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Qualcomm's Jacobs: New Products, China Expansion, Nokia Lawsuit
November 17, 2005 21:17 EST -- Paul Jacobs, chief executive of Qualcomm Inc., talks with Bloomberg's Bernard Lo in Hong Kong about the outlook for mobile television technology, the growth of code division multiple access technology (CDMA) and global systems for mobile communications (GSM) technology in China, and the company's lawsuit with Nokia Oyj. The dispute between the two companies is over royalties that Qualcomm charges for its mobile-phone technology. Nokia joined a group that last month accused Qualcomm
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conews&tkr=QCOM:US
Can WiMAX Live up to the Hype?
Over the last few years, WiMAX has been hyped as the broadband wireless technology of the future, providing a single solution for a variety of applications, including last-mile fixed broadband access, wireless backhaul for cellular phone sites and as an upgrade to Wi-Fi hot spots.
However, iSuppli Corp. believes the 802.16-based WiMAX standard primarily will be limited to serving niche market applications in the near term. In each of the market segments being targeted by WiMAX, there are competing wireline and/or wireless technologies. To gain adoption, WiMAX will either have to displace a competing technology or provide a supplementary solution.
Because of this, in the near term, it will be extremely difficult for WiMAX to gain widespread penetration into the fixed and portable wireless broadband markets in developed nations.
By 2010, less than 5% of broadband subscribers will use WiMAX as a fixed wireless broadband access technology, iSuppli projects.
"With WiMAX facing tough competition from entrenched competitors, its usage over the next few years will be limited to broadband access in rural and underserved areas of the developed nations and as a backhaul technology for cell sites and public Wi-Fi hot spots," said Jagdish Rebello, principal analyst, communication systems and components, for iSuppli.
In the portable broadband access market, WiMAX's most potent competitor will be Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi will remain the dominant short-range wireless broadband standard over the next few years, effectively freezing out WiMAX, according to iSuppli.
In the longer term, iSuppli believes that the most significant market for WiMAX will be for mobile broadband, i.e. vehicular access to broadband services.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14898.php
Try the following link:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=qualcomm&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
and click on
Qualcomm contributes little to 3G: Ericsson
Qualcomm contributes little to 3G: Ericsson
Reuters - 50 minutes ago
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson AB, the world's top mobile telecoms network maker, said the royalties charged by Qualcomm......
http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2005-11-17T170407Z_01_HO76....
Qualcomm repeats China 3G ownership claim
Mike Clendenin
EE Times
(11/17/2005 8:29 AM EST)
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=174300720
HONG KONG — The road to success for China’s domestic 3G mobile standard may still need to take a detour through San Diego, as Qualcomm Inc. said Thursday (Nov. 17) that it remains determined to pursue IP royalties for TD-SCDMA technology.
It’s very likely that China will begin commercializing the technology next year, after it wraps up a final field trial in the spring and once handset vendors have ramped up capacity. But TD-SCDMA, which the Chinese government has favored because much of the IP belongs to domestic companies, may still be subject to claims by CDMA giant Qualcomm.
“We definitely have essential patents in TD-SCDMA, just like in all CDMA related technologies. We have 60 licensees worldwide for TD-SCDMA and w-CDMA, although we don’t have any licensees in China on TD-SCDMA,” said Frank Meng, president of Qualcomm China. “Once it gets to the stage of commercialization, then we will work with the Chinese companies to get licensing agreements.”
Chinese officials and industry players have reacted coolly in the past to Qualcomm’s assertion. Yang Hua, secretary-general of the TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance, said he believes that its members own “most of the core and essential IP” needed in TD-SCDMA, and those patents have been cross-licensed among members.
Li Wanli, vice chairman of the TD-SCDMA Forum, and an executive at Siemens, said Qualcomm has not submitted a detailed list of patent claims regarding TD-SCDMA, despite raising the issue about two years ago. “If they do so, then we can begin to negotiate,” he said.
Meng said Qualcomm will probably step up its efforts to iron out an agreement in the next year.
Even with loose ends regarding IP, the level of royalty payments for TD-SCDMA isn’t expected to reach the level it did with CDMA in China, said Johan Pross, chief executive of T3G, a TD-SCMDA chipmaker backed by Philips, Motorola and Samsung.
