FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “hit the nail on the head” in comments on the importance of infrastructure deployment at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, said PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein Wednesday. “PCIA has long promoted just the policies the Chairman suggested, to enable wireless networks to be built quickly, efficiently and cost effectively,” Adelstein said in a news release. “He has teed these issues up, and his statement indicates he is prepared to take decisive action. As Chairman Wheeler put so succinctly, ‘We can’t have high-speed broadband without high-speed deployment.’ PCIA couldn’t agree more, and we look forward to working with him and the entire Commission to ensure U.S. wireless networks can continue to support … all of the growing needs of consumers, businesses, public safety, schools, hospitals and others who rely on wireless broadband.” Adelstein is a former FCC commissioner.

The FCC released a speed test for iPhones available in the iTunes App Store, said an agency news release (http://bit.ly/1fIf5yL). The commission released an app for Android phones in November. “Unlike the Android app, the iOS app cannot run periodically in the background,” the FCC said. “However, volunteers can test their cellular and Wi-Fi network performance manually to receive an on-demand view of upload and download speed, latency, and packet loss. No personal or uniquely identifiable information is collected. The data collected by the app is useful in informing users regarding their own performance and also supports the Commission’s open broadband data program, contributing to the information made freely available to the public on the nation’s mobile broadband performance in reports, maps, datasets and other forms.”

While there are competing analyses from Globalstar and NCTA, “there is no serious dispute that harmful interference to Globalstar will occur at high usage levels” of outdoor unlicensed national information infrastructure (U-NII) devices, Globalstar said in an ex parte filing in docket 13-49 (http://bit.ly/1ewRfBr). At such high usage levels, “outdoor U-NII-1 operations will cause harmful interference by reducing capacity on Globalstar’s network,” it said. The FCC can’t rush ahead with its proposed rule changes without additional steps determining thresholds for and risks of harmful interference with more certainty, it said. The filing recounts details of a meeting with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and Jonathan Sallet, acting FCC general counsel. Globalstar also filed a white paper explaining its position that the commission can’t legally permit the unlimited deployment of outdoor unlicensed devices in the U-NII-1 band, it said. The mobile satellite services company said it showed that unrestricted outdoor operations in the U-NII-1 band “would threaten substantial harmful interference to Globalstar’s feeder uplink operations at 5.096-5.25 GHz,” the white paper said (http://bit.ly/1bMuPBo). Although the FCC originally adopted the restriction on outdoor use at a time when unlicensed use was in its infancy, “today it is beyond reasonable dispute that removing that restriction will lead to massive, imminent outdoor use of the U-NII-1 band,” it said. A spectrum licensee has vested property and reliance interests that further ensure protection from harmful interference, it said. “Both the commission and the courts have also recognized that these reliance interests must be given careful consideration before changing rules."

Public Knowledge released a video designed to explain to the public the importance of unlicensed spectrum in daily life, from garage door openers to baby monitors to Wi-Fi. But the group warned that unlicensed spectrum is threatened by the TV incentive auction. “The FCC has historically reserved a small amount of shared unlicensed spectrum, while auctioning off the rest for privately licensed use,” PK said. “Now we're faced with an upcoming auction in early 2015 and the FCC hopes to reclaim the TV white spaces and sell them to private telecom companies. Tell the FCC to protect our airwaves during the upcoming spectrum auction and save some spectrum for the public good."

Android will remain the top smartphone operating system and iOS second through 2018, IDC projected Wednesday. About 950.5 million Android smartphones will ship globally this year, for a 78.9 percent market share, the research company predicted. Android’s smartphone shipments will grow to 1.3 billion in 2018, but its share will dip to 76 percent, IDC projected. Shipments for iOS will increase from 179.9 million to 249.6 million during the same time frame, but the iOS share will dip from 14.9 percent to 14.4 percent, IDC estimated. Global smartphone shipments across all platforms will slow to 8.3 percent annual growth in 2017 and 6.2 percent in 2018, IDC predicted. Annual smartphone shipment volume in 2013 passed 1 billion units for the first time, a 39.2 percent growth over 2012, it said. But in the coming year, IDC expects mature markets including North America and Europe will drop to single-digit growth and Japan might “contract slightly,” it said. Despite the high growth expected in many emerging markets, 2014 will be the year smartphone growth falls more significantly than ever before, it said. Shipment volume is expected to increase to 1.2 billion this year, growth of 19.3 percent from 2013, it said. More than 200 million smartphones are in active use in North America, said Ryan Reith, IDC program director-Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, in a news release. But this year will be an “enormous transition year” for the smartphone market, he said. “New markets for growth bring different rules to play by and ‘premium’ will not be a major factor in the regions driving overall market growth,” he said. As mature markets become “saturated and worldwide growth slows, service providers and device manufacturers are seeking opportunities to move hardware wherever they can,” said IDC. The result will be “rapidly declining price points, creating challenging environments in which to turn a profit,” it said. The global smartphone average selling price (ASP) was $335 in 2013, and that’s expected to drop to $260 by 2018, it said. To reach the “untapped demand within emerging markets, carriers and OEMs will need to work together to bring prices down,” said Ramon Llamas, IDC research manager-mobile phone. Last year, 322.5 million smartphone units shipped at under $150 and that number will continue to grow, he said. Several smartphone announcements already have targeted that price level this year, with some as low as $25, he said. IOS will have the highest ASPs among the leading platforms through 2018, IDC predicted. Apple has “maintained a tight focus on the high end of the market with its most current devices,” a trend IDC expects will continue but “could keep iOS from realizing greater volumes within emerging markets,” said the research company. But sales in mature markets will “offset much of the difference,” it said. Windows Phone is expected to grow the fastest among the leading smartphone operating systems through 2018, helped by nine new Windows Phone partners, said IDC. Most of the new vendors come from emerging markets, it said. Windows Phone’s shipments will grow from 47 million to 121.8 million and its share will grow from 3.9 percent to 7 percent between this year and 2018, predicted IDC. BlackBerry’s higher-than-average prices “could inhibit its growth potential,” said IDC, predicting shipments will tumble from 11.9 million to 5.3 million with that operating system’s share slipping from 1 percent to 0.3 percent.

