EU Approves Phone Patent License Pact of 18 Companies
(Update1)
By Robert McLeod
Brussels, Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Alcatel SA, Siemens AG and 16 other mobile-phone equipment makers and service providers won European Commission approval to share patented technology to give a push to third-generation wireless services in Europe.
The commission said the accords do not stop competition between different phone standards and could promote innovation. ``Better access to patents is indispensable to the rapid introduction of third-generation mobile services,'' it said.
``The licensing arrangements should not discourage further research and development and innovation in the mobile communications sector,'' the commission, the European Union's regulatory arm, said in a statement.
Phone companies are struggling to reduce the debt after paying about $100 billion to buy wireless licenses. France Telecom SA has about 70 billion euros ($71 billion) of debt -- more than five times its market value.
The other companies were Vivendi Universal SA's Cegetel SA unit, France Telecom, Fujitsu Ltd., Royal KPN NV, Sony Corp., Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute Korea and LG Electronics Inc. unit LG Information and Communication Ltd.
They also included Matsushita Electric Works Ltd., a unit of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., NEC Corp., NTT DoCoMo Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung Electronics Co., SK Telecom Co., Sonera Oyj and Telecom Italia Mobile SpA, the commission said.
The commission said it took into account the fact that other patent holders, including Ericsson AB, Nokia Oyj, Motorola Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. were not involved in the licensing agreements.
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