My friend Jon:
A little web searching and I found Irwin Jacob's letter to WSJ in response.
qualcomm.com
September 10, 1996
Letters Editor
The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
Dear Editor:
Quentin Hardy's article, "Jacobs's Patter," in the September 6, 1996 edition of
The Wall Street Journal claims that "some of the biggest names in telecommunications"
have invested perhaps $20billion based on my promises about CDMA technology.
This might be flattering if it weren't so absurd. A business reporter should know
that companies perform considerable due diligence and do not rely on anyone's
hype or patter before making critical decisions. After such due diligence, 60% of
the cellular and PCS operators in the U.S., based on population covered, are now
installing or preparing to install CDMA systems.
To support this market demand, more than 40 major manufacturers worldwide
have purchased licenses for production of CDMA telephones, infrastructure, and
test equipment. Further, on August 26, 1996, MCI announced an agreement to
buy at least 10 billion minutes of PCS use from NextWave, a committed CDMA
carrier, to offer service to more than 110 million individuals in 63 markets.
CDMA is now the only digital technology poised to provide multiple operator
coverage throughout the U.S. and increasingly around the world.
The statement, attributed to a Stanford professor, that CDMA has "fundamental
problems that they don't know how to solve" is totally incorrect. It would certainly
perplex Korea mobile Telecom, which has added 210,000 CDMA customers from
January through August and which is preparing for 515,000 CDMA customers
by year end 1996. CDMA does work, is in the market, and makes absurd the
quote incorrectly attributed to me "Every other week you wonder, 'Does it work?
Will it get to market?' ". My concerns about the technology working were dissipated
in our 1991 test period and my concerns about getting to market ended years ago
with the failure of U.S. TDMA, the first U. S. digital cellular standard, to gain
broad acceptance.
Contrary to the article, I am convinced that CDMA performance promises will
be achieved ,including capacity gains of 10 to 20 times AMPS (the current analog
system) with the highest quality of service. In the first presentation to industry on
June 6, 1989, I stated that analysis and computer simulation indicated that CDMA might
achieve 40 times AMPS or better. Following analysis of actual field measurements in
November 1989, we revised the claim to 10 to 20 and that has remained unchanged
through extensive field testing and now commercial deployment. The most recent
numbers from Hong Kong, where the systems are not yet loaded to capacity, indicate
that our capacity claims for CDMA are on target. They show 11 subscribers per
MegaHertz per base station for AMPS; 85 for GSM; and 283 for CDMA. These
figures are all normalized for equal usage per subscriber.
The introduction of commercial service was delayed by the industry decision in
early 1991, which QUALCOMM supported, to formally adopt a second digital
standard, a process that took until mid-1993 to complete. Only then were the
various manufacturers able to undertake commercialization, a lengthy process.
It has taken seven years for CDMA technology to move from early concept into
commercial use. The rival European technology, Global System for Mobile
communications (GSM), required about 11 years to complete its development-to-
commercial deployment cycle.
The article incorrectly states that Motorola pulled out of talks with Sprint Spectrum
because it wouldn't guarantee that CDMA would work. The issue was not performance
guarantees - Motorola had previously agreed to CDMA performance guarantees with
PCS PrimeCo - but rather the large requirements Sprint Spectrum made for vendor
financing. Contrary to the claim that major manufacturers produce all technologies,
Motorola participated with QUALCOMM and others on extensive CDMA testing and
then decided not to manufacture U.S. TDMA infrastructure.
Finally, I do not understand why the author twisted and augmented my remarks to
attribute to me such absurdities as "the billions riding on CDMA aren't as significant
as the intellectual challenge of the quest" and the partial quote "my friends don't think
I'm a liar" and the strange claim that I arm wrestle with engineers. The real story here
is that CDMA, an American technology, is engaged in a fierce international competition
with the European technology, GSM, for the world's wireless markets. In only three
short years since standardization, CDMA has already been successful in the United
States, Hong Kong and Korea and is making rapid progress in Japan, China, and
elsewhere. A "personal attack" story may be gratifying to some, but the business
competition in digital wireless communication deserves a balanced report with all
sides fairly represented and honestly quoted.
Sincerely,
Irwin Mark Jacobs
Chairman and CEO
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
