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: Jon Koplik who wrote (14623)	9/5/1998 3:14:00 PM
From: SKIP PAUL	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

Protests Qualcomm licensing stance on wideband CDMA -- Europe fights back on 3G mobile comm spec Peter Clarke Sophia Antipolis, France - The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), based here, has hit back at the United States over the future of third-generation mobile communications standards. In an open letter to Rep. Philip M. Crane, R-Ill., chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on trade, ETSI protested moves by Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego) that threaten to delay or even derail the development of the European and Japanese versions of the so-called "3G" specification. Qualcomm has announced plans to withhold access to its code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology. What is not yet clear is how European and Japanese variants of the 3G radio interface, which uses a version of CDMA technology labeled wideband CDMA, can progress without reaching some sort of accommodation with Qualcomm. Qualcomm is seeking to make an agreement to use the U.S. version of the technology-known as CDMA2000-a condition of licensing its intellectual property. Not invited The open letter, from Karl Heinz Rosenbrock, ETSI director general, acknowledged that Qualcomm holds intellectual-property rights in CDMA. But it concluded that, despite Qualcomm's intention to deny licenses, "The development of third-generation standards within ETSI will . . . progress according to this decision and ETSI's rules of procedure." ETSI also protested the fact that while its activities came up for discussion at a July 28 hearing of the Ways and Means committee, the organization was not invited to testify. Rosenbrock addressed charges that ETSI's backing of standards raises unnecessary barriers to trade between the United States and Europe, and that for a number of years the European Union, by mandating the use of GSM technology, had closed the market to non-European companies. Rosenbrock pointed out that North American manufacturers Lucent Technologies, Motorola and Nortel are all members of ETSI via their European affiliates, and that "for GSM standards, the major part of the registered essential intellectual-property rights emanate from U.S. companies." An ETSI spokesperson said last week the organization was disappointed that Qualcomm-having become a member-was now seeking to impose conditions at a very late stage in the standard-setting process. Ake Persson, vice president of marketing for Ericsson Mobile Systems, said Qualcomm first said it would withhold access to its CDMA patents in the spring. "It's a very unusual action to take, particularly when they have been within standards bodies when actions [on standardization] have been taken," he said. "Now they want to have some different action taken to suit their purposes." He added: "The various standards have been submitted to the International Telecommunications Union for approval under IMT-2000, which has supported the family-of-standards idea for a long time. Everyone has accepted that. Nobody expects anything else. It has to be dealt with. It will be resolved." Persson said he was confident a solution would be found. "These intellectual-property-rights issues are very common in the high-tech industry," he said, adding, "The industry won't let one company obstruct the whole process." Tim Harrabin, strategy director at Vodaphone plc (Reading, England), a provider of mobile-phone services, said: "We find this [development] very disquieting. Qualcomm would like to merge CDMAone with the Universal Mobile Telecommunication Standard. We would welcome this if it could be done, but this has been looked at in depth already. We haven't seen any proposals as to how it could be done." Simon East, vice president of technology at Symbian Ltd., which licenses and develops the EPOC32 operating system, said: "Clearly it would not be good to have the 3G market killed by a row between Qualcomm and ETSI, but I'm not sure it will come to that."

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (14623)	9/5/1998 3:17:00 PM
From: SKIP PAUL	Respond to of 152472

3G-wireless debate shifts to spectrum management George Leopold Washington - The U.S. wireless industry and the government agencies that oversee it are gearing up for battle with European rivals over the technical outlines of a future data-driven communications network. While most of the attention paid to third-generation wireless (3G) systems has focused on a standards dispute (see June 8, page 8), industry and government planners are also addressing critical spectrum requirements for terrestrial and satellite systems out to 2010. The prevailing view at a 3G conference here last week was that 230 MHz of spectrum around the 2-GHz band allocated for 3G services in the United States won't be enough. Industry and government agencies responsible for spectrum management are scrambling to determine how much more spectrum will be needed and where it will come from before a November meeting of a technical group of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU, Geneva). One problem, U.S. officials said, is that spectrum allocated by European regulators for 3G services has been claimed in the United States by the Defense Department and NASA. Federal agencies are expected to play a key role in sorting out spectrum disputes and negotiating agreements with other ITU members to create the global wireless network 3G proponents envision. "The debate involv-ing use of the spectrum should be coordinated by the government," said Vonya McCann, U.S. coordinator and deputy assistant secretary of state for international communications and information policy. Along with standards setting, McCann said, industry's role in the 3G-spectrum debate should be defining spectrum needs. That data will eventually be used in sorting out conflicting government and industry claims for additional spectrum. As the spectrum debate heats up, European Union members continue to push for adoption of the follow-on to the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications as a single international standard that would permit global roaming. But some U.S. competitors-led by Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego), developer of rival code-division multiple-access (CDMA) technology-insist they would effectively be locked out of most of the European market if the next-generation European protocol (a version of CDMA called wideband-CDMA) becomes the 3G standard. The stakes are high in the 3G spectrum and standards debates. Industry forecasts project there will be as many as 500 million wireless subscribers around the world by 2000. The winner of the U.S./European wireless contest is expected to dominate emerging global markets in which wireless-network growth outpaces that for land-line nets. According to the Personal Communications Industry Association (Alexandria, Va.), which sponsored the conference, high-speed data is expected to account for 70 percent of wireless-network traffic by 2005. FCC seeks comment To frame the international spectrum debate, the Federal Communications Commission released a notice on Aug. 26 seeking industry comment on 3G-spectrum requirements. The notice was prompted in part by the ITU's decision to consider whether additional spectrum beyond the 230 MHz already allocated is needed to launch the new wireless service. U.S. proponents of the service say they may need as much as 499 MHz by 2010 for terrestrial 3G wireless and existing wireless services. Other FCC concerns focus on spectrum for 3G services that overlap current U.S. PCS systems. The notice "is intended not only to broaden the [spectrum] debate but also to help create a record on which the U.S. government can begin to form its positions" for the 2000 World Radiocommunications Conference, said Richard Engelman, planning and negotiations chief at the FCC's International Bureau. Industry officials at the conference called for unity as the U.S. negotiating positions are developed. "What is needed is a much more proactive role by the government, namely the FCC," said Leonard Kolsky, vice president for global telecommunications at Motorola Inc. Observers said the debate's likely outcome is European approval of a single standard based on GSM and multiple U.S. standards centering on CDMA technology. That may not spell defeat for U.S. manufacturers, the State Department's McCann said. "The technology is clearly there to [develop and manufacture] dual-mode handsets," she said. Software technology could also offer a solution to the spectrum debate. Most service and equipment providers want contiguous bands of spectrum for their 3G operations. An official with a U.S. agency charged with managing spectrum said meeting industry demands for global, contiguous spectrum will be "pretty close to impossible."

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (14623)	9/5/1998 3:21:00 PM
From: Ramsey Su	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 152472

Jon, the amazing about the stock market is you can do whatever you want and so can I. The chances of your actions impacting my portfolio is slim to none and vice versa. Of all the interviews with all the gurus on TV last week, there was one comment that stuck in my mind, "...... I just don't see any compelling reasons to buy now ......." The comment was about the market but I think it applies to QC also. There is the Florida PCS trade show starting Sept 23 and the Sept qtr earnings report which may both give QC a boost. I have a couple of weeks to think about things. In the mean time, I managed to survive last week with a small gain. That is good enough for me right now. Ramsey