At least one “brave” wireless carrier is on its own volition deactivating cellphones found in a prison, CellAntenna attorney Marjorie Conner said in a call with an official from the FCC Wireless Bureau, said an ex parte filing posted Friday. Conner said other carriers are unwilling to take that step. The meeting was in part to update the FCC on CellAntenna meetings with carriers, and much of the information in the filing was redacted (http://bit.ly/1kdLrUo). Conner did not reveal the identity of the carrier that’s deactivating phones. “Each carrier has responded differently to CellAntenna’s entreaties to cooperate,” said the filing in docket 13-111. CellAntenna’s product line includes devices designed to help prison officials detect contraband cellphones (http://bit.ly/1hjH3Eo). Last year, the FCC released an NPRM asking a battery of questions about combating contraband cellphones in correctional facilities (CD May 1/13 p1).

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council petitioned the FCC for a modification of Part 90 rules to enable railroad police to use frequencies reserved for public safety interoperability. NPSTC reminded the FCC that eligibility already extends beyond law enforcement, fire and emergency medical operations to include school buses, beach patrols and others. “Railroad Police have an increasing need for effective and expeditious communications interoperability with members of local and state law enforcement, fire and emergency medical organizations who do meet the Commission’s eligibility requirements,” NPSTC said (http://bit.ly/1rpas4k). NPSTC said train traffic in the U.S. is increasing, saying U.S. Class I railroads moved 233,819 carloads of crude petroleum in 2012, up from 65,751 in 2011 and 29,605 in 2010. All forms of transportation are subject to “the potential threat of terrorism” and “the safety of the public demands the best communications possible,” NPSTC said. The FCC posted the petition Friday as part of proceeding PRM14PS.

CTIA asked the FCC to delay by 30 days the June 11 deadline for reply comments on proposed changes to the commission’s wireless location accuracy rules. Under rules proposed in February (CD Feb 21 p1) carriers for the first time would have to meet standards for wireless calls made indoors. In initial comments, carriers asked the FCC to wait for voluntary agreements rather than impose new rules (CD May 14 p10). CTIA noted that more than 300 commenters filed in the initial round. “More than 40 of these comments were substantive in nature and many raised complex issues regarding the technical feasibility of the rules and discussed various location technologies,” CTIA said in a filing posted by the FCC Friday in docket 07-114 (http://bit.ly/1kdE8MH). Providing additional time would give everyone a chance to “evaluate the record regarding various technologies and the proposed rules and to prepare submissions enabling the Commission to make a decision based on a fully developed record,” CTIA said.

Samsung’s quality assurance lab asked the FCC Wednesday for 180 days of confidentiality through Nov. 24 on an equipment authorization grant for a mobile device with the model designation SM-T2558, filings at the commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology show (http://bit.ly/1tTOPXu). The few details available for public view at the OET site depict the SM-T2558 as a mobile phone. Chinese authorities in April certified the SM-T2558 for sale in China through China Mobile (http://bit.ly/1mv8mJe), and reports there described the SM-T2558 as a tablet sporting a seven-inch high-resolution screen. Documents filed at the FCC described the SM-T2558 as both a “portable handset” and “portable tablet” with WCDMA, WLAN, Bluetooth and RFID functionality as well as “ANT+” interoperability support. Samsung declined comment on specs or U.S. marketing plans for the SM-T2558.

A text message spammer was ordered by the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to pay $148,309 and found in violation of a 2011 FTC consent decree, said a Thursday FTC release (http://1.usa.gov/1powfXO). It said Phil Flora sent over 29 million text messages promising “free” $1,000 gift cards to Walmart and Best Buy. The original FTC settlement alleged consumers were paying unwanted fees for receiving Flora’s text messages and that he was selling information collected through responses to the text messages. In March 2013, the FTC cited Flora as a defendant in a new enforcement action, it said. The U.S. District Court in L.A. eventually reached a decision against Flora (http://1.usa.gov/1nHsZVy) and held him in civil contempt for violating the FTC settlement (http://1.usa.gov/1jxAloy), the agency said. Neither Flora nor his representatives could not be reached for comment.

