Representatives of CTIA stressed the importance of the FCC wrapping up work on a rulemaking on converting site-based cellular coverage areas to geographic market areas based on each licensee’s currently authorized Cellular Geographic Service Area, in a meeting with Erin McGrath, aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. “This proposal will immediately reduce the administrative burden on both licensees and Commission staff, without prejudicing any party or the public,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 12-40. The industry officials also “highlighted” the importance of cellular licensing being brought into more harmony with flexible licensing used in other bands. “The parties explained that carriers are beginning to deploy LTE network technologies in cellular spectrum, making prompt resolution of these issues particularly urgent,” said CTIA.

Sprint lost 272,000 postpaid customers in its Q2, the company said. But it had wholesale net additions of 827,000 and prepaid additions of 35,000, said a news release. New President Marcelo Claure said Sprint was working on turning around customer losses and would address concerns subscribers list when they leave. Sprint also said more changes are on the way in the management at the carrier. “The company has launched a management review and will seek to grow its leadership talent with a combination of internal candidates, new outside talent and SoftBank resources,” Sprint said. Claure said the carrier was trimming its workforce by about 2,000, conceded that wireless advertisements are often confusing and said Sprint will simplify its plans. People love wireless but are less fond of their carriers, he said. Sprint reported a net loss of $192 million and revenue on $8.5 billion for the quarter.

Major U.S. wireless carriers support handset unlocking and will adhere to six principles as part of a voluntary commitment made to provide enhanced transparency and disclosure of carriers’ device unlocking policies, said CTIA General Counsel Michael Altschul Monday in a blog post. Among the principles are full disclosure and development unlocking policies for postpaid and prepaid devices, Altschul said. Petitions were due Monday at the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office as it begins the sixth triennial “anti-circumvention” rulemaking proceeding under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, he said. “CTIA will observe the proceeding as it develops, and participate as appropriate, consistent with our commitment to unlocking," he said. "The exemption rules are revised every three years. Based on the prior proceedings, we anticipate that software used to 'lock' cellphones to a carrier’s network will be included in this proceeding."

The FCC should refrain from tweaking data roaming rules that are working well as-is, AT&T Vice President Joan Marsh told Brendan Carr, aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai, said an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 05-265. In a May petition, T-Mobile asked the FCC for a declaratory ruling with guidance and “predictable” enforcement criteria for determining whether the terms of data roaming agreements meet the “commercially reasonable” standard adopted by the commission in 2011 (see 1408220076). “The current roaming rules, established in the 2011 Data Roaming Order, struck the proper balance between ensuring that availability of data services and maintaining the proper incentives for carriers to build-out,” said AT&T. “Any carrier who believes it cannot secure commercial reasonable data roaming arrangements can file a complaint with the FCC.”

More than eight in every 10 of the 320.4 million smartphones shipped globally in Q3 were Android devices, Strategy Analytics said Friday in a blog post. It estimated overall shipments jumped 27 percent from the 252.9 million smartphones shipped in Q3 a year earlier. "Smartphone growth continues to be driven by robust demand in emerging markets, particularly Asia and Africa Middle East," Strategy said. Android's domination of global smartphone shipments remained strong with an "impressive" 83.6 percent share, vs. 81.4 percent a year earlier, it said. Android's gain "came at the expense of every major rival platform," as BlackBerry's global smartphone share fell slightly to 0.7 percent from 1 percent a year earlier, it said. The iPhone’s share dipped to 12.3 percent from 13.4 percent "because of its limited presence at the lower end of the smartphone market," it said. Microsoft Windows Phone continued to struggle in China and Japan, and its global smartphone market share fell to 3.3 percent from 4.1 percent, Strategy said. "Android's leadership of the global smartphone market looks unbeatable at the moment. Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. However, challenges are emerging for Google. The Android platform is getting overcrowded with hundreds of hardware brands, Android smartphone prices are falling worldwide, and few Android device vendors make profits."

Free State Foundation President Randolph May said in a blog post that a TracFone petition asking the FCC to declare states may not impose 911 taxes and fees on low-income customers who receive TracFone’s Lifeline wireless service at no charge has merit. “It seems to me a matter of common sense -- or sound policy, if you prefer -- that the FCC should not allow states to impose taxes or fees on no-charge Lifeline service that the FCC has sanctioned by rule for the purpose of promoting access to communications services for those who otherwise cannot afford service,” May wrote Friday.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly offered more evidence of the problem of pocket dialing 911 from cellphones. O’Rielly said in a blog post that he recently received a letter from Kelly Dutra, director of the Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency in Beaverton, Oregon. Dutra related that in the county, “butt-dialed” calls make up 30 percent of wireless 911 calls. Since 2005, that county had in place call taker systems that require emergency callers to speak or at least press a key, Dutra told O'Rielly. Even with the device, “15-20 percent of the calls that make it through the system are still butt dials with enough noise in the background for the system to treat it as an active call,” Dutra said.

Samsung profit was down sharply in Q3, largely as a result of declines in its mobile division, the company said Thursday. Samsung said net profit was down 49 percent from the year-earlier quarter to 4.14 trillion won ($4 billion). The biggest culprit was a 74 percent decline in Samsung’s mobile division, to 1.75 trillion won, where profit was the lowest since Q2 2011. In a call with analysts, Robert Yi, senior vice president-investor relations, said new wraparound screens, which debuted last month with Samsung’s Galaxy Note Edge, should help the company regain market share. Yi said the product opened to “rave” reviews on its design. The company also released the Note 4 in early October, he said. “It also received high marks for its high-resolution display and powerful multitasking capability.” Samsung shipped 102 million mobile phones in the quarter, Yi said. The company had 24.7 percent of global shipments last quarter, down from 35 percent a year ago, according to data released Thursday by Strategy Analytics. Apple is in second place with 12.3 percent of the market.

Younger U.S. consumers have shown more confidence in the security of mobile payments than the baby boom generation, a GfK report said. The generation known as millennials (defined in the report as generations Y and Z, ages 18-34) is twice as likely as older adults to view such payments as faster, easier or more efficient than other types of transactions, GfK said Thursday. At 67 percent, members of Generation Y (ages 24-34) reported being worried about the security of personal information when making mobile payments, the report said. Personal information, technology quality and other factors are likely holding mobile payment from full potential, it said. About 80 percent of mobile payers use their smartphones to make payments, 58 percent use tablets and 38 percent use both methods, it said.

The Samsung Gear S smart watch will go on sale at Sprint and AT&T stores Nov. 7, the carriers said Thursday. Gear S owners will be able to make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages and reply to emails, said Samsung. The Gear S, running on the Tizen platform, has a two-inch touch-screen display, an onscreen keyboard and S Voice, which lets users respond to incoming messages. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are built in, along with sensors including an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and sensors for heart rate, ambient light, UV and barometer, Samsung said. The water-resistant watch can play songs stored on the device or control music stored on a companion smartphone, according to literature. Memory is 512 MB and storage is 4 GB, Samsung said. Clock faces can be customized and wristbands are interchangeable, it said. The smart watch can be added to a Sprint Family Share Pack for a $10 per month line access charge, but Sprint is waiving the access charge through December 2015 for customers who add the watch as a new line of service to a Share Pack plan of 20 GB or higher, it said. Suggested retail price of the Gear S is $384 with a service plan or for no money down and 24 monthly payments of $16 under Sprint’s Easy Pay plan, it said. At AT&T, the Gear S will be available for $199.99 with a two-year agreement, and users can add the Gear S to a Mobile Share plan for $10 per month, the carrier said.