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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: foundation who wrote (31458)	1/21/2003 7:53:27 AM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197054

Qualcomm chief urges opening of 3G spectrum By Mike Clendenin EE Times, January 20, 2003 (10:31 p.m. EST) commsdesign.com HONOLULU, Hawaii — Qualcomm CEO Irwin Jacobs told a gathering of peers on Sunday that government regulators need to think twice about the model used for licensing spectrum for third generation networks. During a speech at the Pacific Telecommunications Council gathering in Hawaii, Jacobs said one of the obstacles to rolling out 3G networks is spectrum limitations dictated by governments. “We need to carefully examine whether we are unreasonably restricting the use of different frequency bands,” Jacobs said, suggesting that many lower bands could be opened up. “The ITU has not specified a particular frequency band, but there are some regions, and some regulators and some legislators that say it can't be third generation unless it's in this spectrum, the 2.1GHz for example,” he said. Telecom operators, especially in Europe, have spent billions in government auctions to lock up spectrum for 3G services. So far, however, few operators have been able to roll out the services and have found themselves burdened by the heavy debt loads. Jacobs said he understood governments using the auctions as a revenue source, “but that doesn't necessarily get the technology out to the users as quickly as possible and as economically as possible.” Despite the slow rollout of 3G services, Jacobs said 20 percent of phones shipped this year would be 3G-capable. Regardless of whether that target is reached, most 3G phones in 2003 will be based on Qualcomm's cdma2000 1x technology, which has been a success story in Korea and is catching on in China. Jacobs claimed his company has already shipped some 70 million CDMA chips. Jacobs also warned his colleagues that the telecom slump will continue this year, forcing the industry to be more innovative in order to spur sales. An example, he said, is the introduction by year's end of several “true world phones” that will operate on GSM and CDMA networks.

To: foundation who wrote (31458)	1/21/2003 8:23:55 AM
From: foundation	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197054

Korea's videophone market growing fast Korea's major handset makers and mobile carriers are staging aggressive marketing and promotions to increase the portion of high-tech wireless videophones, taking full advantage of the solid mobile infrastructure. Samsung Electronics, the world's third-largest mobile handset maker, and LG Electronics, the sixth-largest player, have focused on videophones and multimedia mobile phones this year amid signs of heightened demand for high-tech information gadgets. Samsung and LG officials said that they plan to roll out their high- powered videophones and multimedia-oriented handsets in coming months as mainstream subscribers are about to embrace the concept of exchanging video clips over the mobile network. Korea has more than 32 million mobile phone subscribers, with three carriers - SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom - offering reliable voice call and a variety of multimedia data services through CDMA, or code division multiple access, technology. SK Telecom and KTF already launched cdma2000 1x EV-DO services last year, boosting the average data transmission speed drastically. Under ideal conditions, EV-DO users can download data off a mobile network at a maximum speed of 2.4Mbps, sharply up from 144Kbps offered by the previous network service known as cdma2000 1x. The upgrade of the mobile networks, however, did not spark a boom for videphones last year. Although mobile carriers have installed necessary equipment and solutions, handset makers dragged their feet in rolling out compatible handsets. Carriers and handset manufacturers pointed fingers toward each other for the delay in the implementation of EV-DO. Fortunately, things are now stabilizing fast. Late last year, SK Telecom launched its EV-DO brand, "June," and made progress in letting people know the power of videophones delivered through faster network and better handsets. Although the number of EV-DO users is not that significant, mobile carriers and handset makers expect the figure to go up at steady pace in coming months. Handset outlet operators said more and more people are picking up videophones, or otherwise known as "camera phones" here. "When camera phones first came out, people found it too much expensive, but the prices have gone down and people are actually buying camera phones," a local dealer said. In addition, the related technologies and parts are becoming more sophisticated, accelerating the penetration rate. For better picture display, mainstream handsets are migrating from 65,000 color pixels to 250,000 color pixels. The so-called m- commerce phones, designed to allow subscribers to use handsets as a virtual credit card, are also expected to gain a momentum later this year. According to industry sources, some 1.3 million videophones were sold last year. While early models were limited to still pictures, latest videophones are powered to record not only images but also video clips, taking the role of a mini camcorder. Pantech&Curitel, a major handset maker in Korea, unveiled its flagship videophone model late last year, drawing keen interest from users. "Among mobile handsets purchased by existing and new KTF users, our model ranks second, which shows the product's competitive edge," a Pantech&Curitel spokesman said. LG recently unveiled three videophone models in a bid to take a bigger share in the fast-growing multimedia-oriented mobile phone market here. Korea is also set to have dual mobile standards this year. KTF and SK Telecom are scheduled to launch W-CDMA 3G services in June and September, respectively, offering another momentum to spur the sales of videophones, analysts said. (insight@koreaherald.co.kr) By Yang Sung-jin Staff reporter 2003.01.22 koreaherald.co.kr ========== "KTF and SK Telecom are scheduled to launch W-CDMA 3G services in June and September, respectively.." Really? LOL!