FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an order and FNPRM Thursday that “puts forth major changes to modernize and streamline the Commission’s rules and application processes for Cellular Service licensees,” said Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman in a blog post. The order would transition site-based cellular service to a geographic-based licensing regime, which “would bring the Cellular Service into greater harmony with other mobile services,” including PCS, 700 MHz and AWS, Sherman said. The FCC would be able to eliminate or revise a large number of filing requirements, reduce licensee filing burdens by more than 60 percent and “eliminate barriers” to deployment of advanced services, Sherman said. The FNPRM would propose and seek comment on additional issues relating to cellular service reform, including technical changes “that could foster the deployment of wider-band technologies” like LTE, he said. Those changes will satisfy a recommendation in the FCC staff’s commission process reform report by “reducing regulatory burdens and fostering the development of new generations of Cellular Service across the country,” Sherman said (http://fcc.us/1vlVcTf).

The NFC Forum launched the “Tap Into NFC” developer program Thursday, designed to leverage the capability of near field communication for new applications and services. The program will support application developers through events, networking opportunities and a dedicated website (http://bit.ly/1ufRexz) with developer kits, technical specs, news and product information, it said. To commemorate the launch, the NFC Forum will host a Twitter contest Oct. 16-23 using #Tapin2NFC, in which developers can share what they like most about the program and site, including favorite products from the product showcase, the forum said.

NTCA said nearly 20 of its members were among those that submitted short-form applications to bid in the upcoming AWS-3 auction (CD Oct 2 p5). “This represents approximately one-quarter of all applications filed, demonstrating yet again the commitment of small telcos to providing state-of-the-art communications services for the benefit of rural America,” the group said Thursday.

The facts are in and they “reinforce yet again that the U.S. wireless market is a vibrant and competitive industry delivering network investment and welfare-enhancing benefits to consumers across the nation,” CTIA said in a Thursday letter to the FCC. U.S. carriers invested 120 percent as much in their networks in 2013 as the 28 EU nations combined, CTIA said (http://bit.ly/1uElkfL). The U.S. also “tops the charts in LTE subscribers and service,” and average mobile speeds in the U.S. were about 30 percent faster than in Europe and 55 percent faster than in the Asia-Pacific region last year, the group said. It said U.S. carriers need more access to spectrum to keep their momentum. “Making additional spectrum available remains critical to meeting consumer demand, promoting economic growth, and enhancing our Nation’s global competitiveness,” CTIA said. Scott Bergmann, vice president-regulatory affairs, signed the letter.

AT&T expects an order on circulation for the Oct. 17 FCC meeting (CD Sept 29 p3) to provide key relief that will help the wireless industry build the facilities it needs to manage growth, said Joan Marsh, AT&T vice president-federal regulatory, in a Thursday blog post (http://bit.ly/1xGET8b). The item is expected to offer “a series of straight-forward and sensible reforms consistent with programmatic requirements that will expedite environmental and historic preservation review of new and modified wireless facilities,” Marsh wrote. “We also believe the item will provide much needed clarification of certain federal statutes that were enacted to streamline state and local review of wireless infrastructure proposals.” The order should mean “more efficient and timely small cell deployments,” she said. “Similarly, we anticipate that the item will permit the collocation of new antennae without additional approvals in certain limited circumstances, for example on rooftops where a visible antenna already exists or within close proximity to an existing antenna array."

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel repeated her call for a national prize to go to someone who can find a way to make the use of spectrum below 5 GHz 50-100 percent more efficient over the next 10 years. Her comments came in remarks Thursday to the Marconi Society Anniversary Symposium. The winner would get 10 MHz of spectrum. “This is no small prize,” Rosenworcel said. “If the winner can find a way to use spectrum 50 or 100 times more efficiently, that 10 megahertz of spectrum could do the work of 500 to 1,000 megahertz of spectrum using today’s technology.” Rosenworcel said U.S. spectrum policy must entice federal agencies to give up spectrum rather than punish them if they don’t. “We need to find ways to reward federal authorities for efficient use of their spectrum so that they see benefit in commercial reallocation rather than just loss,” she said. “As part of this effort, we should consider a valuation of all spectrum used by federal authorities to provide a consistent way to reward efficiency.” The U.S. needs more Wi-Fi, Rosenworcel said: “It is time to give unlicensed spectrum its due.” Rosenworcel made similar comments at a Mobile Future Forum Monday (CD Sept 30 p1).

The FCC got the rules right for mobile in the 2010 net neutrality order and shouldn’t reverse course now, Mobile Future officials said in a series of meetings at the agency. “The 2010 open Internet principles grasped this uniqueness, and wisely gave wireless network operators the ability to manage their networks optimally rather than adopting a one size fits all approach,” Mobile Future said. “Changing the approach to mobile broadband at this stage would open the door to a raft of unintended negative consequences for consumers and for the open Internet itself.” The group released a copy of an ex parte filing on the meetings Thursday.

Verizon said it won’t “move forward with the planned implementation of network optimization for 4G LTE customers on unlimited plans.” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler applauded the decision (http://bit.ly/1oEeuzN), calling it “a responsible action.” Wheeler sent Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead a letter in July asking about the carrier’s announcement it planned to slow data speeds on its LTE network starting in October, but only for the top 5 percent of data users on unlimited data plans. Wheeler said then he was “deeply troubled” by that development (CD July 31 p1).

Third place behind Apple and Samsung in the tablet wars is “up for grabs” among Amazon, Asus, Lenovo and other emerging vendors, ABI Research said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/10lBnlY). Lenovo in particular “is working to gain ground in the market,” and in 2019 is expected to ship 21 million tablets, or 7.3 percent of the global market, ABI said. This “would land it solidly in third place,” it said. Lenovo remains the world’s biggest PC supplier, but now sells more smartphones and tablets than it does PCs, and is the world’s third-largest tablet supplier, Lenovo itself said in the runup to the IFA show last month in Berlin. During 2013, the tablet market “exploded with new devices overwhelming consumers,” ABI said. “Leading tablet vendors quickly dominated the market, but are now feeling the squeeze and quickly losing market share control,” creating a “stall” in more advanced and mature markets like North America and Western Europe, it said. “This stall is giving other vendors the opportunity to close the prominent gap and claim third place. The dent emerging vendors are creating in the market is impressive, but continuing that success is going to be the real challenge.”

The FCC, acting at Verizon’s request, agreed to drop conditions imposed on various transactions involving Verizon Wireless due to Verizon Wireless’s then-partial foreign ownership by the U.K.’s Vodafone. Verizon had told the FCC the conditions were no longer relevant since Verizon now owns all of its wireless subsidiary. The agency agreed “that a material change in circumstance has occurred and that the basis for these conditions no longer exists,” said a Wednesday order from the Wireless and International bureaus (http://bit.ly/1BA7klV). In February, Verizon completed a $150 billion deal to buy out Vodafone’s 45 percent of Verizon Wireless.