CTIA urged the Food and Drug Administration to work with hearing aid manufacturers and the FCC to provide information to consumers about hearing aid compatibility (HAC) ratings. In comments Friday at the FDA, CTIA said the ratings are critical to helping consumers find compatible wireless devices and hearing aids. While wireless carriers and manufacturers “take significant efforts” to provide this information about wireless devices, “consumers will continue to face challenges in understanding how to pair a hearing aid device with their wireless handset without a clearer understanding of the other half of the HAC rating system -- the HAC rating of a hearing aid device, it said.

People are keeping their handsets longer, that much is clear from various quarterly wireless industry financial reports from the most recent quarter, Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson, wrote investors Wednesday. “This is bad news for handset makers, but generally good for carriers,” Moffett said. “But will it last?” Another trend is low capital spending, particularly from AT&T and Sprint, he wrote. “It’s hard to see how spending at this level is sustainable in a world of soaring usage.” The distinction between prepaid and postpaid “is eroding,” he said. Customers buying phones on installment plans “make the distinction largely irrelevant” and “post-paid prices are falling to similar price points,” he said. “Pre-paid growth accelerated, with a powerful resurgence in branded pre-paid, and a commensurate decline in the reseller channel. Branded pre-paid is becoming a two-horse race, with AT&T and T-Mobile gaining and Sprint losing ground.” Moffett also sees an “incredible acceleration in T-Mobile’s dominance.” All indicators on T-Mobile are good, he said. “T-Mobile’s subscriber share gains in both pre-paid and post-paid have accelerated, and T-Mobile has done it while their like-for-like [average revenue per user] actually grew and bad debt fell,” he said. “Their free cash flow story is playing out much the way we would have hoped. But T-Mobile’s share price has barely budged, and neither we nor anyone else with whom we’ve spoken can figure out why.” Sprint Tuesday was the last of the four major wireless carriers to report results (see 1605030049).

Market maturation in smartphones is slowing sales growth in wireless semiconductors, IHS said in a Wednesday report. “Revenue associated with the wireless competitive landscape continued to serve as a bright spot in the larger semiconductor market in 2015,” but that likely won’t be so in 2016, said the research firm. “Due to slowing sales of smartphones and other wireless devices, the wireless competitive landscape faces a set of challenges” that could result in slower sales growth for wireless semiconductors this year, it said. That Apple recently reported its first-ever quarterly year-on-year iPhone unit sales decline indicates “the potential magnitude of the softness in the premium smartphone market,” IHS said. “If the iPhone and other premium smartphones fail to gain enough traction to support growth in that market segment, it may be reflected in the underlying semiconductor market in 2016.”

Dish Network extended its Smart Home Services to smartphones, leveraging its nationwide network of technicians who install satellite and surround-sound systems and wireless networks, it said Tuesday. The launch of a smartphone service is the next step in a progression of its service business that began last year when Dish rolled out home entertainment installation through Amazon’s Home Services marketplace, a Dish spokeswoman told us. The smartphone repair service is available to all consumers and gives Dish a lead on potential satellite TV customers who aren’t currently its subscribers. “Now that you'll have a working phone make sure to take full advantage of it by signing up for DISH,” it says in an advertisement on its website for Dish DVR service. "Not only can we repair phones, but we can also set up your TV, install your surround sound system or set up a home WiFi Network." The smartphone service sends a technician to consumers’ locations to repair cracked screens and replace batteries on Apple’s iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6 and 6 Plus. Dish will extend the service to more devices and smartphone accessories in coming months, it said. “We come to you -- whether you’re at the office, the gym or even the coffee shop,” said John Swieringa, Dish executive vice president-operations. Appointments are available seven days a week including same-day and next-day scheduling, and Dish guarantees repair work with a 60-day warranty. Customers reserve a service slot with a $35 driver fee (there is no option to go to a service location). Sample service rates are $75 for an iPhone 5 battery replacement, $185 for an iPhone 6 Plus screen repair and $225 for iPhone 6 Plus screen and battery replacement. Repairs generally take 30-45 minutes, said the service’s FAQ section. Customers can check the name, photo and location of their Dish technician using the company’s My Tech online appointment tool.

LG Innotek developed an under-glass fingerprint sensor module that eliminates the need for a “button-type” sensor, freeing up a smartphone’s design, the company said in a Monday announcement. “With this module, the sensor is not exposed to the outside of the device,” so manufacturers can produce a “sleek designed” smartphone, it said. High-strength cover glass protects the sensor and prevents it from coming in direct contact with water or damage from scratches, it said. LG Innotek developed a “proprietary” adhesive to attach the sensor to the glass, it said. LG Innotek thinks the expansion of smartphone-based mobile payments will “dramatically” increase demand for fingerprint recognition technology, it said.

