A short holiday week with long-term consequences. On September 2 a federal judge issued the remedies ruling in the Google search antitrust case, stopping short of a breakup and, crucially for the mobile industry, allowing Google to keep paying device makers and carriers for search placement. On September 3 the FCC's competitive bidding rules for the AWS-3 auction took effect, clearing the path for the first US spectrum auction in four years. And T-Mobile spent the week showcasing early satellite data access on Google's new Pixel 10, giving off-grid users app connectivity through Starlink ahead of a broader launch in October.
The last regulatory dominoes fell this week. On July 10 the Department of Justice closed its investigation into T-Mobile's 4.4 billion dollar acquisition of UScellular without seeking to block it, while voicing unusual public concern about wireless consolidation, and the FCC approved the license transfers a day later, clearing the deal to close August 1. Samsung used its July 9 Unpacked event in Brooklyn to launch the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and a cheaper Flip 7 FE, betting that thinner hardware finally takes foldables mainstream. Together the two stories captured the summer's theme: the big get bigger, and the device makers keep searching for the next reason to upgrade.