Wireless Watch 632: No phones at MS Build

Key Issues:

• Microsoft Build: silence on smartphones, bots are the new mobile focus 2
• More LTE-U clashes, but the real test will be route to market, not technology 6

Comment:

• Oracle looks for $9.3bn in damages, but even more is at stake for Google 13
• Vodafone eyes fixed operator in India as competition mounts 16
• Project Ara to be resurrected at Google I/O? 18
• Samsung’s promised real time OS could shift the IoT goalposts 19
• Interference disputes break out across the US’s patchwork of spectrum 21
• The MNO’s nightmare, an iPhone with eSIM, may come true this year 24

M&A Watch:
Orange and Bouygues postpone decision on whether to propose merger 25
5G Watch:
Universities break 5G efficiency records, without mmWave 26
4G/5G Watch:
Tele2 turns to Canonical for OpenStack NFV roll-out 27
IoT Watch:
It’s not just Nest struggling with the cooling smart home market; Retailer’s RFID failure is cautionary tale for IoT 28
Operator Watch:
Telefonica and Telecom Italia gain new CEOs 32