The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published safety tips for mobile devices. When consumers download an app, it may ask for access to personal information -- including email contacts, calendar inputs, call logs and location data from the device -- that might be used for legitimate purpose, such as location data for a ride-hailing app. “Be aware that app developers will have access to this information and may share it with third parties, such as companies who develop targeted ads based on your location and interests.” CISA suggested Tuesday avoiding potentially harmful apps by limiting download sources to official app stores. Malicious apps have been known to “slip through the security of even reputable app stores,” it said, so read reviews and research developers. Users should understand the information an app will access before downloading it and “consider foregoing the app if the policy is vague regarding with whom it shares your data or if the permissions request seems excessive.” CISA warned about connecting a smartphone to a computer or charging station a user doesn’t control.

5G-enabled handsets will reach nearly 800 million units in 2023, growing at a 180 percent compound annual growth rate to overtake 4G phones at 51 percent market share, said a July 1 Canalys report after Mobile World Congress Shanghai. Greater China will get 34 percent of 5G smartphone shipments in 2023, followed by North America at 19 percent and Asia Pacific at 17 percent. Chinese 5G licenses were granted a year earlier than planned, said analyst Nicole Peng, saying the role of government and “well-orchestrated” investments of operators and equipment suppliers were critical to the earlier launch. “5G smartphones will see rapid adoption in China, thanks to a strong government technology roadmap and operators’ financial capabilities,” said Peng, noting mass-market adoption of 5G smartphone doesn’t necessarily translate to a successful 5G deployment. Full 5G deployment will take much longer and will be much more complex than the previous network generation in order to realize the benefits of 5G beyond enhanced Mobile Broadband, Peng said. Chinese operators’ investments in 5G will reach $5 billion this year, with about 70,000 to 90,000 5G base stations to be built across the country. China Mobile has the broadest 5G smartphone portfolio at launch, though all three mobile operators will be aggressive with promotions to target 5G early adopters and high-value customers later this year, said analyst Mo Jia. Chinese brands, such as Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi and ZTE, are 5G handset launch partners for the three operators, while Samsung will “use this window of opportunity to fight back in China.” Apple “will miss out, leaving loyal iPhone users waiting another year, which might risk them switching to aggressive competitors,” Jia said.

Verizon got the partial waiver it was seeking to adopt a temporary, 60-day lock on 4G LTE handsets to ensure bona fide customers buy the handsets. Verizon faces special restrictions because of rules for the 700 C-block spectrum the carrier bought at auction. “We deny Verizon’s request for a declaratory ruling, because we are not persuaded that Verizon’s interpretation of section 27.16(e) is accurate,” the bureau said. “We do, however, find that the limited waiver of the unlocking requirement that Verizon requests would serve the public interest and therefore grant Verizon’s request for a partial waiver.” The bureau said strict compliance with the unlocking requirement would be “inconsistent with the public interest because it facilitates and may even encourage fraud.” In March, the bureau sought comment on the request (see 1903050057). The order noted rural carriers, T-Mobile and others objected. NTIA suggests “we consider requiring Verizon to unlock its handsets as soon as the first payment is successfully processed or immediately upon purchase ‘in situations where the fraud risk is low, such as in the case of long-time customers who acquire new handsets for use with existing service,’” the bureau said: “Verizon, however, responds that 60 days is the minimum necessary to accomplish the purpose of the temporary unlocking, in order to allow for the amount of time it takes to receive and process customer payments, to identify fraud via checks from accounts with insufficient funds or stolen debit or credit cards, and to obtain information.” Tuesday's order was on docket 06-150.

New York City officials said the city has made progress on wireless emergency alerts and thanked the FCC for pushing carriers for better geotargeting of alerts in November, said an ex parte on a meeting with Public Safety Bureau staff. “The City provided the FCC with an overview of Notify NYC, our official emergency communications system, in particular, the steps the City has taken over the past two years to implement multilingual alerting,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-91: “Beginning in July 2019, Notify NYC will offer most of its messages in 13 languages.”

NextNav executives urged FCC Public Safety Bureau staff to act on a proposed rule requiring carriers meet a new vertical location (z-axis) accuracy metric for indoor wireless calls to 911. Commissioners approved a Further NPRM in March (see 1903150067). There was little consensus in comments last month (see 1905210061). NextNav executives "discussed some of the mechanics of implementing a 3 meter vertical location metric,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 07-114. “They expressed support for applying the requirement to all z-axis capable handsets, noting that barometric pressure sensors are already widely deployed in smartphones. Further, the software to calibrate these sensors can be uploaded to many smartphones as a part of an over-the-air update of the operating system.”

NTIA supported a limited waiver for Verizon, allowing it to adopt a temporary, 60-day lock on 4G LTE handsets to ensure only bona fide customers are buying the handsets. It faces special restrictions because of the rules for the 700 C-block spectrum the carrier bought in a 2008 auction (see report, March 6 issue). The FCC took comment on the waiver in April (see 1903050057). “NTIA is sympathetic to Verizon’s concerns around theft and fraud and would not object to short-lived locking of handsets to the extent such locking may be effective in combating the described criminal activities,” said Thursday's letter in docket 06-150. “NTIA urges the Commission, however, to narrowly construct any waiver to avoid adverse impacts on consumer choice and handset portability. Such a waiver should only permit temporary device locking for the minimum duration necessary to mitigate the risk of theft or fraud in a particular instance (which may be shorter than sixty days), and should require Verizon to provide customers with a simple and effective way to request accelerated unlocking.”

