Nokia's network CDMA focus is solely on W-CDMA - no IS-95 involvement. There's no TDMA network program, either, though the EDGE is in part aimed at AT&T and other TDMA operators. Since Nokia will presumably get EDGE phones out first, they might be able to convince some TDMA operators to purchase EDGE add-on equipment from Nokia.
So the plan seems to be that in second generation, Nokia is only providing GSM-900/1800 equipment... but in 2,5G and 3G markets, Nokia will cut in and start selling mobile data solutions to current GSM, TDMA and PDC network operators.
That's why the Japan deal is a big relief; it shows that Nokia's lack of presence in Japan during second generation build-up doesn't mean that Nokia can't dig in during the next phase. Now if only they can sell W-CDMA to Korean IS-95 operators and EDGE to American TDMA operators, Nokia's global network presence will suddenly increase well beyond the current Europe/South-East Asia coverage.
The Japanese deal wasn't for DoCoMo, though... it was for a challenger operator Japan Telecom. Nokia needs a piece of the DoCoMo infra deal to be completely credible. That's the brass ring. I don't think Nokia has any license from Qualcomm regarding W-CDMA. I think Nokia is arguing that it should cross-license the IPR with Qualcomm, since Nokia is also holding W-CDMA IPR.
Since Nokia does not have the habit of calling up newspaper reporters to trumpet their IPR position, this isn't widely discussed in any of the articles I have seen.
Here's the interesting part: I don't think Qualcomm can produce any W-CDMA equipment without using Nokia's intellectual property. It's distorted to look at Qualcomm's position by just asking whether other manufacturers can bypass Qualcomm's IPR. The interesting question is: can Qualcomm bypass the IPR of Ericsson and Nokia in W-CDMA? If it can't, it will have to agree to license-swapping. License swapping happens to be the reason why the IPR revenue for GSM equipment is plus minus zero for major telecom manufacturers.
Tero |
