The wireless industry needs prompt decisions on zoning applications in order to continue to grow, CTIA said in an amicus brief in T-Mobile South v. Roswell, Ga. The case, to be heard this fall by the Supreme Court (CD May 6 p12), examines whether local governments have to provide detailed written explanations when they deny carriers’ applications to build new cell towers in their jurisdictions. “The wireless industry is facilities-based and depends on quick and effective judicial review of local zoning decisions to meet the ever-growing consumer demand for more and better wireless services,” CTIA said in Supreme Court docket 13-975 (http://bit.ly/1nektZH). Carriers still face “too many cases of obstruction and delay” when they file applications with local governments to build wireless facilities, the group said. “While the whole community benefits from having a new facility and thus better service, usually only nearby landowners who object to the facility have enough of an incentive to communicate with their representatives or attend meetings to protest.”

NTIA and the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment on a public-private partnership to create a spectrum test city, as expected (CD July 11 p19). The model city would be used for “demonstrating and evaluating advanced spectrum sharing technologies” in a real-world environment, said Friday’s joint public notice from the agencies (http://bit.ly/1r4jeDZ). The notion of a model city was first put forth by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in its July 2012 spectrum sharing report. “It is too soon to know what a ‘Model City’ might entail and what aspects would fall within the jurisdiction of the NTIA and/or the FCC,” said OET Chief Julius Knapp in a blog post (http://fcc.us/1r4kaIv). “For example, the model city could be developed as a public-private partnership and implemented under existing provisions such as the FCC’s experimental licensing program. What is clear is that there is a high likelihood that both NTIA and FCC will have a role to play, particularly because most of the spectrum is shared between federal and non-federal users.”

ZigBee technology is “specifically designed for large networks and device-to-device communication and has significant advantages” over the “CSR Mesh” product showcased at a Bluetooth Special Interest Group exhibition in London this week (CD July 10 p13), the ZigBee Alliance said Wednesday. “Solutions built on Bluetooth still suffer from the inherent limitations of Bluetooth networks, such limitations as range and the number of active devices on a network,” the alliance said. “The so-called ‘mesh’ of CSR uses flooding where every device simply re-broadcasts,” it said. “This will have significant performance implications in large networks. True mesh networks like ZigBee mean reliable and robust networks with devices routing operations only when required to target devices, saving energy and reducing network traffic.” The CSR product does not “standardize the definitions” of bulbs, fixtures and switches, the alliance said, “which means problems for multi-vendor interoperability.” By comparison, ZigBee “standardizes both network and application layers,” it said. “Everything from joining a network” to operating a device, including turning it on or off, is “defined so devices from different vendors can work together seamlessly,” it said. The Connected Lighting Alliance, comprising almost all the major global lighting vendors, “has endorsed ZigBee Light Link as the preferred standard for residential lighting applications,” it said. “This decision represents the first time an alliance of leading lighting companies has unanimously endorsed a common open standard for wireless lighting solutions.” Moreover, recent announcements by industry leaders, such as GE, Osram, Philips and others, “demonstrate the growing dominance of ZigBee for connected lighting,” it said.

The FCC is getting set to release a public notice asking for comment on spectrum model cities, as recommended by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling Thursday at the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee meeting. NTIA, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the FCC are considering proposals for a “test city” to be a real-world environment for trying out new business models, applications and services, said Tom Power, deputy federal chief technology officer, in April (CD April 7 p2).

PCIA filed a brief in support of T-Mobile in T-Mobile South v. Roswell, Ga., a case headed for Supreme Court review (CD May 6 p12). The case examines whether local governments have to provide detailed written explanations when they deny carriers’ applications to build new cell towers in their jurisdictions. It will be argued during the court’s next term, which begins in October (http://1.usa.gov/1iQXU16). Wireless services provide “unparalleled benefits that make them a national priority,” PCIA said Thursday (http://bit.ly/1rbVZFM). Industry relies on “robust deployment of wireless infrastructure in all its forms, ranging from communications towers that can expand wireless coverage in rural and unserved areas to small antenna installations that can boost capacity in urban centers.” The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals incorrectly interpreted a key section of the Telecom Act in siding with Roswell, PCIA said. The court’s decision “allows localities to issue siting denials without an accompanying explanation, thus preventing applicants from receiving a final decision on their wireless siting applications in the ‘expedited’ manner the statute commands.” The Competitive Carriers Association also filed in support of T-Mobile. The 11th Circuit ruling would lead to “costly and drawn-out litigation that interferes with growth and competition in the wireless service industry,” CCA said. It said members “often require more approvals to build or upgrade their networks than the ‘incumbent’ providers, and therefore are impacted disproportionately by impediments created by the siting application review process."

