CDMA's fans gather to hail a technology
By Mike Drummond
STAFF WRITER
December 1, 1999
SAN FRANCISCO -- All the usual suspects have gathered here for the fourth annual
CDMA America's Congress, a wireless communications conference where industry
movers and shakers are celebrating the growing adoption of a technology some said
would never work.
The conference serves as another forum for industry players to rub their temples and
gauge demand for high-speed wireless Internet access, phones that deliver data
services as seamlessly as voice, and a world where mobile devices talk fluently to each
other using the mother tongue of "code division multiple access" or CDMA -- wireless
technology Qualcomm commercialized 10 years ago.
Sharing space on a small exhibit floor are Samsung from Korea, Nokia from Finland,
Alcatel from France. San Diego-based NeoPoint is handing out its flagship NeoPoint
1000 phone for three days of free use.
There's one conspicuous standout from Sweden that has turned heads. Ericsson, the
world's third-largest phone maker and a long-time critic of CDMA, is making its debut
appearance amid a strained detente with Qualcomm.
"I never thought I'd see the day when Ericsson is a sponsor at a CDMA Congress,"
said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDMA Development Group, an umbrella
trade organization. "And we welcome them."
The Swedish giant's presence signals the maturity of CDMA, a wireless transmission
technology that will boast more than 50 million subscribers by year's end, LaForge said.
Yet Ericsson's presence also is a reminder that there's still not peace in the CDMA
universe.
For years, Ericsson dismissed CDMA, only to turn an about-face earlier this year when
it bought Qualcomm's infrastructure division for a reported $250 million. The division
makes networking equipment that keep cell phone calls connected.
The company's entry into the CDMA market paved the way for greater global
acceptance of the technology use in future generations of wireless networks and
devices. Industry observers hailed the sale -- part of a sweeping patent settlement with
Qualcomm -- as the spark that ignited CDMA as the world's fastest-growing wireless
technology, and the catapult that lofted Qualcomm's stock this year.
Ericsson is now disputing the price of the infrastructure division. While officials from
both companies decline to discuss the dispute -- both are trying to settle the issue out
of court -- Ericsson clearly feels slighted.
For one, Ericsson officials say Qualcomm's networking equipment was "sub-par,"
echoing the name-calling of the not-too-distant past.
"A lot of our focus has been on getting existing customers happy with their (CDMA)
networks," said Gwenn Larsson, director of technology and strategic marketing for
Ericsson. "They are running on sub-par software releases.
"It's hard for them to stomach the poor performance of their networks," Larsson added.
Larsson worked for Qualcomm and moved to Ericsson as part of the sale.
Qualcomm, citing the ongoing dispute, declined to give a rejoinder. Meanwhile,
Ericsson, which now has a major research and development presence in San Diego, is
ramping up new lines of CDMA-based phones. The first ones, "low cost" models, will
be available by next summer and will feature micro-Web browsers, Larsson said.
Indeed, those types of capabilities, coupled with faster wireless Internet access, are
what the industry hopes will drive consumer and business demand. One indication that
wireless Internet access will be hot is the presence of Microsoft at this year's event.
Thomas Koll, Microsoft's vice president of Network Solutions Group, was the
conference's first keynote speaker. He made clear that the company has changed its
mission statement.
The Redmond, Wash., company's charter used to be, "A computer on every desk and in
every home." Now, it's "Empower people through great software, anytime, any place
and on any device," Koll said.
And there are tangible signals Microsoft is committed to wireless. Many analysts
believe it was Microsoft that forced the removal of John Major as chief executive of
Wireless Knowledge, the San Diego-based joint venture between Microsoft and
Qualcomm. Eric Schultz, formerly of Microsoft, is now at the helm.
Wireless Knowledge is trying to work the bugs out of a service that is supposed to
deliver corporate e-mail, calendar and other meat-and-potatoes business information to
any type of mobile device. Given the warm applause after Koll's address, it appears
many in the wireless world welcome Microsoft to the CDMA camp.
What about Ericsson?
"I think people are excited to have Ericsson here as a friend rather than a foe," Larsson
said. "We thought it might be uncomfortable at first. But there are so many of us from
Qualcomm that I think that made it pretty easy."
Copyright 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. |
