The NFC Forum, the industry group promoting the use of near-field communication (NFC) technology, launched analog testing as part of its certification program, the group said Thursday (http://bit.ly/1BQzyLc). Its analog certification will be the “first detailed evaluation” of the radio frequency (RF) performance of an NFC device, it said. “Consistent RF performance is essential to smooth and swift NFC interactions, fulfilling NFC’s promise of a seamless experience for the consumer,” it said. The testing “milestone” comes at an opportune time, it said, citing IHS estimates that global shipments of NFC-enabled mobile phones will surge fourfold through 2018, when they'll reach shipments of 1.2 billion units and be 63 percent of all mobile phones shipped. “When a device is certified as compliant with NFC Forum specifications —- and the analog specification in particular -— it provides consumers with a better assurance that NFC’s easy touch interface will deliver the comfortable and consistent experience they expect,” the group said. Though dozens of companies belong to the NFC Forum at various levels of membership, its founding “sponsor” members are Broadcom, Google, Intel, MasterCard, NEC, Nokia, NXP, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, STMicroelectronics and Visa.

The FCC must “move cautiously” as it creates service rules for unlicensed use in the 600 MHz duplex gap because of the potentially “complicated and challenging” interference issues that will come up as part of that proceeding, said AT&T Vice President-Federal Regulatory Joan Marsh in a blog post Wednesday. AT&T doesn’t share the FCC’s “confidence that unlicensed devices in the duplex gap in the configuration and at the power levels identified in the order can operate without creating interference to the adjacent licensed allocations,” Marsh said (http://bit.ly/1pkLH2c). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a draft order and Further NPRM last week on interservice interference after the incentive auction (CD Sept 11 p4). Filings from Broadcom and Qualcomm provide disparate analyses of unlicensed devices’ ability to operate without interference in the duplex gap, an early indication of the technical challenges that lay ahead, Marsh said. Caution is “essential,” she said. “If interfering services are ultimately permitted in the duplex gap, the adjacent licensed blocks (and their associated paired channels) will not be fungible. They will instead be impaired licenses.” Some license impairments may be unavoidable, especially in border areas, but the FCC should try to avoid interference when possible because introducing it “where it need not exist would be a significant step in the wrong direction,” Marsh said.

The FCC and NTIA released a joint public notice providing additional information about federal/non-federal coordination in the AWS-3 bands. “We jointly refine certain AWS-3 Protection Zones, reducing them from nationwide scope to more specific geographic areas,” said a notice posted Wednesday by NTIA (http://1.usa.gov/1qZdYjW). The document also offers guidance “on the overall coordination process” and addresses exclusion zones, NTIA said. The notice provides “(i) information for potential bidders in the AWS-3 auction and (ii) guidance to the ultimate AWS-3 licensees and the affected Federal incumbents regarding coordination between Federal and non-Federal for shared use of the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1780 MHz bands,” the notice said. The AWS-3 auction is to get underway Nov. 13.

T-Mobile unveiled its Personal CellSpot service and launched a free Gogo in-flight texting service. Personal CellSpot is “like a T-Mobile tower in your house,” T-Mobile said Wednesday in a news release (http://t-mo.co/1qZsb0r). It lets users get “full bars” experience “wherever you choose even beyond the reach of any cellular network,” it said. The in-flight service lets T-Mobile customers send and receive unlimited text and picture messages on any Gogo-equipped flight on U.S. airlines, it said.

County governments are continuing to encourage the deployment of wireless facilities and are committed to developing best practices, said NATOA Executive Director Stephen Traylor and representatives for local governments Friday during a meeting with Renee Gregory, wireless aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Joe Briggs, a commissioner in Cascade County, Montana, said the county created a land use study map with the Department of Defense’s Malmstom Air Force Base outlining areas for the construction of wireless facilities and other development, the National Association of Counties (NAC) said in an ex parte posted Wednesday. Such maps “could be the type of information included in a best practices manual,” NAC said in docket 13-238. NAC also discussed the possibility of hosting or contributing to an FCC workshop after the FCC develops rules on wireless facilities siting (http://bit.ly/1wEwDFj).

The FCC refused to declare that Sprint has paid out enough in 800 MHz rebanding costs so the carrier won’t owe the federal government a “windfall” payment for the spectrum it received as part of the 800 MHz rebanding order, in an order released Wednesday. In January 2013, Sprint asked the FCC (http://bit.ly/ZvvL2k) to declare it has met the obligation Nextel took on before it combined with Sprint, in the FCC’s landmark 800 MHz rebanding order in 2004. The order stipulated that Nextel would be required to pay the full value of the 10 MHz national spectrum license it got as part of the rebinding agreement. The goal of the rebanding order was to address interference to public safety systems in the 800 MHz band. “We conclude that it is premature to make this finding at this time, but we establish an expedited process for assessment of Sprint’s creditable expenditures and provide guidance as to additional documentation Sprint may submit to support such a determination in the future,” the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1raZkqj). But the agency signed off to reduce the letter of credit amount Sprint must maintain to guarantee it has funds on hand to pay for the rebanding from $850 million to $457 million, which is slightly higher than projected remaining rebanding costs. The letter was originally $2.5 billion but was gradually reduced as the rebanding moved forward, the FCC said. Requiring maintenance of a $850 million letter of credit is “unnecessarily burdensome on Sprint,” the agency said. “Sprint is required to pay substantial carrying fees on the letter of credit. No public interest purpose would be served by requiring Sprint to continue to incur them at the present level.”

Towerstream selected Siklu’s gigabit wireless backhaul for fixed wireless and small cell locations. Towerstream selected Siklu’s systems because they offer “reliable high throughput and simple and fast deployments in dense urban areas,” the companies said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1ARsgEH). It said Towerstream is leveraging its fixed wireless networks to provide wireless broadband and small cell infrastructure capabilities in 12 of the largest U.S. markets.

Global smartphone shipments will approach 1.2 billion units this year, up 19 percent from 2013, Juniper Research said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1wnNdGq). Growth in emerging markets on the “continued surge” in sales of “economy” and “ultra-economy” smartphones priced under $75 will drive much of the increase, it said. “While Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the ultra-premium end of the market, these vendors are facing significant pressure from local players in the emerging markets,” it said. “These new players are beginning to build market share and achieve larger economies of scale, which eventually will enable them to expand their offering and challenge other smartphone sectors in the future.” Still, Apple and Samsung will have nearly 45 percent of the smartphones shipped globally this year, it said.

NTIA on Monday posted 14 comments on a model spectrum city that had been filed at the agency (http://1.usa.gov/YMl3tZ). The FCC also took comments (CD Sept 3 p2). Among the commenters, Madison, Wisconsin, urged the government to select multiple cities for the designation. “That would allow different competing technologies and techniques for spectrum sharing” to “be deployed at the same time and their pros and cons can be comparatively evaluated,” the city said (http://1.usa.gov/1qRH9FO).

Leveraging location information available as Wi-Fi coverage zones become “more ubiquitous” offers a better way to deliver better location information from wireless calls made indoors, Cisco and TeleCommunications Systems (TCS) officials said in a meeting with staff from the FCC Homeland Security Bureau. The companies reported on the meeting in a filing posted Monday in docket 11-117 (http://bit.ly/1y7F9yd). The company officials said they demonstrated how Cisco’s Wireless Local Area Network and TCS’s GEM9-1-1 client can operate as a “gateway” between an enterprise network and a public safety answering point. The demonstration showed how a PSAP could obtain information, including the suite of the texter, from a text to 911 sent by a Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone, the companies said.