Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: D.B. Cooper who wrote (74697)	6/24/2000 12:18:00 PM
From: D.B. Cooper	Respond to of 152472

Qualcomm drafts CDMA road map for China Sat Jun 24 00:05:00 EDT 2000 Jun. 23, 2000 (Electronic Engineering Times - CMP via COMTEX) -- HONG KONG - With a handful of OEM agreements in hand and the backing of China's No. 2 telecommunications carrier, Qualcomm Inc. has unveiled its road map to help Chinese manufacturers develop code-division multiple-access (CDMA) network and terminal products. San Diego-based Qualcomm made a series of announcements here at the CDMA World Congress with an eye to boosting acceptance of the wireless technology in the world's fastest-growing telecommunications market. Along with Qualcomm's announcement of research and development agreements with eight leading Chinese manufacturers, China Unicom said it will launch a trial next year based on Qualcomm's cdma2000 1x multicarrier mode (MC) infrastructure. Experts here predicted that China will open the door to CDMA technology and equipment suppliers. But they said foreign suppliers need to fine-tune their strategies and strive for more flexibility if they are to succeed in this huge market. Qualcomm said it has completed the first two steps after reaching a framework agreement on intellectual property rights with China Unicom and R&D deals with eight OEMs. Qualcomm's progress here could awaken the CDMA market in China and generate future production licensing and chip sales for the wireless company. "But before producing licensing, we need to receive information from the government as to which company can be licensed," Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm's chairman and chief executive officer, said during the CDMA conference. China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) determines which telecom manufacturers will get licenses. With no indications yet about which companies will receive CDMA production approval from MII, Qualcomm opted to establish a framework to help it transfer technology to Chinese manufacturers through R&D pacts. Qualcomm has 75 technology licensees around the world, including CDMA technology licenses for 1x MC and wideband CDMA. Qualcomm's licensing policies for its intellectual property have been similar regardless of which direction manufacturers have chosen. Jacobs said Qualcomm will offer similar terms in China to help local manufacturers establish a CDMA industry regardless of which CDMA formats the government selects for third-generation (3G) wireless. Besides cdma2000 and W-CDMA, MII's Post and Telecom Academy has developed a time-division synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA) system that has been accepted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a 3G standard. Meanwhile, a Beijing startup said it has developed a large-area synchronized CDMA (LAS-CDMA) system with a minimum of six times the voice capacity and five times the data capacity of the IS-95 standard. Chinese OEMs such as Zhongxing Telecom and Huawei Technology, both based in Shenzhen, and Beijing-based Datang Telecom and China Post and Telecom Industry Corp. (PTIC) have invested heavily in CDMA. Huawei announced recently that its CDMA system had passed a comprehensive test conducted by MII. PTIC released its CDMA basestation months ago. Zhongxing Telecom was scheduled to demonstrate commercial CDMA products, including a CDMA basestation, mobile switch and CDMA handset, in Shanghai last week. The company will base its systems on IS-95A/B and will demonstrate software to upgrade the entire system to cdma2000 1x or 3x specs. Industry watchers said the key to Qualcomm's success here is how well it times its entry and how it handles technology transfers. Jacobs said the more Chinese companies that develop CDMA technology, the better, but homegrown 3G CDMA standards and cooperation with other chip makers could benefit China in the long run. China has been a key market for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) systems and handsets for years, but that market is dominated by such offshore powerhouses as Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia. Local cellular phone producers hold only 2 percent of the Chinese GSM handset market. Both the government and industry are thus looking for opportunities and technologies to secure a foothold in comms. Fabless semiconductor companies view China's push into CDMA as an opportunity. Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) has become a one-stop supplier for China's telecommunications OEMs. "We provide digital integrated circuits for baseband, IF and RF integrated circuits; software to make handsets work; technical support such as application engineering and test; and tools," said QCT president Don Schrock. Schrock predicted that many of China's manufacturers will team with his company after the Qualcomm R&D agreements take effect. He said QCT chips let manufacturers include such multimedia features as MP3, MIDI Ringer, global positioning satellite systems and high-data-rate abilities. QCT's chips will sample this fall, he said. QCT received the Third Generation Pioneer award during the CDMA World Congress. Qualcomm chairman and CEO Irwin Jacobs waits for Beijing's decision on 3G formats and manufacturers. eetimes.com