World Trade Organization ratification of a third Information Technology Agreement “would bring many important emerging technologies driving the global digital economy under ITA coverage” and would “further bridge the digital divide,” said more than three dozen global tech trade associations, including CTA, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, CompTIA, the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association. The first two ITAs “increased employment, made innovative tech products more affordable to consumers,” and “bridged communities across the globe in ways unimagined when the original agreement was launched 25 years ago,” they said. “Another round of ITA product expansion, coupled with expansion of the geographic scope of the agreement, would yield immediate and sweeping benefits,” they said. No new technologies have been added to the agreement since its second iteration, which passed in 2015, they said: "We therefore call on ITA members to support launching another ambitious new round of negotiations to further expand this critically important agreement and carry forward the robust momentum produced by the original ITA and its 2015 expansion."

Global spending on telecom and pay TV services reached $1.566 trillion in 2021, increasing 1.6% year over year, reported IDC Friday. IDC expects spending to rise another 1.4% in 2022 to $1.588 trillion, it said. The “quick recovery” of the global economy from the slump caused by COVID-19 “resulted in additional spending growth” on telecom services, “so the total value of the worldwide market increased slightly faster than originally forecast,” said IDC. The higher than expected growth was also recorded in all technology segments except for pay TV, “which is logical because people were able to spend more time outside of their homes and therefore some decided to cancel subscriptions to TV packages acquired during the lockdowns,” it said. Spending growth last year was highest in Asia Pacific (rising 2.1%), lowest in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (up 1.1%), with the Americas in between (up 1.5%), said IDC.

Motorola Solutions wrapped up a series of meetings with aides to the FCC commissioners on its concerns about the security risks posed by Chinese equipment suppliers, speaking with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-232. The company previously met with aides to the other FCC members (see 2205020036).

The world is adding 5G cities at a pace of almost two per day, with the current number at 1,947 globally, reported Viavi Solutions Tuesday. At the end of January, 72 nations had 5G networks in place, with the newest crop of Argentina, Bhutan, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Malta and Mauritius, the report says. The U.S., at 296, and China, at 356, had the most 5G cities. “There are currently 24 Standalone (SA) 5G networks globally, meaning that they have been built using a new 5G core network,” Viavi said: “It is widely considered that many of the next-generation use cases and monetization models associated with 5G, beyond enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) will only be possible when Standalone 5G networks built on new 5G core networks are in place.” Some 64 operators have publicly announced open radio access networks. “This breaks down to 23 live deployments, …34 in the trial phase with a further seven operators that have publicly announced they are in the pre-trial phase.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a request for a stay sought by Pacific Networks and its subsidiary ComNet in its appeal of the FCC’s 4-0 March order revoking their authority to offer domestic or international services in the U.S. (see 2203160031). “Petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” said the order posted Friday by the FCC.

The number of 5G users in China topped 400 million in Q1, Chinese news service Shine reported. That's one in every four subscribers, based on numbers from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China added 48.1 million 5G subscribers in Q1, hitting 403 million, Shine said Tuesday.

The FCC opposed a petition by Pacific Networks and its subsidiary ComNet in its appeal of the FCC’s 4-0 March order revoking their authority to offer domestic or international services in the U.S. (see 2203160031), in a Friday pleading at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in docket 22-1054. “Based on an extensive record, the Commission found that the Companies -- which are majority-owned by China’s Ministry of Finance -- are subject to exploitation, influence, and control by the Chinese government, which has engaged in malicious cyber activities targeted at the United States,” the FCC said: "The Companies claim … to pose somewhat less of a threat than larger carriers due to their smaller size, but an ostensibly smaller national security threat remains a national security threat.” The companies responded Monday to the pleading. The FCC “does not dispute that, unlike those previous orders, the Executive Branch did not recommend that the FCC revoke Petitioners’ authorizations,” they said: “The Opposition fails to respond to Petitioners’ claim that, among the many disputed facts at issue, a hearing before an administrative law judge would have provided a forum in which an independent factfinder could have determined whether Petitioners are similar to the large companies whose authorizations the FCC revoked and whether Petitioners’ services pose any realistic threat to national security.”

Nokia expects “no impact” to its financial outlook from its decision to exit Russia over the Ukraine invasion, said the company Tuesday. It has been clear to Nokia since the “early days” of the Feb. 24 invasion that “continuing our presence in Russia would not be possible,” it said. “Over the last weeks we have suspended deliveries, stopped new business and are moving our limited R&D activities out of Russia. We can now announce we will exit the Russian market.” Western governments, for “humanitarian reasons,” have expressed concerns about “the risk of critical telecommunication network infrastructure in Russia failing,” said Nokia. Governments have also emphasized the importance of “ensuring the continued flow of information and access to the internet which provides outside perspectives to the Russian people,” it said. “The most responsible course of action” for Nokia as it exits the Russian market is to “aim to provide the necessary support to maintain the networks" by applying for "the relevant licenses to enable this support in compliance with current sanctions,” it said. Nokia drew less than 2% of its 2021 net sales from Russia and expects to take a “provision” of 100 million euros ($108.3 million) on its Q1 results from its decision to leave, it said.

Chinese companies Huawei and Lenovo are two of the few global tech companies still doing business in Russia nearly seven weeks into the Ukraine invasion, reported John Strand of Strand Consult Tuesday. “There is a consensus among people and organizations in the free world that the invasion is despicable, and hence there is a desire to end relations with Russia,” he said: “Companies interpret that if they continue to do business in the country, that they will suffer backlash from the public and reputational repercussions in future. Moreover, consumers and shareholders are sophisticated [enough] to understand the power of their money to influence political decisions and behavior.”

EU and Ukrainian operators will cooperate to keep Ukrainian refugees connected, the European Commission announced Friday. The agreement, brokered by the EC and the European Parliament, was signed by 27 operators (and counting) in the EU and Ukraine, including members of associations such as the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association, the GSM Association and MVNO Europe, the EC said. The initiative aims to create a more stable framework to help displaced Ukrainians in Europe stay in touch with friends and family back home. Operators will voluntarily and bilaterally lower wholesale roaming charges as well as wholesale fees for terminating international calls through commercial agreements. In return, Ukrainian telcos said they will gradually reduce international termination rates for calls to Ukraine originating from EU numbers, and calls to Ukraine from Ukrainian numbers roaming in the EU, toward levels that will allow EU operators to offer reduced wholesale roaming charges and affordable international calls to people calling Ukraine. They also agreed to pass along the full benefits of the lower EU wholesale roaming charges to their customers roaming in Europe.