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. “Otherwise, the industry will waste resources on mandates for narrowed search radii that may not serve the public’s interest,” Pearson said, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 07-114 (http://bit.ly/1CL9jnS). Small cells may have the most promise for providing readily dispatchable addresses to public safety, but much work remains, 4G Americas said. “Stakeholders must undertake development of the appropriate database methodology to ensure the information is accessible and useable by carriers, as well as develop a means of ensuring such addresses are updated and validated as necessary,” the group said. “And of course, the small cells themselves must be deployed and provisioned by premises owners, potentially in partnership with local government and public safety involvement.” Meanwhile, SouthernLINC Wireless executives told FCC staff “adoption of new location accuracy standards at this time would be premature,” said an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1wrcuRR). The FCC approved an NPRM in February seeking comment on how the agency can ensure that wireless calls to 911 forward accurate location information to dispatchers (see 1402210038).