I know this topic is being discussed but I haven't seen anyone post this particular article which is to me a concern. I would appreciate any comments. This is my first time "to cut and paste" so please excuse me if I screwed it up.
Analyst - Wireless Proposal Could Stir Industry 02/29/00
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, U.S.A. 2000 FEB 29 (Newsbytes) -- By Kevin Featherly,
Newsbytes. A new wireless technology standard proposed Monday by Motorola Inc.
[NYSE:MOT], has the potential to shake up the entire wireless communications
industry, according to one analyst.
At the Wireless 2000 convention Monday in New Orleans, Motorola said that it has
developed technology that both complies with and outstrips the wireless standard
known as 1XRTT, the third generation of the code division multiple access (CDMA)
wireless standard in place for many handheld devices like personal digital
assistants and cell phones. CDMA is characterized by a high bit-rate capacity
and a small cell radius, and it employs spread spectrum technology with a
special coding scheme.
The new proposed Motorola standard, dubbed 1XPlus, promises eventual data speeds
of five megabits per second delivery to devices, while using existing
infrastructure, Motorola says.
"This is really interesting," said Seamus McAteer, a senior Jupiter
Communications analyst.
Qualcomm [NASDAQ:QCOM] developed the CDMA standard, adopted by the
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in 1993. McAteer said that has
resulted in a fee, a kind of tribute that must be paid to Qualcomm by all CDMA
handset and infrastructure vendors.
"Qualcomm devised and owns the CDMA standard," McAteer said. "(Now) Qualcomm is
seeking to transition CDMA carriers to the next version of this standard,
Wideband CDMA, and maintain control over the standard to ensure it continues to
receive its royalty payments."
He said, "It looks as if Motorola is making substantial changes to CDMA for
third generation networks that would work around Qualcomm's patents and at the
same time provide a seamless way for established carriers to transition their
networks."
John Cipolla, general manager of CDMA systems for Motorola, declined to comment
on the question of royalty payment avoidance that might stem from the new
standard, if it is widely adopted.
But he did say, "Progression through the standard is, quite frankly, what's best
for the market and our customers at this point. We're coming up with proposals
and solutions to give (customers) a high-speed packet data solution, enable
(third-generation) data rates, give them low cost, and give our customers a
great migration tack."
Analyst McAteer said that the standard would not find a lot of equipment to
operate in immediately. "You would have to aggregate a lot of CDMA channels," he
said. "You're not going to get five megabits per second on a single device
anytime soon."
Cipolla argued that it won't be long at all. Already, he said, third-generation
CDMA technology gives users 144 kilobits per second of data. "We can achieve the
data rate in the normal scheme," he said. "The news with this release is that
we've made some contributions and we want to pursue the open-end standards
path."
He added that the advertised five megabits rate is an eventual target, but that
speeds of 1.3 megabits are within reach now.
In addition, he said, Motorola and other handset manufacturers are already busy
developing handheld devices capable of handling delivery of video and other
bandwidth slurping applications. These handsets include everything from cell
phones to Palm-style PDAs to tablet sized reading devices currently in
development.
Analyst McAteer said that the new standard could signal the end of Qualcomm's
death grip on CDMA technology. "If Motorola really opens it up, and Ericsson or
Lucent bites, then they could be on to something, " he said. "And if they manage
to convince a carrier or two to agree to deploy this stuff, it could really
deflate the Qualcomm stock bubble if they work around Qualcomm's patents."
However, the analyst also issued a warning. If Motorola is to do this, he said,
they'd better get it right the first time.
"If deploying this stuff is not seamless for established carriers and CDMA
subscribers," he said, "then they'll have a hard time."
Motorola is online at motorola.com .
Reported by Newsbytes.com, newsbytes.com .
(20000225/Press Contact, Roderick Kelly, Motorola, 847-875-0165/WIRES
ONLINE, BUSINESS, TELECOM/)
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