Statement by Kennard>
STATEMENT BY FCC CHAIRMAN KENNARD ON PATENT
DISPUTE
(The following is a reformatted version of a press release issued by Federal Communications
Commission.) March 26, 1999 INDUSTRY SETTLEMENT ADVANCES STANDARDS PROCESS
FOR THIRD GENERATION WIRELESS SERVICES
In response to the announcement by telecommunications equipment makers, Qualcomm of the
United States and Ericsson of Sweden, regarding their settlement of a patent dispute, FCC
Chairman, William E. Kennard, today stated that: This resolution clears the way for finalizing the
development of standards for IMT-2000 systems. This step will allow for a speedier deployment of
exciting wireless broadband services for the benefit of consumers. International Mobile
Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000), also commonly referred to as third generation or 3G,
equipment is intended to carry digital traffic such as Internet messages at high speeds over
wireless handsets.
Under the agreement, which is subject to necessary regulatory approvals and other customary
conditions, Ericsson and Qualcomm agreed to jointly support a single world Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) standard for the next generation of wireless communications. CDMA is a wireless
telephone standard developed by Qualcomm and, though mainly used in the United States, also
has been deployed around the world. The agreement also provides for cross-licensing of
intellectual property rights for all CDMA technologies, including cdmaOne, WCDMA and
cdma2000. The other major competing technology used in IMT-2000 technology is Time Division
Multiple Access (TDMA) and is also undergoing standardization within the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) IMT-2000 process.
In addition, the companies will commit to the ITU and to other standards bodies to license their
essential patents for a single CDMA standard or any of its modes on a fair and reasonable basis
free from unfair discrimination. The companies also have agreed to jointly support approval by the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other standards bodies, including the U.S.
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI) of a single CDMA standard that encompasses three optional modes of operation:
1) direct sequence Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), 2) multi- carrier FDD and 3) Time Division
Duplex (TDD).
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