BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. high-technology company
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) raised the stakes in a transatlantic battle
over the next generation of mobile telephones on Wednesday,
saying it would not license key technologies to European
rivals.
Qualcomm said in a statement that it had written to global
telecoms body the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
saying it would not grant patent rights to companies using a
European-backed standard to develop wireless communications
products.
The move effectively prevents the ITU, a United Nations
agency, from recommending the technology developed by European
companies, including Nordic manufacturers Ericsson (SWED:LME.B)
and Nokia (HELS:NOKS.A) as a global standard.
It is the latest wrinkle in a global race to supply
consumers with mobile phones that offer data services, moving
video images and Internet access -- a race some U.S. companies
fear will end up shutting them out of the European market.
The 15-nation European Union has been promoting efforts to
draw up a common standard for the new products that would mimic
the success of Europe's existing GSM mobile phone standard.
The European technology for a mobile communications "radio
interface" was endorsed by the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) in Nice, France -- a body composed
mostly of industry representatives that draws up standards for
the European market.
That standard, W-CDMA, draws heavily from a technology
pioneered by Qualcomm known as CDMA (Code Division Multiple
Access), but Qualcomm complains that it would not be compatible
with the competing standard that it supports -- cdma2000.
William Bold, Qualcomm's vice president for government
affairs, said the company wants a single, "converged" standard
based on CDMA technology so consumers can use their equipment
anywhere in the world.
He told Reuters that companies should work together to
develop a high-performing standard that is also compatible with
both of the existing dominant mobile communications network
standards.
"However, if we don't achieve this goal, Qualcomm is moving
ahead aggressively with the cdma2000 standard," he said.
An spokesman said the ETSI was studying the implications of
Qualcomm's letter to the ITU but he could not comment further.
U.S. officials have expressed concern that the EU, by
backing a common European standard, will exclude competing
technologies.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said in a
September letter to Senator Ernest Hollings that she was
reviewing EU actions to ensure they were compatible with World
Trade Organisation rules.
European Commission officials have stressed the EU has no
intention of discriminating against foreign manufacturers and
no plans to make the European standard compulsory.
suzanne.perry@reuters.com))
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