Verizon customers can now send emergency text messages to public safety answering points (PSAPs) in 60 jurisdictions, up from 46 in January, the carrier said in a report filed at the FCC. “Verizon plans to offer PSAPs the choice of three Text-to-911 options, two of which are already available, and the third of which is currently the subject of a first office application” in Indiana, the carrier said (http://bit.ly/1pYeM6p). “Each of these options also provides a bounce-back message capability.” Wireless carriers agreed in 2012 to file quarterly progress reports at the FCC on making text-to-911 a reality, a priority of both Chairman Tom Wheeler and former Chairman Julius Genachowski. AT&T also reported progress, including the selection of Intrado as its Text Control Center (TCC) vendor. “Our Vermont text-to-911 trial transitioned to Intrado on March 5th and will remain in operation in advance of and subsequent to AT&T making text-to-911 service available to PSAPs on a nationwide basis,” AT&T said (http://bit.ly/1lrDfiE). “AT&T is also in the process of launching additional trials. Specifically, we launched a first field application trial in Durham, N.C., on March 13th to test our i3 text-to-911 interface. Later this week, we plan to launch an additional first field application trial in York County, S.C., to test our web browser interface solution, with a final trial to be launched shortly afterwards in Cabarrus County, N.C., to test our text-to-TTY [text telephone] conversion solution.” AT&T said it has received 32 requests for text-to-911 service taking in 105 individual PSAPs and four statewide operations. “Sprint expects to meet its commitment of making text-to-911 service available by May 15th, as we are finalizing the terms of the contract with the vendor which will act as Sprint’s Text Control Center,” Sprint said (http://bit.ly/1pYkvcq). “We also continue to participate in standards bodies and industry working groups and have been engaged in cooperative efforts with public safety answering points ... across the country.” T-Mobile said it has received 22 requests for text-to-911 service covering 194 PSAPs. “T-Mobile implemented its first successful text-to-911 service with Montgomery County, N.Y.,” on Nov. 20, the carrier reported (http://bit.ly/1pWeB9W). “While T-Mobile had hoped to implement service with several other PSAPs who have chosen the same TCC vendor in March, PSAP scheduling constraints prevented that from happening. We do plan on implementing the service with those same PSAPs in April.” T-Mobile said it has raised concerns at the FCC about the lack of full interoperability and interconnection between major TCC vendors, “which could potentially force both carriers and PSAPs to connect to multiple TCCs."

Zoning boards can’t rely on the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions when denying a permit to build a cellphone tower, said the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1mF9YAZ). The court upheld a lower court reversal of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors decision denying T-Mobile the permit in Lovettsville, Va. Relying on radio frequency environmental effects is “a statutorily prohibited basis for regulation,” the appeals court said. But the 4th Circuit upheld another decision by the board denying permits for construction of a communications tower disguised as a bell tower. “A denial of the permits would not have the effect of prohibiting T-Mobile from providing personal wireless service to its customers,” said a three-judge panel of the Richmond, Va., court.

The Minority Media & Telecom Council said it’s disappointed that the designated entity rules weren’t updated to enhance diverse competition for the forthcoming AWS-3 and broadcast spectrum incentive auctions. MMTC continued to urge the FCC to eliminate the attributable material relationship rule, increase bidding credits to at least 40 percent and prioritize diversity and inclusion in secondary markets, it said in an ex parte filing in docket 07-294 (http://bit.ly/PnSBtm). MMTC also urged the FCC to collect data on minority and women-owned business enterprises from carriers to help the commission determine whether the wireless market is competitive, it said. MMTC asked the commission to use forms 175 and 602 to gather race and gender information. The filing pertains to a meeting with staff from Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office.

TracFone has been working with healthcare organizations, “including most of the leading Health Maintenance Organizations,” since 2012 to enroll Medicaid patients in its SafeLink Wireless Lifeline program, it said in an FCC filing. In addition to standard SafeLink features, including a handset and 250 minutes a month of airtime, the Medicaid members get unlimited text messaging with their healthcare provider, toll-free member services calling and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant communications with their providers, TracFone said (http://bit.ly/1lC4GJ9). The program has been a success, the carrier said. “It has improved access to health care providers for the Medicaid community, and has resulted in cost savings for the providers,” TracFone said. “More importantly, it has facilitated real time communications between health care providers and patients.”

AT&T said Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum, much of which is owned by Sprint, should be added to the FCC spectrum screen. In an ex parte description of a meeting with the Wireless Bureau, AT&T said, “Sprint is currently using its EBS spectrum to provide its highly touted ‘Sprint Spark’ mobile broadband service,” (http://bit.ly/1oq48rU). “Sprint’s Chairman Masayoshi Son recently told the Chamber of Commerce that Sprint has got the technology to provide 200 Mbps over its 2.5 GHz spectrum, and using 8x8 MIMO [multiple-input and multiple-output] antennas can propagate for longer distances. Spectrum that is actually being used for mobile broadband services is obviously ’suitable’ and ‘available’ and thus should be included in the screen.” The FCC should ignore Sprint arguments that the EBS spectrum is “impaired,” AT&T said. “Virtually all spectrum is impaired in some way, yet it is fully included in the screen.” Son last month told the Chamber Sprint LTE could reach 200 Mbps if the carrier gained more infrastructure through acquisitions (CD March 12 p1).

