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

To: limtex who wrote (13137)	7/30/1998 12:55:00 PM
From: DaveMG	Respond to of 152472

I don't remember if this was posted: Qualcomm Throws Down Gantlet On 'Converged' Standard For IMT-2000 06/03/98 Communications Today -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Full Text Much of the recent discussion about third-generation wireless air interface proposals has been couched--deliberately or otherwise--in murky terms, as rival camps from the GSM and IS-95 CDMA communities attempt to outflank one another in the runup to formal submission of the IMT-2000 proposals to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). But Qualcomm Inc. [QCOM] left little doubt Tuesday (6/2) regarding how it sees its position in the ongoing third-generation debate. An underlying issue in this debate concerns intellectual property rights, and Qualcomm finds itself squarely at the heart of this issue: The company holds more than 130 CDMA patents and has more than 400 such patent applications pending around the world. Qualcomm said it "intends to license its essential patents on reasonable terms and conditions, free from unfair discrimination, for a single, converged IMT-2000 standard." If there is no worldwide agreement on such a standard, Qualcomm will license its patent portfolio solely to those equipment vendors that pursue third- generation solutions derived from IS-95--the so-called wideband cdmaOne proposal. Qualcomm noted that it has entered into a royalty-bearing license agreement with Philips Consumer Communications L.P. (PCC), the joint venture between Lucent Technologies Inc. [LU] and Philips Electronics NV [PHG], that includes use of Qualcomm's patents touching on the wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) standard. GSM manufacturers, particularly L.M. Ericsson AB [ERICY] and Nokia Corp. [NOK/A], have rallied behind W-CDMA. But Qualcomm warned about drawing conclusions from the license deal with PCC, saying it has "no intention of generally licensing its essential patent portfolio" for any IMT-2000 standard that would be incompatible with IS-95 or IS-41--such as W-CDMA. In addition, Qualcomm said it has extended or is preparing to extend the more than 55 outstanding license agreements for CDMA patents that it has reached with telecom equipment manufacturers. However, "Qualcomm intends to review its royalty rates within the context of the market size that will be achieved by a single, converged standard," the company said. At the same time, Qualcomm reiterated its "full support for convergence of CDMA proposals" under a single IMT-2000 standard. IMT- 2000 proposals for radio transmission technologies are expected to be presented shortly to the ITU, which will use them to decide on third- generation specifications over the course of next year. Under IMT-2000, the ITU is attempting to steer third-generation development efforts toward a technology that would be, in the Geneva- based organization's words, "multi-environment, multi-mode and multi- band." Standard Must Be Compatible With Multiple Networks In Tuesday's announcement, Qualcomm called it "essential that the chosen IMT-2000 standard be equally compatible with both core GSM and TIA/EIA-41 networks." Collectively, these networks will serve "perhaps 1 billion subscribers" around the world before IMT-2000 systems are deployed on a wide scale, the company said. Qualcomm singled out W-CDMA's backers for criticism, saying some of their proposed specifications--such as the European Telecommunication Standards Institute's choice of a 4.096 MHz chip rate--are "purposely incompatible" with its own proposal.