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To: Wyätt Gwyön who wrote (15357)	9/28/2001 9:40:29 AM
From: Mika Kukkanen	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 34857

KOREA SEEKING TO DROP QUALCOMM’S CDMA? www.telecomtv.com Widespread discontent with US CDMA patent holder Qualcomm may be coming to a head in South Korea. The government has announced plans to help China develop the TD-SCDMA 3G standard as the Ministry of Information and Communication sent a letter to Qualcomm demanding an overhaul of what is popularly viewed as an unfair royalty system. Korean resentment of Qualcomm’s CDMA patents has festered among the industry, government and media, who claim the standard was devel-oped by Koreans and popularised there, coming to a boil with the reve-lation that Chinese CDMA manufac-turers only have to pay half the Korean CDMA royalty rate. The government has banned Korean players from renewing license agreements with Qualcomm, accusing it of violating a lowest-roy-alty clause. The TD-SCDMA announcement is seen as an indication that Korea is mov-ing to abandon the controversial US vendor. The ministry said it will establish a state-run partnership with the Chinese government in December to fully develop TD-SCDMA as a viable 3G stan-dard. It said it is seeking help from ven-dors Samsung and Siemens, who have both already begun developing the technology. The ministry has also sent a letter to Qualcomm technology licensing head Steven Altman demanding a fair royalty system, pointing out that the company developed the standard in concert with Korean vendors. The US Trade Representative Office said last week in talks with its South Korean equivalent that it could not take part in disagreements between private firms. Qualcomm CEO Irwin Jacobs mean-while insists that his company owns the patents for all forms of CDMA technolo-gy, including TD-SCDMA. GLOBE TELECOM THREATS > Filipino operator Digital Telecommunications said that it “will not allow itself to be threat-ened into acquiesence”, as rival Globe Telecommunications increas-es pressure over a disputed debt between the two companies. “We will not back down, not on this issue and not when we go head on as Globe’s competitor,” Digitel said in a statement. Globe insists that Digitel owes it US$4 million stemming from a direct interconnection agreement. But Digitel regulatory affairs man-ager Ricardo Dira pegs the figure nearer $3 million, stating that pair have been unable to calculate a “mutually acceptable” figure. Meanwhile, Globe has threatened that should Digitel continue to refuse to pay its preferred figure, it would push to bar Digitel from interconnecting with any other Filipino carrier.