AT&T fired back at Competitive Carriers Association arguments that the FCC should tweak its spectrum aggregation rules to accommodate the low-band holdings of CCA members, while restricting bidding by Verizon and AT&T. CCA has proposed that the FCC look at the national positions of a carrier in addition to the spectrum it has in an individual market before imposing bidding limits in the TV incentive auction (CD April 30 p1). “The FCC has now proposed a set of restrictions that basically gives CCA exactly what it has demanded -- it is proposing to restrict a carrier’s participation in the 600 MHz auction based on the amount of low band spectrum it holds in its portfolio,” said AT&T Vice President Joan Marsh (http://bit.ly/1kQ7j7w). “One would think CCA would be cheering from the stands, but they are not. Why? Because the FCC’s proposal has finally forced CCA to acknowledge that there are ‘multiple examples’ ’throughout the country’ of incidences where their members already have a significant portfolio of low band spectrum. Those members would therefore be restricted under the FCC’s current proposal.” CCA wants to tilt the table to suit its purposes, Marsh said. “So, this is the world according to CCA: -- Where their members have significant low band holdings and are subject to auction restrictions, it’s an ‘unintended consequence,'” she wrote. “Where AT&T or Verizon have the same amount of low band holdings and are subject to auction restrictions, it’s because our low band holdings are ‘excessive.'"

LG Electronics USA got FCC equipment authorizations for what appears will be a broad lineup of car infotainment products destined soon for U.S. introduction, filings at the FCC website show (http://bit.ly/1fInTax). Little is disclosed in the filings that pinpoints whether the products will debut in the consumer electronics aftermarket or will be supplied on a factory original equipment manufacturer basis to major automakers, or both. LG asked for and got permanent confidentiality on the products’ block diagrams and other technical materials because they “contain trade secrets and proprietary information not customarily released to the public,” LG’s application said. “The public disclosure of these matters might be harmful to the Applicant and provide unjustified benefits to its competitors.” Public disclosure of product photos and user manuals has been barred for 180 days to Sept. 10 to give LG “temporary confidentiality of commercially sensitive information prior to product release,” it said. The authorizations are for a lineup of 44 derivatives of eight basic product models, the LG filings show. Of the 44 derivatives, about half have external “aux” jacks, the rest internal ports, it said. All but 12 have USB functionality, while 13 have built-in CD transports, and 20 sport digital radio tuners, they show. Bluetooth functionality is built into 24 of the derivatives, and nine have connectBlue wireless firmware support, they show. Searching any of the listed model numbers (for example, L41SK2) yields listings of identical models under a “Car Infotainment” heading on the OpenSource Code Distribution page of LG’s global support website (http://bit.ly/1mrWQyH). LG didn’t comment.

C Spire said it’s modifying shared data plans to include a four-line version with unlimited voice and text and 10 GB of data for $160 per month. AT&T and Verizon Wireless began offering similar four-line plans for $160 per month earlier this year. C Spire also reduced the cost of smaller data allocations, with 1 GB costing $25 and 2 GB costing $40, $20 less in both cases than before. A new 3 GB level costs $60. All plans cost between $15 and $40 per line, depending on how much data are bought and whether the subscriber is paying for the smartphone on an installment plan, C Spire said in a news release Monday. The carrier also recently began offering an unlimited data plan for $65 per month, which is only available to customers not on a contract plan and who either paid in full for their device or are paying for it in installments (http://bit.ly/1fMKIKa).

Prospective members of the FirstNet board have until May 23 to make their desires known by filing an expression of interest with the Department of Commerce, NTIA said Monday in a notice. Four of 12 appointments to the board expire in August, NTIA said (http://1.usa.gov/1jvoNGD). “The Secretary of Commerce may reappoint individuals to serve on the FirstNet Board provided they have not served two consecutive full three-year terms. NTIA issues this Notice to obtain expressions of interest in the event the Secretary must fill any vacancies arising on the Board.”

Some smaller carriers would also face restrictions in bidding for low-band spectrum in the TV incentive auction under the proposed rules, not just AT&T and Verizon, the Competitive Carriers Association told FCC officials in meetings last week. CCA representatives met with aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, said an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 12-268. “There is little rationale for putting a small, rural competitor in the same (or worse) position than better capitalized, dominant nationwide providers,” the group said (http://bit.ly/1i0KRIy). “CCA has identified multiple examples of this result for carriers located throughout the country.” CCA proposed that the FCC adopt a national eligibility requirement in addition to a market-by-market test. “This proposal allows rural and regional providers to bid on reserved spectrum in their core markets, but does not change the two largest providers’ capability to bid on reserved spectrum in any market,” CCA said. “For example, under CCA’s proposal, AT&T would still be able to bid on reserved spectrum in Cleveland, Phoenix and Puerto Rico. Verizon would still be able to bid on reserved spectrum in Dallas, Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville.”

Rules for the TV incentive auction must be clear going in for all parties, CTIA officials said in a meeting with Renee Gregory, aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “While the auction raises novel challenges, it is important that the rules be clear and easy to understand, and that they promote participation by both wireless providers and broadcasters,” said an ex parte filing on the Wednesday meeting posted the next day in docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/Rbikpz). “CTIA also emphasized that a well-reasoned band plan is essential for the proposed incentive auction to achieve the critical goal of unleashing necessary additional spectrum for mobile broadband, and voiced support for a band plan that focuses on pairing as much spectrum as possible in a technically feasible manner that provides guard bands and a duplex gap no larger than required to protect licensed services from interference in accordance with the law, and that promotes bidder confidence.”