Qualcomm says in talks over chip deal
Reuters.co.uk - 1 minute ago
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Wireless technology firm Qualcomm has held talks with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for a contract chip deal to meet soaring demand, Qualcomm said on Thursday.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyid=2005-11-17T094713Z_01....
Intel wants a bigger piece of the mobile phone chip market
Wednesday November 16, 2005 11:43 PM EST - By: T.O. Whenham
Via: Yahoo! News
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/344/C5244/
Intel is already the world’s biggest chipmaker, but that doesn’t seem to be enough for them. Now they are aiming to take a bite out of the mobile phone chip market. They won’t disclose their current share of this market, but it is very small.
"We want to grow our market share (in the mobile phone market) to double-digit levels," Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, told reporters. "I hope within the next few years to achieve that objective."
Mike Thelander, and analyst for Signals Ahead currently forecasts their market share at 8.1% in 2009. This would put them behind Nokia, Qualcomm, Freescale Semiconductor and Ericsson Mobile Platform.
Earlier this month the first Blackberry with a high-end Intel chip was launched, giving us a first look at Intel’s aggressiveness in the sector. It will be interesting to see if their strength in the traditional chip sector can translate to the mobile field.
Update: Telecom Stocks
By Stephanie N. Mehta
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/investing/articles/0,15114,1129790,00.html?promoid=yahoo
What we said
In “Finding the Reward in Telecom’s Risk,” (Oct. 18, 2004), we warned that investing in telecom was only going to get trickier as the cable guys, phone companies, and wireless operators sought to invade one another’s turf by betting on new technologies and slashing prices. We suggested four telecom-equipment stocks that seemed poised to benefit from the battles.
What happened
We made some bad calls. Avaya (AV, $11), a maker of corporate phone systems that run on voice over IP (VOIP) technology, sank earlier this year when it forecast a weaker than expected 2005. The stock is down 20% since we cited it. In the past year both the CFO and the CEO of Tekelec (TKLC, $15) resigned; shares are off 12% since our story. Alvarion (ALVR, $8), which makes equipment for a hot new wireless standard called WiMax, has seen its shares fall 38% as big names like Motorola and Alcatel have stepped up plans to build WiMax gear. Finally, we recommended wireless chip and software maker Qualcomm (QCOM, $45), cautioning that it already had a rich valuation. The stock is up 15%, and analysts think it could go still higher.
Qualcomm Extends Family of QSC Solutions for CDMA2000 1x Dual-Band Networks
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/dailynewsdetail/002690
November 16, 2005 -- Qualcomm Inc has announced that the company has expanded its family of Qualcomm single-chip (QSC) solutions for dual-band (800, 1900MHz) CDMA2000 1x networks.
Improvements in network capacity and power consumption are combined with new, advanced multimedia and position-location capabilities in the dual-band, single-chip solutions. The highly integrated QSC solutions combine baseband modem, multimedia, radio transceiver, GPS and power management functionality, enabling device manufacturers to create smaller and sleeker CDMA2000 1x mainstream devices.
The QSC family of integrated solutions is designed to eliminate the need for certain discrete components in handset designs. Because the solutions have fewer components and are highly integrated, they enable richer functionality on smaller, sleeker, and thinner devices with optimized power consumption.
The company's new QSC products are targeted primarily at mainstream markets in North America, as well as markets in India, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. The QSC solutions deliver multi-band functionality, advanced 65-nanometer (nm) process technology for further improvements in power consumption, multiple technologies to improve CDMA2000 1x network capacity, and advanced position-location capabilities for high-end positioning functionality in mainstream markets.
The second generation of the company's QSC solutions is said to enable CDMA2000 1x network operators to realize significant gains in network capacity. The combination of QLIC and 4GV on handsets allows up to a 60% increase in total network capacity, and also enhances network performance on the forward link. The additional implementation of four-way receive diversity at the basestation can deliver up to double the system capacity within the same spectrum.
Sampling is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2006.
