Dave:
In Tero I hear jingoism, with Ericsson and the standards setting bodies, the issue is plainly economics. Europe's early adoption of digital telephony, and the notable success of companies such as Ericsson and Nokia, have helped to revitalize moribund Swedish and Finnish economies (and I say this with admiration). It's ironic that Tero should harp on Korea's "devastated" economy when, for example, Korean unemployment is running in the mid single digits while Sweden's comparable metric is in the low double-digits. I guess economic devastation is a relative concept.
With regard to the chip rate issue, I spoke with one of Qualcomm's top engineers (Chuck Wheatley) yesterday and presented the question in as objective a fashion as possible (i.e. how much of QC's position was negotiating posture and how much was fact-based). Chuck offered some highly technical insights that distilled down to one simple conclusion.... Ericsson's proposed W-CDMA was specifically designed to impede insulate GSM markets from an IS-95-based migration to 3G--not because the techniques employed are better or provide some of demonstrable technological benefit to the network operator. Chuck, being the kind of man he is, would not comment on Ericsson's motivation, but he was emphatic about the technical conclusion.
OK, you might say, I simply found another Qualcomm shill to mouth the party line. And you know what, you are certainly entitled to that opinion. I, on the other hand, have known Chuck for almost six years and remember (and still appreciate) his careful, concise and accurate comments back in the days when I was debating Frezza over whether or not CDMA would work. Chuck isn't a stock promotor or a politician, he is a meticulous scientist whose word I take at face value.
Given the current war of words, it's very hard to known who to trust. The concepts are technical, the economic consequences are enormous and emotions are running high. However, I have a long and detailed scorecard, which goes back over six years, tracking who said what (and when they said it). This scorecard is my objective record, the bible I use to know who to trust and when. The most powerful comment I can make is that I have invested more than $210mm based on the my confidence in the honor, integrity and candor of people like Chuck Wheatley.
Best Regards,
Gregg |
