5 things to know today
1. Samsung and Verizon Wireless plan to test LTE-enabled femto cells in unlicensed spectrum. Verizon Wireless has been a leader in the movement to extend LTE to the unlicensed spectrum used for Wi-Fi. The companies expect the LTE-U enabled small cells to be commercially available later next year.
2. Verizon’s president of new businesses, Marni Walden, told Reuters that the Go90 mobile app could be just the beginning. She said that if the streaming video app is successful, Verizon could launch a companion product for TV.
3. Google has started rolling out Android Pay, which works with all NFC-enabled Android devices that run KitKat 4.4 or higher. The service is designed to work on any mobile carrier, but does require NFC-enabled payment registers. Android Pay supports American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.
4. Billboard giant Clear Channel Outdoor signed a deal with tower company Vertical Bridge, providing it with exclusive rights to put small cells on Clear Channel’s billboards nationwide.
5. And finally, we often hear that 2020 will be the first year we see wide availability of 5G devices … but here’s a quick reality check: according to 4G Americas, LTE connections will still represent less than half of all mobile connections in 2020. The group predicts 3.6 billion total LTE connections by 2020, or 42% of the worldwide total.
