AT&T executives shared the carrier's 5G "vision, key issues and architectural concepts" in a Tuesday meeting with front office and other FCC staff from three bureaus and offices, the company said in a filing posted the next day in docket 14-177. It said those issues were discussed in this presentation. "Key" emerging trends for the fifth-generation networks include "extremely high speed mobile broadband, and low speed IoT," it said. "Simultaneous connections to multiple technologies" could include LTE-A and unlicensed, with a "flexible" radio access technology (RAT) design, AT&T said. Adding new sub-6 GHz RAT optimized for IoT could occur, a slide said, next to "(~2020)," while new millimeter-wave RAT for speed and capacity was next to "(~2022)." The 5G RAT could be designed to allow for "massive connectivity," the company said. It also eyed virtualized specifications. Executives at carriers have cited the benefits of using software to automate network functions (see 1506030021) and said 5G could start to hit the U.S. next decade.

Cricket is offering a tough new cellphone for $79.99, the Kyocera Hydro View, the low-cost AT&T subsidiary said Monday. The handset is exclusive to Cricket, the carrier said. “Engineered to stand up to everyday ‘oops’ as well as more extreme work or play activities, the Kyocera Hydro VIEW is equally perfect for a mom on the go or a tradesman out in the field,” Cricket said in a news release. “It can be wiped off with water to get rid of sticky messes or submerged in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes and still perform beautifully.”

T-Mobile CEO John Legere is predicting continuing success next year for his company. Among his predictions: “T-Mobile will keep eliminating industry pain points, and we will absolutely keep creating new ways to delight and surprise our customers” and “our LTE coverage will keep improving faster than the other guys -- and perception will start catching up to reality,” he said in a letter posted Wednesday on the company’s website. Legere also took on Verizon directly. “Big Red is FINALLY starting to realize they have a real fight on their hands!” he wrote. “Now that T-Mobile’s LTE coverage has reached near parity and is still the fastest LTE network in the country (AND we continue to improve and build out our network faster than Verizon can even imagine), we are starting to see them sweat!” Verizon didn't comment.

AT&T is getting rid of two-year contracts, the way subscribers historically tied themselves to a wireless carrier, said an internal document posted Wednesday by website Engadget. The document said new and existing customers will be able to get new devices only by paying the full price upfront or by buying it in installments over time. The change kicks in Jan. 8. An AT&T spokesman confirmed the development. “With $0 down for well-qualified customers, the ability to upgrade early and down payment options available with even lower monthly installments, our customers are overwhelmingly choosing AT&T Next," the spokesman emailed. "Starting January 8, AT&T Next will be the primary way to get a new smartphone at AT&T. This does not apply to business customers under a qualified wireless service agreement.”

Home communications platform company Ooma said its Talkatone mobile app added free picture texting to its calling and texting offering. Talkatone, operating over Wi-Fi or data connection, enables free limited calling and unlimited SMS texting to Talkatone phone numbers and those outside its network in the U.S. and Canada. Registered Talkatone users get a free U.S. phone number, free SMS and picture texting and up to 60 minutes per month of free calling, said the company. It supports Android, iOS and Kindle mobile devices.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance criticized Apple and Google for deciding "independently and with no notice to law enforcement that I’m aware of" to give their customers control over access to their encrypted smartphones. "Apple and Google are no longer teenagers in the business world of the Internet," Vance said in an interview Monday with The Takeaway radio news program. "They are the absolute dominating mature adults with 96.4 percent of the smartphone market.” He said the companies themselves decided to "draw the line between privacy and public safety," which "also happens to fit their economic interests." Though encryption is a long-standing controversial issue, some federal, state and local law enforcement officials have stepped up calls for access to encrypted phones since the November terrorist attacks in Paris (see 1512100032 and 1511240023). Vance said he doesn't want a back door to gain access to encrypted devices but wants companies like Apple to have a digital key to unlock their own devices. "All I want Apple to do is, when a judge has determined by looking at a criminal case that there’s a need to get into this device and issues an order, that that order can be effectuated," he said. Vance said lawmakers must examine the issue and strike a balance between privacy and public safety. He said he's not talking about bulk telephone data collection or scooping up information on millions of people, referring to federal snooping programs (see 1511300028). “Every phone that we seek to open is done by an individual, separate presentation of facts to a judge. It’s very much retail law enforcement investigation,” he said.

Comments on an Oct. 30 NPRM on proposed changes to FCC hearing aid compatibility rules are due Feb. 26, replies March 28, said a notice published Monday in the Federal Register. “The proposed changes would expand the scope of the wireline HAC rules, add a volume control requirement for wireless handsets, address recently revised technical standards, and streamline the process for enabling industry to use new or revised technical standards for assessing HAC compliance,” the notice said.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam demonstrated a version of 5G to the company’s board in November, McAdam said in an interview with Business Insider. “You don't ever go to a board with something that's not real,” he said. “We'll be piloting it more broadly. San Francisco, we'll be there. We'll have it in New York. We'll have it in Boston.” McAdam said he expects to launch 5G service at Verizon’s Basking Ridge, New Jersey, campus in January, with commercial deployment to follow later in the year.

U.S. Cellular successfully implemented use of the industry stolen phone database, the carrier said in a letter to the FCC. The carrier had promised to notify the agency when it did so, it said. The letter was posted in docket 14-143.

Home broadband adoption has plateaued, the number of smartphone-only households has increased and 15 percent of adults have become cord cutters, new Pew Research Center surveys released Monday said. The percentage of consumers in the country adopting broadband is at 67 percent, down from 70 percent in 2013, one of the surveys said. While 68 percent of Americans said they have a smartphone, 13 percent said they use their smartphone for their Internet access instead of buying a broadband connection, it said. That figure is up from 8 percent in 2013. Those who have only a smartphone run into challenges such as more frequently having to cancel or suspend service due to financial constraints, running into data-cap limits and not being able to fill out job applications, a report about the findings said.