Representatives of the ATIS Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee (WTSC) spoke on the phone with staff from the FCC Public Safety and Enforcement bureaus on the group’s work to advance wireless emergency alerting. “Completion of WEA specifications in support of the Commission’s existing rules is the main focus of WTSC efforts,” said a filing in docket 15-91. “WTSC has also started work on device-based geo-targeting to examine how such geo-targeting may be performed by a well-managed WEA application. ATIS noted that it is engaging with other stakeholders, including [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], which have significant roles in device-based geo-targeting.”
The FCC posted its new mobile wireless competition report Wednesday, which said the U.S. wireless industry is effectively competitive. Commissioners approved the report 3-2 Tuesday over dissents by Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1709260045). The final report appears to change little from the draft circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai three weeks earlier (see 1709070056). “Competition continues to play an essential role in the mobile wireless marketplace -- leading to lower prices, more innovation, and higher quality service for American consumers,” the report concluded. Also Wednesday, the agency released an NPRM, approved at the meeting, seeking comment on a proposal to reduce the “regulatory burden” on smaller carriers of complying with hearing-aid compatibility rules (see 1709260045). “While in many cases these reports have helped the Commission compile information for the public and monitor compliance with wireless hearing aid compatibility deployment benchmarks, we believe that, in light of various changes in the marketplace since these reporting requirements were adopted, the benefits of annual reporting by small, rural, and regional service providers may be outweighed by the burdens of this information collection on these entities,” the NPRM in docket 17-228 said.
Adoption rates of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus -- the number of users who received the phones and have started using apps -- were 0.3 percent of the device market share for the 8 and 0.4 percent for the larger model in the first weekend of sales, said a Monday Localytics report. During the comparable weekend in 2016, the iPhone 7 had a 1 percent adoption rate, which compared with a 2 percent adoption rate for the iPhone 6 a year earlier. The iPhone 8 Plus, though, had a “slightly stronger” adoption rate in the first weekend vs. previous Plus models: 0.2 percent for the 7 Plus last year and 0.3 percent for the 6 Plus in 2015, said the app analytics company. “Apple is betting big on the iPhone X, and so far it looks like consumers may be doing the same,” said Localytics, noting the Nov. 3 on-sale date for the flagship model. The company examined more than 70 million iOS devices globally, looking at the relative percentage of iPhones in service after each device's release Sept. 22-24.
The 911 Location Technologies Test Bed, an independent entity established by CTIA, is inviting vendors of location-accuracy technologies to participate in Stage Z. The test bed was established to independently evaluate the ability of carriers to meet FCC indoor 911 location accuracy requirements through different technologies. The FCC approved an order in January 2015 requiring carriers to improve their performance in identifying the location of wireless calls to 911 (see 1501290066). “Stage Z testing focuses on emerging indoor technologies that determine the altitude, or z-axis, of the 9-1-1 caller,” said a Friday news release.
Before the Friday on-sale date for new iPhones, Apple loyalists were divided over which iPhone model to upgrade to, and that’s a “mixed blessing” for Apple, said NPD's Eddie Hold in a blog post. Data from a CivicScience Sept. 12-19 survey showing a relatively balanced split of iPhone purchase intentions -- 25 percent for the iPhone X, 25 percent for the 8, 29 percent for the 7 and 21 percent for earlier models -- shows brand loyalty, said Hold. But older models are going to “struggle, over time, to keep up with the demands of the latest apps and features,” resulting in a user experience that’s not as “slick and smooth” as with more recent models, he said. Hold called that an opportunity for carriers to lure customers with 36-month installment plans. “Not only does this make the purchase more palatable to the consumer, but it also helps the carrier to retain the consumer for a longer period of time,” said the analyst. It’s harder for a customer to switch carriers “when your device isn’t paid off."
The Asus ZenFone 4 Pro, with gigabit LTE and 802.11ad multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, offers a peek into the 5G mobile experience, said Qualcomm Thursday, announcing that the phone is powered by its Snapdragon mobile platforms. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X16 modem is said to boost download speeds over 4G LTE and its TruSignal dual-antenna technology is said to extend coverage beyond current technologies. The 802.11ad Wi-Fi allows users to share 4K videos “in seconds,” and the ZenFone 4 Pro’s Wi-Fi hotspot provides end-to-end gigabit wireless connectivity with 802.11ad access and gigabit LTE backhaul on compatible networks even in crowded locations, Qualcomm said. The chipmaker's Spectra 180 image signal processor has dual 14-bit image signal processing, which along with its Adreno 540 graphics processing unit, enable 360-degree visual capture, it said.
T-Mobile raised its “prioritization point” Wednesday to 50 GB of data per month, from 32 GB. When customers hit that point, they have to get behind other users in the line and could see slower connection speeds in congested areas, Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray blogged. He stressed it isn't a cap and customers don't face throttling: “50GB of data usage means a T-Mobile customer is basically the top 1 percent of data users, and to put it in context, you could stream a full 2 hours of Netflix every single day … and never even reach that point!” T-Mobile customers are streaming more than 1 million hours of Netflix per day, Ray said.
Free Press accused FCC Chairman Ajit Pai of tying wireless competition in a misleading way to the push to reclassify broadband. The group filed a letter in docket 17-69 on the pending mobile wireless competition report. “You are once again misleading the public in furtherance of your irrational vendetta against the congressionally mandated classification of transmission services as telecom services,” Free Press said. “Wireless industry investments peaked in 2013, as carriers completed the bulk of 4G LTE deployments. Both that peak, and the ongoing decline from it, predate the entire proceeding that led to the 2015 reclassification of broadband as a lightly regulated Title II service.” Pai is seeking a vote on the controversial report at Tuesday’s commissioner meeting (see 1709070056). The FCC declined to comment.
Wireless carriers are scrambling to lure new customers and keep existing ones from jumping ship with iPhone 8 promotions. T-Mobile and Verizon are eating $300 of the cost of an iPhone 8 and 8 Plus over the length of the deal for customers who trade in select models of recent generation smartphones and sign a 24-month contract. Since the iPhone 8s don’t support 600 MHz, T-Mobile is offering iPhone 8, 8 Plus and upcoming X buyers a free upgrade to next year’s model once their phones are paid by half (see 1709130020). AT&T Wireless was offering Monday up to $300 in credits for trade-ins of the iPhone 7 Plus, or up to $200 in credits on other select devices. Sprint responded Monday, saying it “would not be beat,” with a two-tiered iPhone 8 promotion for new and existing customers. Sprint will give a 64 GB iPhone 8 for free with the Sprint Flex plan for consumers who trade in the iPhone 7 series and latest generation Galaxy S8 phones and Note 8. The offer is good for new customers with a new line of service and eligible customers who own their iPhone 7, it said. Sprint will take half off the price of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus phones for customers who trade in any of 17 other smartphones, it said. Customers who preordered the iPhone 8 can have orders modified to take advantage of the promotion, Sprint said. The limited-time offers require an 18-month contract, it said.
The wireless industry continues worldwide progress connecting the unconnected, GSMA reported in its second annual report. “As of the end of 2016, more than half the world’s population was within reach of a 4G network, while nearly 85 percent had access to 3G networks.” Mobile subscribers number 4.8 billion, and 3.5 billion people used mobile to access the internet, GSMA said Monday.