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To: DaveMG who wrote (19339)	12/8/1998 3:53:00 PM
From: Pierre	Respond to of 152472

Some more detail on Sony recall. Note dateline of 12/7 - but my news service just picked it up this morning. May explain current weakness. Sony Recalls Phones On Health Concerns RELATED SYMBOLS: (QCOM)(SNE) Dec 07, 1998 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Sony Electronics last week notified the Federal Communications Commission that it was issuing a "voluntary" recall of some 60,000 dual-mode analog/digital cellular phones. After conducting its own tests, Sony found that a line of dual-mode phones -- devices designed to work both with 800-MHz AMPS and 1.9 GHz CDMA systems -- exceeded the maximum allowable power output and could endanger the health of users. The phones in question were manufactured between February and June at a San Diego facility owned by Qualcomm Personal Electronics, a joint venture between Park Ridge, New Jersey-based Sony and San Diego-based Qualcomm in which Qualcomm holds a 51 percent stake. Most of the phones were shipped to PrimeCo Personal Communications and Sprint PCS, two service providers that operate 1.9 GHz CDMA systems in major markets such as New York, Chicago, and Dallas. However, these particular models, CM-B3200, CM-B2200, and CM-B1201 line have since been discontinued in favor of newer phones. While Sony detected the problem and took action, an FCC official suggested that the power-output adjustment was done with an eye toward improving the phones' performance. A spokesperson for Sony denied this, stating that the excessive power output was unintentional -- that engineers misinterpreted the FCC's specification for maximum allowable power output as a nominal guideline, which would have allowed for a certain plus-minus leeway. Of the 60,000 phones being recalled, it is likely only a fraction are radiating at an elevated level, the spokesperson said. Qualcomm offficials did not return calls by press time. According to the FCC, the increase in power occurs only when the phone is in analog mode. Since they were shipped to operators of digital systems for distribution to their respective customers, the phones are only likely to be operating in analog when users are roaming in other markets. Nonetheless, the case could raise new concerns about the potential health dangers related to concentrated electromagnetic radiation that cell phones emit. In the early 1990s, a Florida woman sued NEC and a number of Florida cellular-service providers, charging that her husband's cellular phone led to his death from brain cancer. The industry diffused that controversy somewhat, and current evidence indicates the output levels from cellular phones are too low to cause danger. An FCC spokesman said the commission will monitor Sony's recall program and may yet decide to test more phones.