Hadn't noticed this posted anywhere yet... thought the thread might be interested.... maybe tomorrow will be interesting. From the DJ newwires...
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Major cellular operators from Europe and Asia plan Friday to wade into an increasingly bitter rivalry over wireless technology between equipment manufacturers Sweden's Ericsson AB (ERICY) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) of the U.S.
Japan's NTT Mobile Communications Networks Inc., a unit of Nippon Telephone & Telegraph Corp. (NTT or 9432), said it and several other operators from both Europe and Asia will issue a joint statement concerning the latest efforts by Ericsson and Qualcomm to reach a compromise on the technology, known in industry circles as third-generation, or 3G. It wouldn't name the other operators or divulge the contents of the announcement.
Analysts predicted any statement would be a potent admonition for the two rivals to stop squabbling and come to a speedy compromise. "The operators want the issue solved quickly," said Eric Gan, a telecommunications analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co. in Tokyo. "They're the ones paying for it."
The aim behind 3G is simple: create a global standard that will alleviate increasingly crowded digital cellular networks, accommodate futuristic Internet-based services and allow consumers to buy a mobile phone in one place and use it anywhere else in the world.
Industry executives say the battle pits an increasingly desperate Qualcomm against mounting international support for a rival standard that would make Qualcomm's existing technology significantly less attractive to operators, if not obsolete.
Qualcomm has mounted a vociferous counterattack, appealing to the U.S. government to defend it from what it says is anti-competitive behavior, a move that has had repercussions on U.S.-China trade talks.
Equipment manufacturers such as Finland's Nokia Oy (NOKA) and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) say they're increasingly pessimistic that any global standard will ever be developed. Nevertheless, the International Telecommunications Union is considering submissions for a 3G standard and is scheduled to make its endorsement by early next year. Ericsson and Qualcomm are backing two similar, but incompatible, standards based on radio principles first commercialized by Qualcomm.
Ericsson, together with Nokia are backing a technology developed by NTT Mobile that is designed to work with existing digital networks in Japan and with networks worldwide that use the European-developed global system for mobile communications standard (GSM).
Qualcomm is backing a different 3G standard designed to work with the much lower number of digital networks in the world using its own digital standard, called CDMA. Qualcomm also says it owns patents on technology essential to W-CDMA, which it alleges was intentionally designed it to be incompatible with existing CDMA networks. It threatened to refuse licenses for W-CDMA equipment unless it is made compatible with CDMA networks.
Earlier this month, the ITU issued an ultimatum: resolve the patent dispute or both standards may be removed consideration. Ericsson surprised the industry last week by announcing its support for harmonization, but offered specifications still incompatible with CDMA, a move CDMA backers decried as an insult.
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