(NE Asia Online)
MOTOROLA: Seamless Mobility Capability Using CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A Solution
Wednesday 16 November 2005 07:15 EET Kauppalehti Online
PRESS RELEASE 15.11.2005
http://www.kauppalehti.fi/4/i/eng/releases/press_release.jsp?selected=other&oid=20051101/1132121....
Motorola Showcases Seamless Mobility Capability Using CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A
Solution at 3G World Congress & Exhibition 2005
Demonstrates VoIP, Video Telephony Using IMS and Multiple Devices
HONG KONG, Nov. 15 - 3G World Congress -- Motorola Inc.
(NYSE: MOT) unveiled its prototype CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A solution at 3G
World Congress and Exhibition 2005, demonstrating some of the advanced
multimedia wireless broadband services that will be possible with this next
generation technology. With downlink speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps and uplink
speeds of up to 1.8 Mbps, CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A provides new capability for
operators to offer enhanced services such as simultaneous video, voice and
data applications. These new services can help wireless operators earn
incremental revenue, reach new user segments and compete with those services
offered by other broadband providers.
At its booth (# 1721), Motorola is featuring live Voice over IP (VoIP) and
video telephony calls, two applications that are optimized for commercial
service on a CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A network due to the higher bandwidth, lower
data latency, and improved quality of service inherent with the technology.
The demonstration uses Motorola's prototype CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A solution and
Motorola's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), (referred to as Multimedia Domain
(MMD) by the 3GPP2), to demonstrate simultaneous video telephony calls using
Motorola's Ojo(TM) Personal Video Phone, VoIP, and video downloads from a
media server. Test modems from Qualcomm provide the CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A link
to a Motorola base station equipped with a CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A channel card.
"Motorola's all-IP CDMA architecture is ready to support Rev. A, and our
integrated radio access network solution lets operators leverage their
existing investment as they make the migration to this new technology," said
Bruce Stone, senior vice president, Cellular Networks, Motorola. "Our CDMA
1xEV-DO Rev. A solution is another addition to Motorola's growing portfolio of
broadband access and core solutions, mobile devices, and services that will
enable converged services and seamless mobility."
CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A is an enhancement to CDMA 1xEV-DO mobile broadband
access that combines voice and data on a single carrier, decreasing the burden
of operating separate networks for circuit voice and packet data. This not
only increases voice capacity, but also enables multiple concurrent data
links. Motorola's 1xEV-DO system, in service with operators in Brazil,
Thailand, and the United States, can be migrated to Rev. A with hardware and
software upgrades. Motorola's CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A solution is planned for
commercial availability in 2006.
About Motorola
Motorola is a Fortune 100 global communications leader that provides
seamless mobility products and solutions across broadband, embedded systems
and wireless networks. In your home, auto, workplace and all spaces in
between, seamless mobility means you can reach the people, things and
information you need, anywhere, anytime. Seamless mobility harnesses the
power of technology convergence and enables smarter, faster, cost-effective
and flexible communication. Motorola had sales of US $31.3 billion in 2004.
For more information: http://www.motorola.com .
MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent &
Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of
their respective owners.
SOURCE Motorola Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Cordia So of Motorola Networks Asia Pacific,
+852 2966 3840, cordia.so@motorola.com , Wong Voal Voal of Hill & Knowlton
Singapore, +65 6390 3334 (DID), +65 9799 0551 (Mobile),
voal@hillandknowlton.com.sg , Industry Analyst, Kathy Wiesner of Motorola
Networks, +1-847-632-6021 - office, +1-847-875-0166 - mobile,
k.wiesner@motorola.com /
BenQ to launch DVB-H enabled handsets in 2Q 2006
Daniel Shen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DigiTimes.com [Wednesday 16 November 2005]
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20051116A9050.html
BenQ plans to launch its first handset supporting DVB-H mobile TV in the second quarter of 2006, primarily targeting the European market, according to company sources.
The DVB-H enabled handset will be built using chipsets from Texas Instruments and marketed under the BenQ-Siemens dual-brand, the sources indicated.
For markets in North America, Latin America, and Asia, BenQ also plans to introduce other mobile TV-enabled handsets that support Qualcomm’s MediaFlo system, the sources noted, adding that the launch of MediaFlo-enabled handsets will come at a date later than the DVB-H model.