Consumers “will be wary” of the new biometric mobile payment feature in Samsung’s coming Galaxy S5 smartphone, predicted Eden Zoller, Ovum principal analyst-consumer. The feature will enable users of the S5 to use fingerprint authentication for mobile payments with PayPal merchants. But Ovum thinks consumers will “need some convincing due to security concerns,” said Zoller. Forty-nine percent of respondents in Ovum’s 2013 Consumer Insights Survey ranked lack of security as their main concern with mobile payments, she said. “Consumers already worried about the security of established m-payment mechanisms are likely to view a new technology and process with suspicion,” she predicted. But Samsung is a “hugely popular smartphone brand with global reach, while PayPal is a trusted payments service provider,” so the partnership on the S5 represents a “powerful combination,” she said. PayPal also stressed that fingerprint authentication is a secure feature based on a Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance-ready software implementation with all credentials stored remotely in the cloud, she said. PayPal was the first member of the FIDO Alliance to produce such a mobile payment solution. Other FIDO members include BlackBerry, Google, Lenovo and Microsoft. The PayPal fingerprint authentication feature will go live when the S5 ships in 26 markets in April, including the U.S. and U.K., PayPal said in a news release. The only information the device will share with PayPal is a “unique encrypted key that allows PayPal to verify the identity of the customer without having to store any biometric information” on PayPal’s servers, it said. Other S5 features include Download Booster, a Wi-Fi technology for boosting data speed by bonding Wi-Fi and LTE simultaneously, Samsung said in a news release. The version of the S5 offered by Sprint in the U.S. will support Pinsight Touch, a nationwide, open platform for near field communication-enabling mobile applications and services, the carrier said.

T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” strategy made 2013 “a great year for us,” CEO John Legere said Tuesday during a conference call with investors. T-Mobile added a net 1.6 million subscribers in Q4, including a net 869,000 branded postpaid subscribers and a net 112,000 branded prepaid subscribers. The No. 4 U.S. carrier added more than 4.4 million net subscribers during 2013. Legere said that growth is proof of the “tremendous market response” consumers have given to T-Mobile’s Uncarrier strategy, in which the carrier has used new policies -- including no longer using service contracts, improving its device upgrade plan and allowing free international data roaming -- to lure customers away from its larger competitors. T-Mobile said it expects to add another 2-3 million postpaid subscribers during 2014. T-Mobile ended Q4 with a $20 million net loss primarily due to costs associated with the Uncarrier strategy, though the carrier ended the year with a $35 million net profit, according to an SEC filing. Legere declined to comment about continued speculation about the viability of a potential Sprint/T-Mobile merger, but said the carrier continues to believe the U.S. wireless industry is “ripe for further consolidation."

The International Trade Commission is ending an investigation into patent infringement by imported wireless electronic devices, with a finding of no violation, said the ITC in the Federal Register Tuesday (http://1.usa.gov/1ljM0gH). Technology Products Ltd. and Phoenix Digital Solutions had in 2012 requested the ITC ban allegedly infringing imports of tablets, mobile phones and similar devices from a litany of companies including Barnes & Noble, Garmin, HTC, Huawei, LG, Nintendo, Novatel, Samsung and ZTE. An administrative law judge in September found no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act because the products at issue didn’t actually infringe the patents. The ITC is now affirming the ALJ’s determination and ending the proceeding.

Signs are that FirstNet could be stalled two years after the law approving the national first responder network was enacted, former Seattle Chief Technology Officer Bill Schrier warned in a blog post. Schrier, who is FirstNet’s designated point of contact in Washington State, said the network has made a only few dozen hires to date. “Two years into a $7 billion project and only 25 full-time staff have been hired!?” he asked (http://bit.ly/OzFEwv). The public reaction to FirstNet also seems to be changing, he said. “I've been speaking to groups of public officials and police chiefs and emergency managers and firefighters and other responders in Washington State about FirstNet since May, 2013,” Schrier said. “Lately, the mood of the audiences is starting to change. ‘Yeah, yeah, we've heard you say that before, Bill, but what’s happening now? Where’s the beef?’ I'm starting to feel a bit like a computer software salesman pushing vaporware. ‘Oh yes, that feature will be in our next release slated to come out in 2017.'” In a separate blog posted by Urgent Communications, FirstNet General Manager Bill D'Agostino said real progress is being made. “Our work so far has been focused on putting the foundational building blocks in place for getting this network up and running,” he said (http://bit.ly/MrWSK7). “We want to get the job done as expeditiously as possible, but we have one opportunity to get it right and we understand this tremendous responsibility.”

U.S. Cellular and partner carrier King Street Wireless expanded their 4G LTE network into new markets in Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Wisconsin, Ericsson said Tuesday. The manufacturer said it worked on the 4G LTE network expansion, including providing base stations and network implementation services. The expansion helped U.S. Cellular “support the launch of Apple devices,” said U.S. Cellular Chief Technology Officer Michael Irizarry in an Ericsson news release. Cities covered by the latest network expansion include Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Madison, Wis., and Portland, Maine.