Massachusetts lawmakers plan to weigh potential dangers of wireless emissions at a Tuesday hearing. The Joint Public Health Committee will hear testimony on S-1273 to ban “especially dangerous wireless facilities, emissions, and products,” said an agenda. The bill would require the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to “prepare a timeline for the removal of wireless facilities and products deemed to be especially dangerous based on factors such as frequency band, power level exposures, modulation [and] population exposed.” The department would ban “wireless emissions, facilities, and products considered to be especially dangerous and lacking sufficient proof of safety, starting with a ban upon wireless baby monitors, small cell facilities, and frequencies at the higher end of the 5G band.” The FCC set appropriate RF safety rules, which Wireless Infrastructure Association members follow "so that wireless facilities pose no health risks whatsoever," said President Jonathan Adelstein in a statement. "State legislatures need to follow the established statutory framework based on sound science and not create unnecessary fear and confusion around wireless facilities that are used every day.” CTIA didn’t comment Thursday.

Canalys expects 2019 smartphone shipments to decline 3.1 percent to 1.35 billion units, a downgrade from an earlier forecast it said was necessitated by various trade "uncertainties," including the Trump administration's threatened tariffs and its recent crackdown on Huawei. It said the forecast assumes stringent restrictions will be imposed on Huawei, bringing a “significant impact on the company’s ability to roll out new devices short term, especially outside of China.” Canalys said Huawei is acting to mitigate the effect of component and service supply issues but expects overseas potential to be “hampered for some time.” Market uncertainty "is clearly prompting vendors to accelerate certain strategies to minimize the short- and long-term impact in a challenging business environment, for example, shifting manufacturing to different countries to hedge against the risk of tariffs,” said analyst Nicole Peng: “But with recent US announcements on tariffs on goods from more countries, the industry will be dealing with turmoil for some time.” Canalys sees other major smartphone vendors, led by Samsung, having short-term opportunities “while Huawei struggles.” Samsung’s "aggressive device strategy" and ability to ramp production quickly will give it an advantage, but it may “struggle to entirely fill the shortfall,” said analyst Rushabh Doshi, saying other vendors won’t be able to react to new opportunities until late 2019: “Samsung’s control over component supply gives it a major advantage." By next year, most of the major mobile supply chain and channel will have active contingency plans to mitigate Huawei’s decline and be ready for 5G device rollout in many markets, Doshi said. Canalys anticipates 5G and other hardware innovations will be “positive drivers” for consumer demand, and smartphone shipments globally are expected to return to “soft growth” in 2020, rising 3.4 percent to 1.39 billion. Some regions will recover faster than others, Doshi said. “Smartphone fatigue and a lack of meaningful innovation are still major market forces,” said the analyst, noting consumers are holding on to phones longer: “But as device lifecycles move toward a new equilibrium point, the rate of quarterly shipment decline will ease.”

Global smartphone shipments are facing “another challenging” year in 2019 with volume forecast to retreat 1.9 percent from 2018, the third consecutive year of market contraction, IDC reported Thursday. It cited “highly saturated markets” in developed countries and slower churn in some emerging markets. First-half shipments will be down 5.5 percent from the year-ago period, said IDC, but second-half shipments should rebound with 1.4 percent growth -- despite a 5 percent decline in China -- driven by 5G acceleration, lower-priced premium phones and continued uplift from India and other markets. Developing markets have upsides, but some momentum has been lost as the transition from feature phones to smartphones slows, it said. Pricing in all markets is a “critical decision factor” for consumers, creating opportunities in mid-range price points, but the most uncertain market factor is how the U.S.-China trade war will play out over the year, said IDC. 5G smartphones will start slowly this year, capturing 0.5 percent of total 2019 shipments, but will ramp up quickly in all markets, reaching 26.3 percent of worldwide shipments by 2023, said the research firm. A challenge is rising demand for smartphone functionality at the same time consumers' tolerance for higher priced devices is dropping, said analyst Sangeetika Srivastava, saying affordable products are key to reinvigorate growth. Android's smartphone share is forecast to nudge up to 86.7 percent this year, from 85.1 percent in 2018, on new launches, including a handful of 5G devices. Android average selling prices are estimated to grow 5.8 percent this year to $269. Volume of iPhone shipments is expected to fall 12.1 percent this year to 183.5 million. Apple isn’t expected to have a 5G phone this year, but that isn’t likely to affect its market share “given that many telcos and markets are still trying to figure out their 5G strategy,” IDC said.

ATIS said Thursday it has completed changes to wireless emergency alerts standards. The FCC last year imposed a Nov. 30 deadline for carriers to more accurately “geotarget” alerts (see 1801300027). The new version of WEA will more precisely target warnings, ATIS said. It also made changes: “1) defining a set of requirements for the behavior of the mobile devices when a WEA alert message is received; 2) defining the interface between the Federal Alert Gateway and the Commercial Mobile Service Provider Gateway for WEA alerts; and 3) providing a Public Warning System Specification, describing the use of the Evolved Packet System Public Warning System for the delivery of … messages.” The new standards were “delivered on time to meet deadline-driven FCC requirements,” said ATIS President Susan Miller.