Quick news from around the Web.
Auction Watch: After 51 rounds, the last of which included 143 new bids, the FCC's AWS-3 auction has raised a total of $40.9 billion in provisionally winning bids. Page. AWS-3 auction primer.
Device museum at @VerizonWireless testing lab. Do you recognize your first analog phone in there?--PG pic.twitter.com/b9ogVpme2f
— FierceWireless (@FierceWireless) December 4, 2014
> TracFone Wireless' Straight Talk brand is offering a bring-your-own-tablet program. Page
> Intel said it will invest $1.6 billion in a plant in China. Article
> Finnish startup Puzzlephone is offering a modular smartphone concept similar to Google's Project Ara, except the Puzzlephone will only have three components. Article
> Luxury glasses company Luxottica announced it will team with Intel to develop smart eyewear. Article
> An appeals court will hear arguments in the long-running patent-infringement battle between Apple and Samsung. Article
> HP said it will start selling Alcatel-Lucent's IP routing and optical products. Article
> In Portland, Starbucks is allowing customers to both order and pay through their mobile phones. Article
> T-Mobile US' Nexus 9 launch reportedly has been postponed. Article
> The FCC will resume reviewing the proposed mergers between AT&T and DirecTV and Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Article.
> AT&T Mobility's Cricket business said it will pay $2.2 million to resolve claims that it overbilled federal law enforcement agencies for the costs of conducting wiretaps. Article
> Sprint said it is teaming with ComputerTalk to integrate contact center capabilities into its Sprint Complete Collaboration with Microsoft Lync, which the carrier said will enable business "to rely on Sprint as a one-stop shop to meet all of their UC needs." Release
> China's Xiaomi said it will expand to five new markets this year instead of its original target of 10. Article
> Yahoo is set to pass Twitter in the mobile ad market. Article
Wireless Tech News
> Endaga recently completed a $1.2 million round of seed funding to help it advance its mission of bringing cellular access to more than 1 billion people around the world who don't have it. Article
> New research exploring the transition from "best-effort" to "carrier-grade" Wi-Fi networks shows that service providers realize that "best effort" Wi-Fi is becoming less profitable and that new revenue streams can only be built once a higher quality of experience (QoE) is assured. Article
> There continues to be an increasing shift in attitude toward Wi-Fi, according to survey results published by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) this week. In fact, the largest figure ever seen in an annual survey--56.7 percent of Wi-Fi operators and vendors--said they were more confident about investing in public Wi-Fi than they had been a year ago. Article
Telecom News
> Zayo has begun deploying small cell sites in Indianapolis for a large wireless operator, a win that illustrates the service provider's aggressive movement into this growing space is paying off. Article
Cable News
> Terms in HBO's carriage agreement with DirecTV could hinder the Time Warner Inc. premium network's plans to extend its service to an online a la carte model in 2015, the Wall Street Journal reports. Article
> Responding to the announcement Wednesday of a new coalition made up of consumer activist groups, labor unions, rival pay-TV operators and other entities that don't support its merger with Time Warner Cable, Comcast downplayed the formation of "Stop Mega Comcast." Article
And finally… Sony said it will sell a retro PlayStation4 in celebration of the device's 20th anniversary. Article