Wireless industry groups and those representing the deaf and hard of hearing filed a letter at the FCC Thursday urging the agency to support their joint proposal from last year on a revised commission proposal for hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules (see 1511130027). “The Parties have worked together for many years to ensure that wireless handsets are accessible to and usable by people who use hearing aid devices, and we are pleased to continue our ongoing collaboration on this important issue,” the groups said. The FCC “thoughtfully” incorporated the proposal into its NPRM proceeding, the groups said. “The Parties continue to urge the Commission to adopt the Consensus Proposal as submitted.” The letter offers advice on a panel that would track progress toward ensuring that 100 percent of handsets are eventually HAC-compliant. “At a minimum, the task force participants should include representatives of consumers who use hearing aid devices, research and technical advisors, wireless industry policy and technical representatives, and hearing aid manufacturers,” the letter said. ”However, lack of participation by any task force member will not prevent the task force from proceeding with its work on the schedule provided.” The groups said the task force “should be overseen by a group with technical, legal, and administrative expertise to help manage a consensus-based process that will make a recommendation as to the achievability of a 100 percent HAC compliance requirement, while carefully weighing the needs of both the wireless industry and consumers, including those who use hearing aid devices." The Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, Hearing Loss Association of America, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TDI) and Telecommunications Industry Association signed the letter. It was filed in docket 15-285.

Apple is maintaining its “strong share” of the premium smartphone market, although analyst firm Canaccord Genuity expects negative year-over year iPhone sales for the rest of the fiscal year, said analyst Michael Walkley in a research note Thursday. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s have enabled Apple “to materially increase its share” of the premium smartphone market via Android switchers, said Walkley. Canaccord estimated the installed base of iPhone users grew 26 percent last year from 402 million to 506 million “much faster” than the company's growth estimates for the overall smartphone market. Overall, connected Apple devices now exceed a billion users, Walkley said, and the “impressive installed base” is expected to drive strong future iPhone replacement sales and earnings. Canaccord maintained a "buy” rating on Apple, saying the iPhone SE will help moderate the iPhone unit sales decline. Walkley predicts a “reacceleration of replacement sales,” led by the upcoming iPhone 7 that's expected to drive strong iPhone sales during FY 2017. Total iPhone unit sales are projected to grow from 216 million in FY 2016 to 239 million in FY 2017, he said.

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure apologized for a controversial advertisement calling T-Mobile “ghetto” last week. In the video ad, released last week, Claure asks a focus group of wireless customers what comes to mind when he says the name T-Mobile, and a customer replies, “Oh my God, the first word that came to my head is ‘ghetto.’” The use of that description in the ad triggered immediate backlash. Claure took to Twitter to apologize. “My job is to listen to consumers,” he tweeted Tuesday. “Our point was to share customer views. Bad judgment on our part. Apologies. Taking the video down.” T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted, “I don’t think I need to respond.” Wednesday, Claure apologized again, tweeting, “As a proud Hispanic immigrant, I should have been more sensitive and known not to publish the customers’ comment.”

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron said the movie theater chain will consider making some theaters texting- and mobile device-friendly, in remarks reported in Variety. Movie theaters are one of the few places where cellphone use isn't allowed. Aron said the move would help get millennials back into theaters. “When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow,” he said. “You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life.”

Privacy and industry groups criticized a leaked "discussion draft" from leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, saying it would undermine people's privacy and security by forcing technology companies and others under a court order to provide information, data or technical assistance to get such data in a timely fashion. “This bill is a clear threat to everyone’s privacy and security," said Neema Singh Guliani, American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel, in a statement. "Instead of heeding the warnings of experts, the senators have written a bill that ignores economic, security, and technical reality. It would force companies to deliberately weaken the security of their products by providing backdoors into the devices and services that everyone relies on." New America's Open Technology Institute (OTI) said the legislation from committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., and ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would mandate providers of electronic communications, storage or processing services, and software or hardware manufacturers to decrypt encrypted data of its users. "Not only does this bill undermine our security, it is also a massive Internet censorship bill, demanding that online platforms like Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store police their platforms to stop the distribution of secure apps," said OTI Director Kevin Bankston in a statement. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro said in a statement companies can't comply with lawful requests when their customers control "the only keys used to encrypt the data." He said the messaging app WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption and can't comply unless it alters its system, but the bill "explicitly" wouldn't require such changes. "This bill sets up a legal paradox that would further muddy the waters about how and when the government can compel the private sector to assist in gaining access to private information," he said. TechNet CEO Linda Moore said in a statement if forcing companies to eliminate security features could be exploited by others lacking good intentions.