Samsung May Produce Qualcomm¡¯s CDMA Chips
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200511/kt2005111517595111870.htm
Samsung Electronics is expected to sign a contract with Qualcomm soon to produce CDMA modem chips used in cellular phones for the U.S. wireless technology company.
The two firms are in the final stage of negotiations and will make an announcement as early as this month, local newspapers reported, citing industry sources.
Responding to the media reports, Samsung said that it is negotiating with major non-memory chip designers to manufacture chips on behalf of the companies. But Samsung declined to identify the companies.
``What we can say now is that we will start the `foundry¡¯ business soon to produce high-end non-memory chips,¡¯¡¯ said the company¡¯s spokesperson Hong Kyung-sun.
Foundry refers to the making of semiconductor chips tailored to the orders of companies with no fabrication plants. Samsung has said it will expand non-memory operations to reduce its dependence on the relatively volatile memory businesses.
In September, Samsung Electronics, the top maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and flash memory chips, pledged to start the foundry business next year on their newly-built manufacturing line in Kihung, Kyonggi Province.
CDMA, or code-division multiple access technology, is a telecommunication standard developed by Qualcomm. Around one-third of mobile phones are using the platform in countries such as South Korea, the United States, Canada, Japan and some parts of China.
Qualcomm has a de facto monopoly in the CDMA modem chip market. The San Diego-based firm has been outsourcing production of their chips to foundry firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC).
The partnership between Samsung and Qualcomm is likely to benefit both companies as almost half of the CDMA phones are being assembled in South Korea, at firms such as LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Pantech. The Korean mobile phone makers have been paying enormous amounts in royalties to Qualcomm every year.
About 150 million CDMA phones are expected to be sold this year, and Qualcomm estimates the market will continue to grow next year by about 30 percent.
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr
11-15-2005 18:02
Qualcomm to tap entry-level segment
Mithun Roy
Monday, November 14, 2005 22:54 IST
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=9845
MUMBAI: Like its peers and sometime-rivals Nokia, Siemens and Samsung, Qualcomm, the code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology pioneer, also believes that entry-level handsets are the way to grow in India.
It is a market that Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm’s founder-chairman, believes has immense potential.
According to him, “Qualcomm will stress its proprietary technology’s ability to combine data and voice together so that consumers can benefit from the advanced technology. In this regard, Jacobs said, Qualcomm’s CDMA 2000 platform has been a success.
CDMA2000 is a third-generation mobile telecommunications standard that uses CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data and signaling data between mobile telephones and cell sites. It has a relatively long technical history, and remains compatible with the older CDMA telephony methods such as CDMAOne first developed by Qualcomm. The number of subscribers using the CDMA2000 technology surpassed 200 million worldwide in October, just 19 months after the industry celebrated the 100-million milestone.
Jacobs said, “CDMA2000 is the most successful wireless technology in the history of wireless services. The day isn’t far off when most mobile users in India will use CDMA2000 technology, which will surpass GSM technology.”
Bhagwan D Khurana, group president, Reliance Infocomm Ltd, said, “The CDMA2000 is better than GSM technology as people are opting CDMA technology due to low costs and high speed. Our immediate focus is on the low-end handset as this is the segment where the growth lies.”
Experts feel that at present, about two-thirds of mobile phones worldwide operate on GSM, but CDMA will gain further ground in the coming years.
Qualcomm dominates the market for technology and chips for CDMA. It also sells licenses and chips for Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), a high-speed wireless technology that is being adopted in Europe as an upgrade for slower networks based on global system for mobile (GSM) communications.
The company, currently. has two centres in India, Mumbai and Hyderbad and employs 200 people. According to Jacobs, “We will continue to expand by hiring more people in India.”
Qualcomm’s India centres are into designing chipsets, and developing software for chipsets, besides providing support to operators deploying CDMA technology.