NTIA is looking at how to narrow exclusion zones needed to protect federal agency transmissions in the 3.5 GHz band, spectrum the FCC has targeted for sharing and for the use of small cells, NTIA Association Administrator Karl Nebbia said Thursday. Nebbia offered a report at the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee meeting. (See related report above.) NTIA has been working with the FCC and the Department of Defense to look at whether the government can reduce the size of the zones using “new information we have, new analytical techniques,” he said. When the FCC approved a further NPRM on the 3.5 GHz on the band in April (CD April 24 p4), Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly complained that the proposed exclusion zones are too big for the band to reach its potential as a laboratory for spectrum sharing.

"Working group experts” from the fields of consumer electronics, medicine and chemistry convened in March on fashioning a global certification standard for wearable devices before TUV Rheinland formally launched its certification program on Friday (CD July 8 p10), said Simon Hung, a spokesman for the German-based provider of technical and safety certification services, in an email Wednesday. Manufacturers seeking to have their wearable devices certified under the program will submit their products to a testing “protocol” that will “evaluate the products from an end user’s point of view” regarding safety, functionality and ease of use, Hung said. “TUV Rheinland will launch a tailor-made logo for this service,” he said. The key words, “Smart Wearable Device,” together with TUV Rheinland’s logo, “could be presented on the product’s label and other artwork,” he said. Asked whether any products have yet landed certification, Hung said: “We are working on the first project from a famous IT brand,” and discussions are underway with “many manufacturers and solution/platform providers in this field.”

Sprint announced the availability of LivePro, which it called the first commercially available combination pocket projector and mobile hotspot. The 4.7-inch-square x 1.1-inch thick device will be available exclusively from Sprint on Friday for $449, which qualified customers can spread across 24 months at $18.75 per month through Sprint Easy Pay, the company said. LivePro data plans start at $34.99 per month for 3GB of combined 3G/4G data while on the Sprint network, and the step-up plans include 6GB of 3G/4G data for $49.99 or 12GB of 3G/4G data for $79.99, it said. Projection display size ranges from 10 inches to 10 feet, it said. A speaker is built-in and for “bigger sound,” users can connect speakers via a 3.5mm jack or by Bluetooth, Sprint said. The unit has a 4-inch touchscreen display and uses Android 4.2, Sprint said, and the 5,000mAh lithium ion battery can be used to charge a smartphone, tablet or other devices via USB cable.

U.K. chip maker CSR is hoping to steal a march on the Zigbee radio control system with a new approach based on Bluetooth, the company told us at a “Future is Smart” exhibition in London Tuesday staged by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which runs the Bluetooth licensing program. “CSR Mesh,” as CSR is calling it, works as a mesh radio network like Zigbee, but without the need for an additional network hub or router, CSR said. This is possible because all modern smartphones and tablets come with enhanced Bluetooth smart capability “out of the box,” it said. CSR Mesh lets one smartphone control a virtually unlimited number of devices, such as lights, heating or security, with plug and play set-up, it said. CSR is now pledging to donate its CSR Mesh technology to SIG on a no-royalty basis, it said. At the London exhibition, Rick Walker, senior product marketing manager for CSR in Cambridge, demonstrated a prototype LED home lighting system similar to the Philips Hue, but using CSR Mesh instead of Zigbee. “CSR Mesh is disruptive,” Walker said. “It puts the smartphone at the center of the Internet of Things. We developed a software protocol that runs over the smart standard to create a mesh network at the standard Bluetooth frequency of 2.4 GHz, controlled by standard Bluetooth hardware.” Now that CSR has shown what can be done, “there are some big nasty competitors out there that will want to develop their own systems and fragment the market,” Walker said. “We want to avoid a situation like the zillion different standards for Wi-Fi, so will donate our technology to SIG and let SIG give free licenses. This is imminent.” CSR first announced the system in February and will release technical details on its website by the end of July, Walker said. “Then, early next year, we will offer everything, except the source code, to SIG to license without royalties.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau Wednesday sought comment on a request by Spectrum Networks Group (SNG) that it be allowed to use 900 MHz Business/Industrial/Land Transportation (B/ILT) Pool channels for Specialized Mobile Radio operations. The bureau said SNG has filed 111 applications since October for B/ILT channels at various locations. SNG wants to use some of the channels “to provide communications services to business for their private, internal machine-to-machine communications needs, and to provide service only to Part 90 eligible businesses,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1to2xFh). Comments are due July 30, replies Aug. 11, in docket 14-100.