Imposing spectrum aggregation limits in the TV incentive auction would be “perverse and unjust” since they would help “large multinational companies at the expense of their competitors,” Verizon representatives said in meetings with FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly. T-Mobile is owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and Sprint is partly owned by Japan’s SoftBank. “T-Mobile and Sprint are large corporations with established, well-financed corporate parents,” Verizon said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1nMcGI4). “They and their parent corporations are more than capable of paying substantial amounts to acquire spectrum in the incentive auction if they choose to do so.” Verizon also warned that imposing limits on selling restricted spectrum licenses would hurt the auction. “Such restrictions would suppress the value of the restricted licenses at auction, further reducing competition and further increasing the risk that broadcasters do not relinquish substantial amounts of spectrum,” Verizon said. “That is because firms are less likely to participate, or to bid aggressively, if they know that they will be unable to subsequently sell their spectrum if their business plans change or do not work out."

The FCC Public Safety Bureau plans a workshop June 2 to take advice on rules for carriers to submit annual certifications required under the commission’s new 911 reliability rules. In December, the FCC voted to require carriers to file annual audits on how they are following best practices for 911 connections (CD Dec 13 p7). The order followed the 2012 derecho, which led to 911 outages affecting emergency call centers in three states. The workshop is scheduled 1-4 p.m. at FCC headquarters in Washington.

Samsung remained the global smartphone market share leader in Q1 this year, as its shipments grew to 85 million from 69.7 million in Q1 last year, IDC said Wednesday. But Samsung’s share slipped to 30.2 percent from 31.9 percent in Q1 last year. Apple remained firmly No. 2, as its shipments increased to 43.7 million from 37.4 million, but its share dipped to 15.5 percent from 17.1 percent. Samsung started 2014 exactly where it started and finished 2013, as the “undisputed” global leader in the smartphone market, said IDC. By March 31, Samsung had shipped more smartphones than the next four vendors combined, said the research company. Although Samsung “relied” on its high-end smartphones within mature markets and its “deep” selection of entry- and mid-range models in emerging markets, Samsung also launched its flagship Galaxy S5 within select markets, said IDC. Apple achieved a new Q1 record by passing 40 million units, said IDC. The manufacturer had double-digit growth in Japan and across multiple developing markets, including Brazil, China, India and Indonesia, said IDC. But it had the weakest year-over-year growth among the top five smartphone vendors, who also included Huawei, Lenovo and LG, said IDC. It remained to be seen when -- “not if” -- Apple’s rumored large-screen models will ship, said IDC. Those models would be “filling a gap in the company’s portfolio that has been exploited by the competition,” said the research company. Despite growing their smartphone shipments in Q1, Huawei, Lenovo and LG continued to have single-digit shares, with LG’s slipping to 4.4 percent from 4.7 percent, said IDC. Huawei smartphone shipments grew to 13.7 million from 9.3 million, while its share grew to 4.9 percent from 4.3 percent. Lenovo’s shipments grew to 12.9 million from 7.9 million and its share increased to 4.6 percent from 3.6 percent. LG’s shipments jumped to 12.3 million from 10.3 million. Smartphone shipments from other manufacturers soared to 113.9 million from 84.2 million. Huawei’s goal for 2014 is to ship 80 million smartphones globally, and contributing to that is the company’s growing emphasis on large-screen models, said IDC. Huawei’s latest model, the Ascend Mate 2 4G, has a 6.1-inch screen, one of the largest in the industry, said IDC. Lenovo’s ability to score the largest year-over-year growth among the top five smartphone vendors was helped by continued success in Asia-Pacific despite its “nominal presence” in other markets, said IDC. The minimal presence outside Asia will “quickly change” after Lenovo’s purchase of Motorola Mobility from Google is finalized, giving Lenovo a “footprint” in markets including North America and Western Europe where it has been “notably absent,” said IDC. Total Q1 global smartphone shipments grew 28.6 percent from Q1 last year to 281.5 million units, said IDC. The smartphone market started 2014 with an “expected retrenchment” from strong holiday quarter shipment volumes despite the year-over-year growth, it said. Shipments declined 2.8 percent from Q4. But the Q1 results beat IDC’s forecast of 267.2 million units by 5.3 percent, it said.

A Florida man who allegedly jammed consumer cellphone service from his car for nearly two years and interfered with first-responder communications faces a possible $48,000 fine from the FCC, the agency said in a release Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1iHV3GJ). FCC Enforcement Bureau agents identified Jason Humphreys of Seffner, Fla., as the source of the interference by using sophisticated interference detection techniques (http://fcc.us/1m7XHIX). Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies stopped Humphreys’ vehicle while he was apparently operating the jammer and seized the illegal jamming device, the release said. Humphreys’ jammer operation “could and may have had disastrous consequences” by precluding the use of cellphones to reach 911, the FCC said. Signal jammers are transmitters that intentionally interfere with cellphone calls, GPS systems, Wi-Fi networks and first-responder communications..