CDMA - Ready To Lead
By Rajendra Chaudhary
Mumbai, Nov 14, 2005
http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=69148&cat_id=912
With the world going mobile, there is a constant growth of expectations from wireless technology. Third generation (3G) services like such as wireless email, web, picture taking and sending, video and audio streaming and TV broadcasting and other features have lead to a rapid growth in usage and subscription base for going wireless.
According to the CDMA Development Group (CDG), CDMA2000 subscription is above 20 million worldwide, while the 1xIEV-DO has 18 million. The WCDMA subscription base has reached 35 million and the overall subscription base for CDMA technologies is pegged at 286 million users worldwide.
These phenomenal numbers are evidence that the CDMA universe has grown tremendously over the past few years. This, combined with the rising number of technology providers, equipment manufacturers and application developers who serve CDMA based operators speaks well for a technology that was first heard of only 17 years ago.
Ever since its inception, CDMA technology has introduced a number of innovations that significantly enhance the performance and capabilities of wireless networks including superior network capacity; IP based wireless data and security.
Thought leaders of the CDMA community gathered at an event organized by CDG to discuss the advancements of the CDMA2000 and the technology's evolution path.
Perry LaForge, Executive Director, CDG, moderated the event and in his keynote discussed the rapid growth of CDMA2000 in the recent years. " CDMA2000 is the most successful wireless technology in the history of wireless services in regards to growth and impact on the market. Looking at the first five years of deployment, you can see it is expanding faster than any other technology, including GSM and WCDMA, and it has a broader reach, serving both developed and developing regions. CDMA2000 is by far the most successful 3G technology, leading the industry in transition to data and now broadband wireless services. This is a tremendous achievement for the industry," he said.
The latest figures suggest that CDMA2000 controls 85% of the 3G market and adds 15 million new users per quarter, which is three times as many as WCDMA. CDMA2000 is available in 61 countries across six continents. In Asia, CDMA2000 commands 12% market share with 92 million subscribers.
Speaking to CXOtoday, LaForge said, "The ability of CDMA2000 to allow operators to migrate to 3G and advanced broadband wireless technologies is a primary reason behind its success. It has given them a definite edge over their competitors in delivering the next generation services in wireless communications."
"CDMA2000 continues to evolve with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A and Rev B and other future enhancements which will allow operators to introduce VoIP, multi.megabit per second speeds, multimedia and broadcast capabilities in coming years," he added.
Irwin Jacobs, Chairman of the board, QUALCOMM emphasized on the competitive advantage which the CDMA technologies offer and discussed the opportunities the APAC region in particular, that India presents to the developers and the operators. He also touched upon the evolution the CDMA technology and the roll of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A and Rev B, the next generation of CDMA2000 standards which build on the Rev 0 capabilities which offer VoIP and significantly higher data rates and reduce costs.
In an exclusive to CXOtoday, Jacobs said, "Our main objective is to associate ourselves with technologies like CDMA and incorporate it in chips and software to provide developers with tools to design products for the future. However, we also need to bear in mind that when we introduce a new technology, we keep it compatible with older devices, so that the ROI and user investment is kept intact."
The Asia Pacific region remains the largest region for the CDMA technologies and the base is expanding at 30% per year. The second quarter of '05 saw 6.7 million new CDMA users added to the existing subscribers base bringing the total to 116.2 million.
Samsung Electronics to Make Qualcomm Modem Chips
Updated Nov.14,2005 19:10 KST
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200511/200511140012.html
Samsung Electronics to Make Qualcomm Modem Chips
Qualcomm is reportedly commissioning Samsung Electronics to make modem chips for code division multiple access (CDMA) cell phones. CDMA modem chips are a key component on which the U.S. company has a de-facto monopoly. Making them for Qualcomm will give Korea¡¯s biggest electronics firm a further edge in the global semiconductor industry.
Industry insiders on Monday said Qualcomm, a ¡°fabless¡± company in the industry jargon, decided to commission Samsung to make the modem chips. Fabless companies outsource the production of their chips.
