5G service revenue is expected to exceed $65 billion by 2025, said a report from Juniper Research Wednesday. Juniper said it estimates commercial rollouts of 5G will begin in 2020 and at least $25 billion will be invested during the next five years in 5G development, research and trials. But Juniper said it anticipates widespread 5G adoption won't occur until 2025, accounting for years of national spectrum licensing. Juniper said it found "a growing consensus" on the development of 5G standards, which include network speeds of at least 10 Gbps, 1 millisecond latency or less, improved spectral efficiency, lower energy consumption, better battery life and higher device density. 5G will "act as a catalyst" for a wide range of new experiences, including high-definition 4K-8K video, self-driving cars, advanced virtual reality and both data intensive and energy efficient applications, said the researcher. It expects more than 3 billion global 4G LTE connections by 2020.

Windstream's Kinetic TV service went live in April in Lincoln, Nebraska, using Arris-made NVG343 residential gateways and VIP Series IP set-tops, said the telco in a Tuesday news release. Kinetic, announced last year (see 1410030050), began service April 15 and provides HD video streaming and whole-home DVR service.

Driven primarily by increased utility in law enforcement and agricultural applications, the global commercial drone market is expected to reach about $2 billion by 2022, said a report released Tuesday by Grand View Research. The firm said it expects drones to "revolutionize the retail sector" and "positively shape" market growth once regulatory clearance is authorized in the U.S. and other countries. High penetration of commercial drones is predicted for Europe, due to its regulatory scenario, which the report said is "more conducive to market growth as opposed to the U.S." The Federal Aviation Administration is considering rules that would further address the issue of commercial drone usage, and said Tuesday it has given out more than 1,000 Section 333 exemptions to its 2012 Modernization and Reform Act rules, allowing exemption holders to conduct commercial drone flights in non-restricted areas at or below 200 feet. Monday, commercial drone advocates, including Amazon, backed congressional involvement in the process of commercial drone approval (see 1508030069), while privacy advocates pushed for industry to accept drone privacy rules (see 1508030053). Grand View said North America generated more than 55 percent of 2014 global commercial drone revenue and that government drone applications, including law enforcement, infrastructure and research, contributed more than 40 percent of market revenue.

Sprint will begin offering a new family plan Friday, a company news release said Wednesday evening. The Family Share Pack, which costs $100 per month, includes unlimited talk and text on four lines and 10 GB of data, said the release. Families may opt for 40 GB of data for an additional $20 per month, Sprint said.

MPEG LA issued a call for patents essential to the MPEG Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) standards Tuesday. DASH, used in content delivery platforms, adaptively streams audio and video content enabling continuous viewing without freezing or stuttering. With adoption of DASH technology standards increasing, the market would benefit from the “nondiscriminatory, nonexclusive worldwide one-stop patent pool license,” said MPEG LA CEO Larry Horn. Interested parties are invited to submit patents by Sept. 9.

Buying group Azione Unlimited added five dealer members, bringing its roster of custom retailers and integrators to 125. The latest additions are Audio Video Systems, Murray, Utah; Avid Audio Video Installations, Excelsior, Minnesota; AVC Technologies and Home Theater, Tampa, Florida; Digital Systems, Ridgeland, Mississippi; and Home Automation Hawaii, Waipahu, Azione said.

Until Donald Trump quits the presidential race "and apologizes to those he slandered," CEA President Gary Shapiro won’t hold meetings at or visit any Trump properties “or even watch any Trump TV show,” Shapiro said Friday in a Facebook posting. “Democrats are giggling with delight as Trump sucks up media attention and gathers support from the least-informed members of the Republican Party,” said Shapiro, who described himself as a onetime fan of Celebrity Apprentice. But Trump “has scant chance of actually winning the Republican nomination,” Shapiro said. “Trump is playing the media and hurting his own party. The media circus he is attracting makes me wish the FCC would consider bringing back the so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine’ requiring broadcasters to give equal time to both sides of an issue.” Shapiro found Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants “not only racist and disgusting, but also totally untrue,” he said. “My experience with Hispanics is that they are talented and determined, often working two or three jobs to support their families. They do jobs American citizens avoid." For Trump to "disparage" undocumented Hispanics as rapists and murderers was "contemptible and wrong,” Shapiro said. As Americans, Shapiro said, “we can each make a decision to do our part to remove Trump and his racism and inanity from the important political discourse our nation needs in a presidential campaign.” Trump representatives didn’t comment.

World Trade Organization members cemented an agreement to expand the Information Technology Agreement, allowing implementation planning to begin, the WTO said in a news release Friday. The agreement, which was expected (see 1507200036), calls for the majority of tariffs to be eliminated on a number of products, including innovative semiconductors, within three years, the WTO said. The reductions are to begin in 2016, it said. The agreement also contains a commitment to keep the list of products covered under review to determine whether further expansion may be needed due to future technological developments, the WTO said: "By the end of October 2015, each of the participating members will submit to the other participants a draft schedule which spells out how the terms of the agreement would be met. Participants will spend the coming months preparing and verifying these schedules." The WTO hopes to finish the technical work in time for the Nairobi Ministerial Conference in December, it said. Tech groups continued backing ITA expansion, in statements Friday. The revised agreement eliminates tariffs on about $1 trillion in annual global sales of tech products, more than $100 billion worth of which are from U.S. companies, the Information Technology Industry Council said. The historic pact "is game changing for the technology sector," CEO Dean Garfield said. The group said ITA will phase out more than 200 tariffs on technology products, including GPS devices, videogame consoles and software. Forty-nine of 54 participating countries have signed the agreement and the other nations likely will soon, the Telecommunications Industry Association said. It's "a major victory for the tech sector," TIA CEO Scott Belcher said.

Comcast's X1 cloud-based video platform and set-top box may be heading to more cable companies. The company has licensed X1 to Cox Communications and Shaw on a trial basis, and other companies are "expressing interest," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Thursday during a quarterly earnings call. X1 has been a bright spot in Comcast's cable operations, with the company deploying nearly 30,000 boxes a day, "and we are pushing to go even faster," while also putting out 6 million of its voice-controlled TV remotes this year, Roberts said. Q2 marked a tipping point in Comcast's customer base, as it said the number of broadband customers, at 22.5 million, surpassed the cable operator's 22.3 million video customers.

TV coverage of sports increasingly includes footage via aerial drones, but it will be a while before such shots become widespread and mainstream, in large part due to Federal Aviation Administration regulations, said NCTA senior writer Francesca Duffy in a blog post Thursday. "Could Fox Sports have brought them in for one of the Gold Cup soccer games in Atlanta? Not until more flexible regulations are put in place," since rules require a 500-foot buffer from nonparticipants, Duffy said. Equipment issues such as noise and battery life also are limiting factors. Michael Davies, Fox Sports senior vice president-field operations, was quoted in the blog as saying the network is "actively pursuing drones on every level" and it eventually hopes to shoot a full event via drones.