Global smartphone display resolution is improving quickly, with HD (720 × 1280) and full HD (1080 × 1920) resolution smartphone manufacturing growing the fastest this year, said DisplaySearch analyst Shawn Lee in a blog post. The “key drivers” of the growth are the adoption of LTE, application processor development and display cost reductions, he said. China Mobile, the largest telecom operator in China, said its sales target for 4G mobile phone devices is 100 million this year, he said. China Mobile changed the LTE specification and LTE models must now support five modes, including TD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, GSM, LTE FDD and WCDMA, he said. To meet that requirement, smartphones “will need more components, requiring” a larger printed circuit board assembly, he said. That means 4G smartphones will use displays of at least 4.5 inches, he said. With such a large display, smartphone makers prefer to use HD for mid-range LTE smartphones and full HD resolution fabrication will be increasing even faster, he said. Prices of 5-inch HD a-Si TFT LCD have fallen by 16 percent since the end of 2013, while 5-inch FHD LTPS LCD prices fell by 13 percent, he said. To meet the requirements of mid- and low-end smartphones, most driver integrated circuits (ICs) for HD and full HD resolution don’t include RAM to increase outputs and reduce cost, he said. Most HD and full HD driver ICs are manufactured in 8-inch semiconductor foundries, but those fabs also produce fingerprint sensors, CMOS image sensors, 4K TV driver ICs, touch controller ICs and some analog ICs, he said. If the demand from those other ICs is too large, it may “reduce the output volume of mobile phone driver ICs, which despite having high volume, do not provide high profits compared to the other ICs,” he said.

Video delivered to mobile devices through wireless networks is on pace to account for 8 percent of mobile video traffic by 2018, an increase from 1 percent in 2014, according to a new report, The Mobile Video Market 2014 to 2018, from ingleyCONSULTANCY (http://bit.ly/1lyrvgR). The report defines mobile video as video delivered over IP to a mobile device through a data plan with a mobile network service provider, distinct from Wi-Fi, said President Carol Ingley. “Coupling the growth of mobile devices with an insatiable appetite for video translates to a dramatic change in habits as well as a significant growth market for mobile video,” said the report. With improved wireless broadband connections and lower data prices, mobile video could become more dominant than video delivered over cable or Wi-Fi, Ingley said. Global mobile video will represent two-thirds of all mobile traffic by 2018, the report says. “Mobile video may turn out to be one of the most disruptive services that the world has seen in a long time,” said the Mobile Video Market report. However, the report lists diverse “growth drivers or suppressors” affecting mobile video, including spectrum availability, the limits of 4G LTE, data pricing and the size of mobile screens. “If the growth of mobile video follows the traditional hockey stick model, then there will be significant growth,” said the report. “But there are many, many market challenges facing mobile video."

The FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee recommended that the agency hold a workshop to explore streamlining experimental licensing for medical device experimentation, said a notice posted by the FCC Monday. The workshop could help identify “tools and consensus standards to monitor and assess the performance of wireless technologies in healthcare environments” and “assess the need for national wireless medical testbed centers with equipment, expertise, licenses, and support staff,” the committee said (http://fcc.us/1dIyOQx).

Wal-Mart.com agreed to pay the federal government $120,000 to end an investigation of whether the Wal-Mart subsidiary had violated FCC rules on the sale of wireless mics. “In response to the Commission’s investigation, Wal-Mart.com USA acknowledged that it had not previously included on its website the required consumer alert and that a supplier had not obtained an equipment authorization for one wireless microphone model until after it was offered for sale,” said a notice from the FCC Enforcement Bureau (http://bit.ly/1mr66Dy). “The company agreed to implement a robust three-year plan to ensure future compliance with these requirements."

BlackBerry is targeting breaking even on its hardware business by fiscal 2016 starting in March 2015 as it “focuses on making money” on sales, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said Friday on an earnings call. The company, which for years lost money on hardware, signed new manufacturing agreements with Foxconn and Wistron last year, replacing Jabil Circuit as its primary supplier. The first fruits of the new pact with Wistron are expected to arrive this spring with shipments of a new version of the Bold smartphone based on the BlackBerry-7 operating system, Chen said. The Bold, which will retail in international markets for about $200, will ship first in Indonesia, he said. Releasing a new Bold underscores continuing demand for BlackBerry’s original operating system, which remains a strong seller in emerging markets due to a lower price than BlackBerry-10 based models. Most of BlackBerry’s fiscal Q4 shipments were BlackBerry-7-based models. BlackBerry sold 3.4 million smartphones to consumers in fiscal Q4, 2.3 million of which had BlackBerry-7 software, the company said. The new Bold is expected the lead the way for BlackBerry’s lower priced models, which will include the Z3 and Q20, the latter being dubbed the “classic” for its featuring a QWERTY keyboard and track pad.