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.S. Urges Europe to Broaden Wireless Communications Standards
Washington, Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. officials called on the European Commission to allow U.S. third-generation wireless technology the chance to compete in the European market.
Currently, the European Union doesn't recognize wireless technology developed by Qualcomm Inc., and the California-based company is worried that similar restrictions will extend to the new phones, which will permit more advanced data services.
The U.S. allows for multiple standards, including competing technology backed by Finland's Nokia Oyj and Sweden's Ericsson AB.
''This is a question of basic fairness in telecommunications trade,'' Charlene Barshefsky, U.S. trade representative said in a statement. ''We are seeking specific assurances from European governments that U.S. industry will be able to deploy competing 3G technologies and services in Europe at the same time'' similar European services are made available.
If Europe adopts a single standard for the next-generation phones, that ''could effectively lock U.S.-developed wireless technologies out of the European market,'' Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, two California Democrats, wrote in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright last month.
More Than 1 Standard
Albright, Barshefsky, Commerce Secretary William Daley and Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard today wrote EC Commissioner Martin Bangemann to push European regulators to permit more than one standard for the next- generation phones.
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