The “amended and expanded” long-term licensing agreement Qualcomm signed with Samsung is contingent on Samsung withdrawing its opposition to Qualcomm’s appeal of the South Korean Fair Trade Commission’s decision fining Qualcomm $865 million for violating South Korean competition laws, said Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf on a Wednesday earnings call. Qualcomm’s separate “multiyear strategic agreement” with Samsung applies to “various technology areas and across a range of mobile devices,” said Mollenkopf. “This agreement expands the companies’ long-standing relationship as technology and business partners into 2018 and beyond as we transition to 5G.” On 5G, Qualcomm is “working with a number of OEMs to have smartphone launches in the first half of 2019,” said President Cristiano Amon in Q&A. There’s “high” motivation among the smartphone OEMs to stage 5G product launches in 2019's first half, and “we’re marching towards that date,” he said. Amon doesn’t see 5G becoming “a significant contributor of volumes” until 2020, but “early launches in ’19 are very important” because they “define your competitive position and the ability to have a mature product, so you can ramp volumes in premier devices” starting in 2020.

Qualcomm will team with six large Chinese smartphone OEMs in a “5G Pioneer” initiative to speed “availability of commercial 5G premium tier devices” starting in 2019, the companies said Thursday. Joining are Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo, Wingtech, Xiaomi and ZTE. Through the initiative, Qualcomm expects to be able to supply Chinese manufacturers “with the platform they need to develop premium tier and global 5G commercial devices,” said the announcement.

T-Mobile customers will get free unlimited calls and high-speed data in South Korea Feb. 7-March 20 during the 2018 Winter Games, the carrier announced Thursday. Fine print said as with all its mobile plans, “during congestion, the small fraction of customers using >50GB/mo. may notice reduced speeds until next bill cycle due to data prioritization.” Video typically streams at 480p, it said, and qualifying postpaid service with “capable device” are required.

FBI Director Christopher Wray’s encryption views are “flawed” and would harm Americans, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a letter sent Thursday, seeking response by Feb. 23. A Wray Jan. 9 speech said the bureau supports strong encryption but programs need to be “thoughtfully designed so they don’t undermine the lawful tools we need to keep this country safe.” Wray then made a pitch for developing solutions that “both provide data security and permit lawful access with a court order.” This approach “parrots the same debunked arguments espoused by your predecessors,” ignoring cryptographers’ consensus it’s impossible to deliberately provide “back-door access” for law enforcement without sacrificing security, Wyden said. “I would like to learn more about how you arrive at and justify this ill-formed policy proposal.” The FBI did not comment.

Global smartphone average selling prices (ASPs) had record year-on-year growth in Q4, and in North America, the 6 percent unit-sales growth Q4 to 6.2 million phones was the highest in two years, GfK reported Wednesday. North American smartphone unit sales jumped 2 percent for all of 2017, to 201.3 million phones, but the “upturn” isn't expected to last into 2018, it said. GfK forecasts demand in North America to be flat in 2018 compared with 2017, it said. Smartphone year-on-year demand growth globally “moderated” for the fourth straight quarter, rising only 1 percent to 397 million units in Q4, it said. However, ASPs jumped by 11 percent year-on-year in the quarter, “which is exceptional growth for such a mature technology category,” it said. “This came as the proliferation of smartphones with larger and bezel-less displays incentivized consumers to purchase more expensive devices.”

Verizon is prepared to keep a promise of offering 5G in three to five cities later this year, CEO Lowell McAdam said Tuesday during a call on Q4 results. Fifth-generation was on display at CES, McAdam said. “There was a lot of discussion about devices and we believe that there will be mobile [5G] devices late in 2018 and then more available as we get into 2019.” Not long ago, many questioned whether 5G would be possible before 2020-2022, he said. “Only one carrier has been consistent in its actions and messaging regarding 5G,” McAdam said. “Verizon has the spectrum bandwidth needed to provide the rich services of true 5G, our intelligent edge network capabilities and engineering know-how to lead the industry in providing the full suite of 5G gigabit services.” The carrier projected capital spending of as much as $17.8 billion this year, including the costs of the commercial launch of 5G. But the cost of deploying it is likely to be lower than initially expected, he said. McAdam said the company is testing 5G at some 200 sites: “We continue to learn every day,” with throughputs better than expected. Verizon is contacting cities that might be part of the launch, McAdam said. “I am personally out meeting with some of the mayors, talking about what we're going to be providing, and the reception has been extremely positive.” Verizon reported earnings and revenue in line with expectations. It tabulated 1.2 million retail postpaid net adds to its wireless network, including 647,000 postpaid smartphones. Postpaid churn was 1 percent. Verizon also said tax reform will boost its cash flow by $3.5 billion to $4 billion this year.

