5 things to know today …
1. Smartphone shipments will increase by 3.1% this year, according to IDC Research. The firm expects 1.48 billion units to ship. The market is expected to keep growing for the foreseeable future, but it is not expected to repeat the growth rates seen in 2015 (10.5%), and 2014 (27.8%).
Apple iPhone shipments are expected to fall this year for the first time. IDC expects iPhone shipments to decline 2% year-on-year, giving Apple a 15.3% smartphone market share this year. Android devices are expected to have 83.7% of the market with other platforms making up the remaining 1%.
2. A Third Generation Partnership Project working group is expected to approve specifications for the use of spectrum in Band 70 this month, according to Dish Network. Band 70 encompasses three spectrum blocks: 2000-2020 MHz, 1995-2000 MHz and 1695-1710 MHz. Dish owns licenses for the first two of these spectrum blocks. The company said this week it has received approval to use the 2000-2020 MHz band for downlink operations, meaning all 40 megahertz of Dish’s AWS-4 spectrum will be designated for downlink. Right now there are not devices or cellular antennas on the market to support Band 70, but Dish said 3GPP approval of the band will open the door for development of these products.
3. Cobham Wireless adapted its digital distributed antenna system solution for public safety applications. The firm said its digital public safety solution will be available worldwide by the fourth quarter. Cobham’s solution has already been deployed for commercial applications in venues that have sporadic capacity needs. The system enables venues to allocate capacity dynamically, and even to share capacity with other nearby venues.
“Providing additional bandwidth for first responder services enables the development of a raft of next-generation emergency service communication technology, while minimizing the [operating expense] costs associated with high-bandwidth emergency service coverage provision,” said Rami Hasarchi, Cobham’s VP for coverage solutions.
4. Syniverse is investing in mobile marketing technology to expand its enterprise opportunities and help its operator customers develop new revenue streams. The global transaction processor is buying a minority stake in mobile marketing firm Vibes for $45 million. Vibes counts Verizon Communications, Chipotle, Gap and Home Depot as customers. Syniverse said the partnership will help its carrier customers unlock additional revenue through targeted mobile marketing campaigns.
“Our strategic collaboration will improve our product and presence in the enterprise markets as well as propel white-label opportunities and support for mobile network operators,” said Syniverse CEO Stephen Gray.
5. “5G” will help support connectivity for 67 million connected cars by 2025, according to the analysts at ABI Research. The analysts project that roughly 3 million of the cars will be autonomous. Once the wireless industry starts building new radio access networks based on millimeter waves, low latency networks will support the vehicle-to-vehicle communication that is necessary for driverless cars to operate, according to ABI. The analysts said this “cooperative mobility” is essential to safety in a world of autonomous vehicles.
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