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Technology Stocks : QUALCOMM-The Wireless Wonder in 1999 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Carter Patterson who wrote (79)	2/10/2000 8:36:00 AM
From: r.edwards	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 343

Interactive Week from ZDWire Copyright (c) 2000 ZD Inc. All Rights Reserved. In using its market-cap muscle to buy up SnapTrack in late January, Qualcomm latched onto as many as 50 patents governing how wireless service providers pinpoint the location of callers. SnapTrack (www.snaptrack.com) holds 14 patents for global positioning system (GPS) technology, with another three dozen patents pending. Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com) will add SnapTrack's patents to its intellectual property rights (IPR) portfolio with an eye toward exacting royalty fees from wireless handset makers that use its technologies. "This could be a good move for Qualcomm their business is IPR," says Elliott Hamilton, an analyst at The Strategis Group. "If they think SnapTrack's patents are so good that other companies can't get around them, then all of the CDMA [Code Division Multiple Access] and GSM [global system for mobile communication] handset manufacturers will have to pay royalties to Qualcomm." SnapTrack's patents cover one of two ways that wireless network operators can deploy GPS in their networks. SnapTrack has developed technology for handset-based GPS, in which location-tracking technology is built into wireless handsets or other handheld devices. The alternative approach is network-based GPS, under which location tracking is handled by wireless base stations. Although network-based GPS is available for wireless networks based on analog, GSM and Time Division Multiple Access technologies, network-based products for CDMA are scarce, Hamilton notes. That means Qualcomm will have an inside track in licensing both CDMA and GPS technology to handset manufacturers. The Federal Communications Com mission (www.fcc.gov) has mandated that U.S. wireless network providers implement GPS by October 2001 to enable emergency service operators to pinpoint the location of a wireless call to within 400 feet. The FCC last September ruled that wireless operators can use either network-based or handset-based technology. Expensive deployment Because of the expense involved in deploying GPS, wireless operators are expected to piggyback other location-based services on their systems. One expected service is to sell advertising that lets retailers send alerts to mobile subscribers when they travel near their stores or outlets. SnapTrack claims its location-based technology can pinpoint a caller's whereabouts to within 5 to 20 meters. Because its signals can penetrate buildings, the tracking technology can work indoors and outdoors. At a Glance: SnapTrack profile > Main line of business: Develops global positioning system (GPS) software > Patent holdings: Holds 14 patents on GPS; 36 more patents are pending > Company turning point: September 1999 Federal Communications Commission decision to approve SnapTrack's handset-based location technology for wireless 911 services