<If there are 17 patent holders demanding royalties totaling 15% for a GSM handset and ther is only Qualcomm asking for 5.2% for a cdmaOne handset then you can see why GSM has such an effective lobby. Their are at least 17 patent holders lobbying for it verses the Q.
A dual mode GSM/W-CDMA handset could easily have royalties running to more than 20% before even considering the Q's IPR. Hence, with several dozen companies hoping to get royalties out of ESTI/NTT W-CDMA, it's all of them and their propaganda machine and their governments verses the Q. Also with most of the royalties going to Europe and maybe a billion cell phones to be sold in the next few years, you can see why it is such a big thing for the Europeans. We're talking potentially tens of billions flowing to Europe for IPR. CDMA 2000 means 5.2% royalities going to San Diego, not Europe which is why the Euro's make such a big deal about Qualcomms royalties but never mention the 15% Taiwanese and Korean GSM handset makers have to pay.>
Dennis, the answer is to price W-CDMA off the market! Q! should raise royalty rates to 100% of the wholesale price of subscriber devices.
That would force service providers to lower their bids for 3G spectrum to a few $$ million rather than many $$$billion.
That would also force them to scrupulously analyse just which technology will provide the most efficient and profitable technology.
That would also reduce the ability of governments to arbitrarily support W-CDMA and other absurd technology. At the moment, governments are being thrown $$$billions for no good reason. Those $$$billions should go to the company which created the huge value in spectrum efficiency and functionality and time to market. That company is QUALCOMM.
The price of royalties is the value of the technology to customers. The value of CDMA has been dramatically rising for the past few years and now it is obvious from spectrum auctions that it has been grossly and absurdly undervalued.
Nokia had better be signing before Q! realizes just what pricing power they have! Already Q! has pointed out that new royalty rates will be higher. I think some just took that as bluster.
It's not bluster; it's obvious and the "higher" will be eyebrow-raising and jaw-dropping higher.
The limit on royalties is the value subscribers place on the technology, which is determined by the service providers such as Vodafone and expressed through their bids for spectrum.
The next auction for 3G spectrum is to take place in New Zealand in a very free market, with GSM, TDMA and analogue all competing now. That will give a different guide to spectrum value in a less crowded, lower income country than the UK.
Mqurice
PS: The USA will strongly support Q! in this with all the power of the judiciary, executive, Congress, Senate and military. The $35bn which will go to the UK government should go to Q! If Q! receives that payment, the USA government would tax it and receive a VERY BIG payment.
Q! is like a black hole, based in San Diego, sucking taxes from all around the world as the world moves to a WWeb way of life. The USA will support Q!
Why on earth should the New Zealand, British, German, Chinese and other governments collect money for spectrum efficiency which belongs to the creators of the amazing CDMA technology and the government which protects them and their property?
In New Zealand, we now have the unedifying spectacle of apartheid tribalists who believe in cargo-cult technology being offered quarter of the 3G spectrum at a 5% discount. It's a lolly scramble which is causing conflict as the bush babies in NZ fight over the profits which belong to Q! and the USA government. It's immoral that Q! doesn't charge the full price for the technology for the benefit of Q!, the USA and, of course, ME!!
Let's have more hegemony and less of the Independence Day nonsense. |
