1. Carriers and equipment makers are taking their fight to Washington as they work to launch LTE in unlicensed spectrum. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile US, Qualcomm, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent have all signed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in an effort to speed up testing of LTE-U equipment. The Wi-Fi Alliance wants the FCC to withhold certification while it works on a “coexistence test plan.” The wireless companies point out that they are all members of the Wi-Fi Alliance, but in this case they strongly disagree with the organization. The debate over unlicensed spectrum is moving from technical circles into the mainstream; yesterday The Wall Street Journal ran a lead story on the issue.
2. Qualcomm is selling spectrum. While the chipmaker champions the carrier call for unlicensed spectrum, it is selling 40 megahertz of licensed spectrum in the U.K. in which 20 megahertz will go to Vodafone and 20 will go to Hutchison 3G UK.
3. Mobile data traffic grew 55% during the year ending in June 2015, according to Ericsson. In a scheduled update to the Ericsson Mobility Report, the equipment maker said that India is the fastest-growing mobile market, followed by Myanmar and Nigeria.
4. The Apple Watch debuted with a 20% share of the emerging market for wearable wireless devices, according to the analysts at IDC. The researchers estimate that Apple sold 3.6 million watches during the second quarter. The only company that sold more was Fitbit, with an estimated 4.4 million units.
5. The mobile device business is tough for Amazon. The online retailer has no problem selling mobile devices made by others, but its own offering is apparently floundering. The Wall Street Journal reports that dozens of engineers who worked on the Amazon Fire phone have been fired, no pun intended.
And our featured jobs today come from TelForce Group. The company is hiring tower technicians to work in Minnesota. You can find hundreds of jobs and thousands of resumes at telecomcareers.com.