The latest generation of iPhones had 61 percent of U.S. iPhone sales in Q4, led by the iPhone 8 at 24 percent, said Consumer Intelligence Research Partners Monday. The iPhone X followed at 20 percent and the iPhone 8 Plus had 17 percent of domestic iPhone sales. Despite the addition of a third model to the 2017 lineup, the three newest iPhones’ 61 percent share was below the 72 percent share of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus a year earlier, said CIRP. Josh Lowitz, CIRP partner, called comparisons with earlier models “tricky,” noting the iPhone X wasn’t available for the full quarter. The Apple model pie is further divided, now with eight models, “the most ever,” he said. Apple launched the 2017 phones on a different schedule, announcing three new models at once, but delaying the launch of the most advanced and expensive one for five weeks after the launch of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, said Lowitz. But “older models held their own,” said CIRP Partner Mike Levin. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus grabbed almost a quarter of Q4 sales, and the 2-year-old iPhone 6s and 6s Plus had 8 percent, said Levin. “Apple priced these older models attractively, with little visible physical difference among the 6, 7, and 8 series models," he said, and “even the older, smaller-format SE maintained a meaningful share of total sales.” Larger screen phones continue to gain acceptance, said Lowitz, although the three Plus models available comprised 30 percent of total sales, down from 42 percent a year ago, he said. The iPhone X mixed things up as the additional 20 percent of iPhone buyers who bought the X, with an edge-to-edge screen size that’s larger than that of the iPhone 8 Plus, “suggests that more and more Apple customers find large-screen phones attractive,” Lowitz said. CIRP findings were based on a survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers who bought an iPhone, iPad or Mac from October to December.

CTIA raised concerns on a draft order that would set a Nov. 30, 2019, deadline for launching geo-targeted wireless emergency alerts, set for a vote at next week’s FCC meeting. CTIA officials met with Public Safety Bureau staff and aides to commissioners, said a filing in docket 15-91. “CTIA expressed general support for the Draft Order’s goal of enhancing the geo-targeting capabilities of the Wireless Emergency Alert system,” the group said. “CTIA also expressed significant concern about the Commission’s aggressive timeline for implementing the enhanced WEA geo-targeting requirement. CTIA stated that, if adopted, the wireless industry will work intently to meet the … deadline.”

APCO proposed revisions to draft wireless emergency alert rules, Thursday in FCC docket 15-91. The filing responds to the draft order circulated for the Jan. 30 commissioners' meeting (see 1801090050). APCO asked to clarify that a commercial mobile service provider’s “ability to claim that its network infrastructure is technically incapable of matching the specified target area is limited to circumstances including when the target area is outside of the Participating CMS Provider’s network coverage area, when mobile devices have location services disabled, and when legacy networks cannot be updated to support this functionality.” In all other cases, “the CMS Provider must deliver an Alert Message to 100 percent of the target area with no more than 0.1 of a mile overshoot,” APCO said. It asked the FCC to order that carriers “transmit Alert Message polygon coordinates to mobile devices without affecting the 360 character allotment for displayable Alert Message text,” with requirements kicking in Nov. 30, 2019.

CTIA welcomed amicus briefs as it seeks Supreme Court review of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision upholding an RF disclosure ordinance in Berkeley, California. The association petitioned Jan. 9 for writ of certiorari and gave blanket consent Wednesday to amicus briefs. The ordinance requires retailers to inform prospective cellphone buyers that carrying their devices in certain ways can cause exposure to RF radiation exceeding federal limits (see 1710120021). “It is important that the Supreme Court make clear that the First Amendment prohibits state and local governments from forcing retailers to convey the government’s message, particularly where the government’s message is misleading, contrary to science, and contrary to the retailers’ own views,” a CTIA spokeswoman said. Berkeley opposed Supreme Court review. "We do not believe there are any substantial questions decided by the 9th Circuit that conflict with the law elsewhere in the nation," said Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, representing the city.