Boost Mobile prepaid and Boost Infinite postpaid brands will be offered as Boost Mobile, EchoStar announced Wednesday. “Boost Mobile is now the only nationwide carrier with both prepaid and postpaid mobile services under one name because Boost believes how you pay is not a product,” EchoStar said. The company said it’s offering “simplified pricing” with unlimited plans starting at $25 a month, and is “kicking off a nationwide brand and advertising campaign.” EchoStar also offered a 30-day money-back guarantee allowing new customers to try Boost Mobile's 5G network “risk free.” EchoStar owns Dish Network, which obtained Boost Mobile from T-Mobile as part of an agreement with regulators allowing T-Mobile to buy Sprint (see 1911180038).

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated for a commissioner vote a long-awaited order (see 2404180050) finalizing rules for cellular vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band, the agency said Wednesday. The order wasn’t circulated in anticipation of a vote during the commissioners' Aug. 7 open meeting. Accordingly, the FCC did not release the order's text. The order codifies “C-V2X technical parameters in the Commission’s rules, including power and emission limits and message prioritization,” a news release said. The rules provide flexibility for the auto industry “to use three 10-megahertz channels either separately, in combination as a 20 megahertz channel or as a single … channel” and would “establish prioritization of safety-of-life communications,” the release said. Licensees operating under C-V2X waivers wouldn’t need to change already deployed systems. The order also provides a two-year timeline for sunsetting existing dedicated short range communications technology, the FCC said. Under the rules, geofencing could be used to allow higher equivalent isotopically radiated power limits for on-board C-V2X units, as NTIA proposed. The proposal received broad support in comments just filed at the FCC (see 2407080024). “The evolution of the 5.9 GHz band advances new car safety technologies in an efficient and effective way while also growing our wireless economy,” Rosenworcel said: “This is sound spectrum management at work.” The order was circulated Tuesday, the FCC said. Rules for the band were changed late in 2020, allocating 45 MHz for Wi-Fi and 30 MHz for C-V2X technology (see 2011180043). “This is a very positive development -- and something we’ve been urging the FCC to greenlight for nearly four years,” emailed Hilary Cain, senior vice president-policy at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “C-V2X is an exciting safety technology and a perfect example of the sort of spectrum-enabled innovation that’s possible when the FCC and [the] auto industry work together,” she said.

Verizon has hired advisers as it looks to sell a package of up to 6,000 towers, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. The package could reportedly bring in more than $3 billion. In 2015, Verizon sold the rights to lease and operate 11,000 towers to American Tower for an upfront payment of $5 billion (see 1502050059). The rumored price is too low, New Street’s Philip Burnett told investors: “We suspect this price is based on Verizon and AT&T’s tower sales a decade ago. Based on recent transactions and market [comparisons], we estimate the assets could sell for close to three times the rumored deal value.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Tuesday on North East Offshore's request for a waiver of the freeze on nonfederal applications for new or expanded Part 90 operations in the 3100-3550 MHz band (see 1905290011). Comments are due July 31, replies Aug. 21, in docket 24-212. “North East argues that ‘there have been no indications that either the FCC or NTIA is considering reallocating the 3100-3300 MHz band’ and notes that its proposed operations are for a proposed facility more than 40 kilometers” off the U.S. coast, the bureau said.

Samsung Electronics America representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez about the company’s request for a waiver on a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). Samsung “emphasized its dedication to the success of CBRS and 5G, generally,” in the U.S., a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-93 said. Samsung noted the commission has had the waiver request for more than 700 days.

Global smartphone shipments increased 6.5% year over year to 285.4 million units in Q2, IDC said Monday. While that marks the fourth consecutive quarter of shipment growth “and builds the momentum towards the expected recovery this year, demand has yet to come around in full and remains challenged in many markets,” IDC said. Samsung led with an 18.9% market share, down from 20% a year ago. Apple was second at 15.8%, down from 16.6%. China’s Xiaomi was third at 14.8%, up from 12.4% a year ago. Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Worldwide Tracker team, noted that prices are increasing, as is buzz about generative AI smartphones. “As Apple and Samsung both continue to push the top of the market and benefit the most from the ongoing premiumization trend, many leading Chinese [manufacturers] are increasing shipments in the low end in an attempt to capture volume share amidst weak demand,” Popal said.

The 12-month compliance timeline in the FCC's draft next-generation 911 order might be insufficient for smaller providers, according to the Competitive Carriers Association. The order is part of the FCC's July agenda (see 2406260058). In a docket 18-64 filing Monday recapping meetings with the offices of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr, CCA said non-nationwide commercial mobile radio service providers should have at least 18 months for each phase of the NG911 transition following a request from a 911 authority, rather than 12 months. It urged the FCC to clarify that it will consider waiver requests from non-nationwide CMRS providers in completing connections. In addition, it asked the FCC to clarify that when a provider falls into two categories for the purposes of compliance time frames, the longer compliance time frame applies.

Tango Networks, a wireless provider with operations in the U.S. and other nations, urged that the FCC take an aggressive approach on handset unlocking requirements proposed in an NPRM. The NPRM is set for a vote on Thursday (see 2406270068). Applying proposed changes to existing contracts “would provide immediate benefit" for consumers "with little impact to the service providers holding those contracts,” Tango said in a filing last week in docket 24-186. Service providers in other countries and Verizon Wireless “have proven that long term device locking is not required to prevent fraud.” Tango also said increasing the number of unlocked devices on the secondary market “would enable businesses to provide mobile service to a greater number of their employees.” Tango noted it also has operations in other countries in North America and Europe.

Google is asking for a waiver of FCC rules requiring environmental sensing capability systems to protect federal incumbents in the citizens broadband radio service band from harmful interference in Texas markets that Hurricane Beryl affected. The FCC last week approved a similar waiver for Federated Wireless (see 2407080030). Google sought the waiver Friday in a filing in docket 15-319.

Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Open Technology Institute at New America asked the FCC to expand its draft order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services to include partnerships with nontraditional providers (see 2406270068). The draft order “would only provide subsidy for traditional, commercially available hotspots and services, which could skew the market and prevent schools and libraries from considering lower-priced and higher quality options,” the groups said: They asked the commission to consider allowing support for alternative services and devices, including anchor-enabled networks, “outside of those offered by traditional mobile carriers.” The groups met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez, and Wireline Bureau staff, a filing posted Friday in docket 21-31 said. The Wireless ISP Association, meanwhile, met with aides to Starks and Gomez on whether the FCC has legal authority to adopt the order. With those meetings, the group has now met with aides to all five commissioners (see 2407100028).