AT&T on Wednesday said it is partnering with several global technology companies and operators to align their 5G efforts. The carrier said preliminary discussions are underway with China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, KDDI, LG, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, INC., Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Samsung, SK Technologies, Telstra and Vodafone. The goal, AT&T said, is to enable faster 5G deployment once 3GPP completes the first release of the official specifications in 2018.

Verizon Wireless has appointed Jonathan LeCompte as president of its Pacific Market. Based at the company’s market headquarters in Irvine, California, LeCompte will lead all business functions across the seven-state market including California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, northern Nevada and northern Idaho.

LeCompte returns to the West Coast after a four-year assignment as president for Verizon’s Georgia/Alabama Region based in Atlanta, GA. He has also served as acting president for the company’s Northern California/Nevada/Hawaii and the Southern California Regions.

U.S. Cellular announced the opening of a Samsung “store-within-a-store” at its Madison, Wisc. location. The concept, which consists of a 100 square-foot dedicated branded Samsung experience area within a U.S. Cellular store, is set to roll out to a total of around 57 retail store locations now through October.

Each Samsung store-within-a-store will include an interactive virtual host, designed to help customers learn key features and benefits of the latest Samsung devices. The virtual host will respond to the customer and guide them through the devices on display. Specially trained U.S. Cellular associates will also help guide customers through a device immersion experience with Samsung’s full range of products, including the Galaxy Note7, Galaxy S7, Gear VR headset, Gear S2 Smartwatch and more.

Rivada Networks announced it has added Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) to provide satellite services to Rivada Mercury, LLC, its American company formed alongside Harris Corp., Nokia, Fujitsu Network Communications, and Black & Veatch in order to propose building FirstNet’s nationwide public safety broadband network.

Rivada Mercury also recently announced the addition four former Sprint executives to its senior leadership team. Pierre Elisseeff, Peter Campbell, Bill Esrey, and Todd Rowley are joining the company as its new chief financial officer, chief information officer, senior vice president of wholesale and business development and senior vice president of business development, respectively.

In May, Rivada Mercury submitted its bid to build out FirstNet’s national public-safety broadband network. FirstNet expects to make an award by November 1, 2016.

Former C Spire and Sprint CTO Stephen Bye is also joining Rivada Networks as its new Chief Technology Officer.

FreedomPop this week launched a new SIM that will give U.S. customers zero-rated data on the WhatsApp messaging service. The WhatsApp SIM will come with unlimited WhatsApp usage, plus 200 MBs of additional data and 100 voice minutes at no monthly cost.

The carrier announced a similar offering for its customers in Spain back in April.