Roughly half of U.S. and British Internet users know smart devices can collect information about personal activities, according to two studies released Thursday. Web-privacy certifier TRUSTe commissioned Ipsos MORI to do the study, which surveyed 2,005 British and 2,000 U.S. Internet-using adults, said two news releases (http://prn.to/1oz0fjB; http://on.mktw.net/1pBDwAY). While 59 percent of U.S. Internet users surveyed said they were aware of smart device’s capability to collect information about personal activities, only 47 percent of British respondents were aware, TRUSTe said.

Deutsche Telekom agreed to a SoftBank plan to buy a majority of T-Mobile US, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported Thursday. Spokesmen for both companies declined to comment. A SoftBank/T-Mobile deal is expected to face an uphill climb, with both FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the Department of Justice signaling concerns about it (CD Feb 6 p1), though last week FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel indicated she was open minded (CD May 23 p1). The Kyodo report cited unnamed industry sources.

Worldwide smartphone shipments will reach 1.2 billion units this year, up 23 percent from last year, and reach 1.8 billion units by 2018, said IDC. The industry research firm, in a report (http://bit.ly/1ko36sY), forecast a compound annual growth rate from 2013-2018 of 12.3 percent, driven by a doubling of shipments in emerging markets including India, Indonesia and Russia. China will account for nearly a third of all smartphone shipments in 2018, IDC said. A key to reaching the growth opportunity is “balancing affordability with expectations,” said Ramon Llamas, research manager-IDC mobile phone team. IDC projects the average selling price (ASP) of smartphones to be $314 this year, down 6.3 percent from 2013, and ASP is expected to drop to $267 by 2018. Consumers will expect premium features regardless of falling prices, Llamas said. “Until recently, low cost has equaled poor quality in the smartphone space,” said Ryan Reith, program director-IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. In the competitive high-end segment, vendors including Motorola Mobility “are trying to skate to where the puck is going by offering extremely affordable devices like the Moto E, which offer a ‘good enough’ experience that will suit the needs of many,” Reith said. Components used in high-end smartphone designs from two to three years earlier “are still sufficient in many aspects,” Reith said, allowing vendors to offer lower-cost solutions. Among operating systems, Android will remain dominant, with market share of 80.2 percent this year, IDC said. Over the forecast period, Android will lose minimal share to Windows Phone, it said.

The proposed air-to-ground (ATG) mobile broadband service in the 14 GHz band will give in-flight passengers the same level of broadband connectivity they have on the ground, Qualcomm said. Allowing some base stations to operate with 6 dB more power to compensate for adverse atmospheric conditions won’t cause interference to fixed satellite services operations “because the aggregate interference will at no time exceed the maximum allowable level of -48.7 dBW/Hz,” it said in a letter posted Wednesday to docket 13-114 (http://bit.ly/1gBpSgW). The Satellite Industry Association “misreads the proposed rules,” Qualcomm said. Those rules “do not contemplate having multiple licenses operate on the same swath of spectrum,” it said in response to SIA’s recent ex parte filing (CD May 23 p16). If harmful interference to geosynchronous FSS operations occurs, “there will be a single secondary licensee for the primary satellite operator to contact for remediation purposes,” said the company.

Boomerang representatives met with FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and other FCC officials to ask for action on the company’s pending application to be certified as an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) in various states. Boomerang sought ETC status in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in December 2010, the company said. The wireless carrier already is certified as an ETC in 21 states. Representatives “described Boomerang’s Lifeline enrollment methods, including the company’s focus on event marketing and in-person enrollment and handset distribution,” said an ex parte filing, posted Monday in docket 11-42 (http://bit.ly/1ioft3s). “These enrollment strategies, including in-person wireless handset distribution are important because they add a layer of fraud prevention by having the applicant stand in front of the person taking the application and provide the proof of eligibility.” Boomerang said it can train new subscribers how “to activate and use the wireless device, including connecting to the Internet."