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To: Iinvest who wrote (23220)	2/22/1999 2:16:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Harmonized Agreement> ebruary 22, 1999 U.S., European execs agree on harmonized 3G CDMA framework By Jeffrey Silva WASHINGTON—In potentially a major breakthrough in the gridlocked third generation mobile phone controversy, U.S. and European wireless executives here last week agreed to pursue a framework for an umbrella Code Division Multiple Access standard that combines common elements of competing CDMA technologies and gives operators the ability to choose from three different CDMA modes. The modular CDMA harmonization approach was proposed by Roland Mahler, executive vice president of new business at DeTeMobil Deutsche Telekom MobilNet GmbH, at the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue forum last Wednesday. The TABD gathering was a follow-up to one in Charlotte, N.C., last November. The Mahler plan could help salvage a global wireless standards process that at times has been on the verge of implosion. A 3G CDMA compromise also could help avert a U.S.-European Union trade war over mobile phones. Unlike past meetings where confrontations have erupted among warring 3G wireless parties, last week's TABD conference was described as positive and upbeat. The three modes in the Mahler proposal include one resembling the European wideband CDMA standard championed by Sweden's L.M. Ericsson and Finland's Nokia Corp.; a multicarrier mode resembling the cdma2000 technology promoted by Qualcomm Inc.; and a time-division duplex mode for unpaired spectrum. The new plan could pave the way for a smooth migration to 3G for existing CDMA carriers as well as for carriers in the United States and abroad that deploy wireless systems based on Global System for Mobile communications technology. The tough part will be translating the Mahler CDMA harmonization concept into technical specifications within the International Telecommunication Union standardization process. There is another big obstacle, too: The one standard, three-mode CDMA proposal does not resolve hotly contested differences between Ericsson and Qualcomm on chip rates and intellectual property rights. While calling last week's TABD developments very positive, William Plummer, Nokia's vice president of U.S. government relations cautioned: ‘‘We're a long way from a CDMA umbrella standard.'' The ITU is approaching a March 31 deadline to settle on what many observers predict will be a family of 3G standards that could include a harmonized CDMA standard and a 3G Time Division Multiple Access standard. There was support at the TABD meeting, according to participants, to move forward and stick to that deadline. The meeting was not open to the press. A joint communique being finalized on Friday was expected to include language supporting multiple 3G standards. There was an effort to have the communique stress that patent disputes and politics—including saber rattling by U.S. officials over EU trade policy that discriminates against American-developed CDMA technology—be kept out of the ITU standardization process. Several members of the Senate have urged U.S. trade representative Charlene Barshefsky to include the CDMA technology lock-out in Europe in an upcoming trade report on hot spots that may require tough U.S. responses. Latest Issue

To: Iinvest who wrote (23220)	2/22/1999 2:59:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Ericy Having A Hard Time Swallowing The Chip> Ericsson Says It's Still in Talks About Qualcomm Suit (Update2) Ericsson Says It's Still in Talks About Qualcomm Suit (Update2) (Adds comments from companies in 2nd and 8th paragraphs. Updates share activity.) Stockholm, Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB, the world's No. 3 mobile phone maker, said it's still in talks to settle a patent lawsuit against rival cellular-equipment maker Qualcomm Inc., though it doesn't expect an agreement anytime soon. The Stockholm-based company denied a report in today's Wall Street Journal that the companies are close to an agreement and said there's been no change recently in the talks. Officials of San Diego-based Qualcomm declined to comment. Ericsson first filed the suit in September 1996, claiming a new standard for digital cellular networks developed by Qualcomm violated Ericsson patents, and Qualcomm countered, claiming Ericsson's suit was invalid and anticompetitive. Pre-trial hearings on the suit are scheduled to begin today in Marshall, Texas, with a full trial in federal court to follow in April. The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, said the companies are about to sign an accord allowing each to use the other's technology. ''We hope we'll be able to solve this issue in a more civilized way than going to court,'' said Eric Oesterberg, an Ericsson spokesman. However, ''we're still discussing.'' Qualcomm shares rose 6 3/16 to 71 1/16 in early afternoon trading, while Ericsson American depositary receipts rose 1 3/16 to 27 3/4. Under the proposed settlement reported in the Journal, Stockholm-based Ericsson could sell phones using code-division multiple access, or CDMA, technology that Qualcomm developed. Qualcomm would get access to Ericsson's patents to a rival digital technology called global system for mobile communication, or GSM. Ericsson in the past has said it won't make phones or other equipment for CDMA networks because the market is much smaller than GSM. Kathy Egan, a company spokeswoman, said that strategy hasn't changed. CDMA is used in the U.S. by operators like Sprint PCS, Bell Atlantic Corp. and AirTouch Communications Inc., while GSM is used throughout Europe. An agreement could also help resolve a looming trade conflict over the future of wireless standards, the paper said. Ericsson and Qualcomm are battling to have their own standards adopted worldwide for the networks, which will allow users to send video and pictures, e-mail and surf the Internet over wireless phones. The proposed settlement would also allow Qualcomm, which gets much of its revenue from making semiconductors for phones, to make chips for phones using both technologies and might also make such telephones itself, the paper said. Last October, Ericsson dropped claims for three patents from the suit, which now concerns 8 Ericsson patents.