ERICY offers Korean Gvt royalty rates below 5% for W-CDMA technology.
JohnG
Foreign telecom equipment makers lure
Korea with royalty fee discounts
As the government prepares to announce the selection
criteria and process for third-generation (3G) mobile telecom
licenses, foreign equipment manufacturers are competing to
offer discounted royalty fees.
Ericsson, a leading maker of W-CDMA (wideband code
division multiple access) infrastructure equipment, met with
officials from the Ministry of Information and Communication
(MIC) last week and offered to bring down the IPR
(intellectual property rights) payments to below five percent of
annual sales for some essential parts, according to the ministry
yesterday. Qualcomm, the leader in cdma2000 technology, also
expressed its intention to offer better terms over its European
competitors.
The ministry added that Finland's Nokia has indicated that it
would charge even lower IPR than Qualcomm.
However, the ministry is reported to be seeking to bring
down the rate even further, to less than four percent of annual
sales, apparently unsatisfied with the proposed rates that are
only marginally lower than the current 5.2-5.7 percent being
paid by local mobile equipment manufacturers.
Local makers of mobile telecom equipment are being
encouraged to conduct collective negotiations with the foreign
IPR holders in a bid to gain better rates, according to a ministry
source.
"IPR holders for 3G infrastructure equipment and handsets
on both W-CDMA and cdma2000 sides are offering to better
the others' terms because we have yet to make a decision on the
technology standard," said a ministry official.
"There are no official negotiations per se, and the ministry
will decide on the technology standard after taking various
factors into consideration including licensing fees, possibility
of global roaming and technology transfer," the official added.
Updated: 05/30/2000
by Kim Hoo-ran Staff reporter |
