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Technology Stocks : Leap Wireless International (LWIN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pcstel who wrote (2416)	7/27/2002 1:07:51 PM
From: Jon Koplik	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2737

Re : possibility of Leap (Cricket) handset ending up in Latin America (and, being useful in Latin America). Okay ... I am finally going to ask something that has "bugged" me (on and off) over the years ... (And, which I still have never asked on any of these SI message boards, possibly because I am reluctant to reveal my lack of electrical engineering and / or software knowledge ...) First -- I was under the impression that each and every wireless carrier is assigned a specific frequency band by the FCC (or whatever governmental agency oversees such matters in a foreign country). For example, Verizon Wireless might have 844 MHz - 859 MHz in the Chicago IL area (for their CDMA 800 MHz service), while someone else that serves Chicago IL (Alltel Wireless or ... I don't know who) would be granted permission to use some other slice around 800 MHz ... but clearly NOT 844 MHz - 859 MHz. Is this correct ? Next ... Verizon's wireless operations and Alltel's wireless operations presumably have different accounting software and just different software in a lot of areas ... (I am under the impression that each and every time you pick up your handset to make a call, there is a brief period during which the carrier's system checks out your phone's ID (and thus, you) to see if you have been paying your bills, before letting the call get completed. Right ? So, this is an area of software where I assume it is very unlikely that all wireless carriers have absolutely identical and inter-changeable software. Right ?) So ... therefore it seems obvious that a Qualcomm "Thin Phone" with Verizon stamped on the front of it should only be useful on Verizon's wireless system. Is this correct ? Unless, someone wanted to perform alterations to the ASIC chip inside the handset and / or the operating software inside the handset. Is this correct ? Given that handsets and ASIC chips are not like some very expensive "state of the art" Intel processor, I cannot believe that it is worth someone's time and energy to have to go fiddle around with a "foreign" ASIC chip, in order to "mold" it to being useful some place other than its original target wireless carrier or geographic location. All of you people who actually know about this stuff ... please comment ! Jon. P.S. I am also going to post this over on the SI Qualcomm "Moderated" thread, in an attempt to catch the eye of some (other) "smart" people ...

To: pcstel who wrote (2416)	8/28/2002 7:07:21 AM
From: Jeff Vayda	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2737

PCSTEL: How much does Leap still owe to the FCC? (thanks to chapq on the Moderated Thread) Jeff Vayda <<The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is seeking comments on a request by QUALCOMM, Inc., for a waiver of one of the terms and conditions of a $125 million auction voucher that it received from the agency more than two years ago. The FCC granted the voucher, which can be used at any spectrum auction by June 2003, to resolve a dispute over the agency's obligation to give the company a "pioneer's preference" for it's development work on CDMA technology. In a petition filed August 1, QUALCOMM said the FCC should allow the voucher to be used to pay off existing debt, including installment payments, interest and fees, rather than debt incurred at a future auction. The company said that if it is granted the waiver, it will transfer its voucher to one or more licensees that have bid in three previous auctions and still owe the government money. Comments on QUALCOMM's petition are due Aug 30 and replies Sept. 9 in Wireless Telecommunications docket 02-234.>> from print version of Telecommunications Digest, Telecommunications Report Aug. 19 02