Qualcomm and Samsung are said to be in the final stage of negotiating the contract and will announce the agreement soon. The companies would not confirm the decision, but a government official said, ¡°We will hear good news soon.¡±
If Samsung makes the modem chips worth US$3 billion in sales a year, it will deal a blow to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) of Taiwan, the world¡¯s largest and second largest subcontractors for fabless firms.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
How Qualcomm and Flarion could trump WiMAX
Nov 8, 2005
By: John C. Tanner
Telecom Asia
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=196740
The race for next-generation wireless broadband arguably got a little more interesting a couple of months ago when Qualcomm announced that it was acquiring FLASH-OFDM vendor Flarion Technologies. Qualcomm's move was a surprise to some, not least because Qualcomm's top brass, including founder Irwin Jacobs and CEO Paul Jacobs, had spent no small effort dismissing wireless broadband - particularly WiMAX - as overhyped and redundant. The basic position for Qualcomm was: "We already have wide-area wireless broadband today. It's called 1x EV-DO, and it works just fine."
On the other hand, those who have paid attention to Qualcomm's activities weren't surprised at all. For all of Qualcomm's ire toward WiMAX, it has never questioned the role of OFDM (the technology underlying WiMAX and indeed most next-gen wireless broadband standards) in future wireless standards. Indeed, Qualcomm already uses a form of OFDM for its MediaFLO technology and uses an OFDM waveform in combination with CDMA in its cdma2000 1xEV-DO Platinum Multicast solution.
The big question now is what Qualcomm will do with its new acquisition (assuming the deal is completed), and what it will mean in the wireless broadband scheme of things. At the very least, it could mean more formidable competition against the WiMAX movement - and not just in terms of fighting for contracts with service providers. First off, there's Qualcomm's interest in hybrid OFDM/CDMA solutions that could give CDMA operators a competitive option to WiMAX. Second, Qualcomm could be in a better position to sell its long-held position that WiMAX - which is to say mobile WiMAX, a.k.a. 802.16e - is tomorrow and unproven, while existing technologies like EV-DO (and now FLASH-OFDM) are today.
Thirdly, and possibly most important, Qualcomm's ownership of Flarion also gives it something else - control over Flarion's OFDM patents, to include technology for making OFDM mobile. The upshot of that could be that Qualcomm is poised to directly take on Intel for the future direction of wireless broadband.
Mobility issues
It's worth clarifying at this stage that the chief battleground here is mobile wireless broadband - that is, wireless broadband that allows terminals to move around within the coverage area. WiMAX 802.16d, which is standardized today, isn't designed for mobility. WiMAX 802.16e is designed for mobility but is not yet a standard.
The distinction is crucial, not least because 16e is considered to be "real WiMAX", says Paul Sergeant, marketing director for alternative wireless access networks at Motorola, which supports WiMAX. In fact, Motorola isn't even bothering with 16d and is going straight to 16e, because that's where the larger market lies.
"16e is also a superior technology in terms of spectrum efficiency," Sergeant adds. "It will be a more cost-effective solution for both the carrier and the customer compared to 16d."
Either way, it's mobile WiMAX that Qualcomm has been vocally attacking over the past year or so. In fact, one reason why its purchase of Flarion seemed a bit jarring at first was that Qualcomm's WiMAX criticisms could easily be extended to any wireless broadband technology.
For example, in September - a month after the Qualcomm/Flarion deal was announced - Qualcomm's senior marketing VP Jeffrey Belk authored a white paper entitled "Why MAX?” that reiterated Qualcomm's skepticism of the WiMAX hype machine. With the caveat that none of this reflects how Flarion will eventually figure into all this, Belk spends a lot of time arguing that, because radio is messy to integrate into devices and just as messy to implement, WiMAX will ultimately prove to be far more difficult to implement than WiMAX hypesters are letting on. It will all happen given enough time, money and smart people, but the bottom line, he argues, is that whenever the 16e standard comes about, it will be years after that before WiMAX will have its act together. And even then, there's still no proven business case for it.
"We go to Starbucks and rarely see anyone on a PC. We travel through airports and really don't see folks in the hotspot zones," Belk says.
While WiMAX is sorting itself out and looking for a business case, Belk argues, operators will already have the option of existing technologies.
"Vast areas - not airports, not streets, not urban cores - are being covered by networks that can efficiently provide hundreds of kilobits of reliable wireless access. Not in 2007, 2008 or beyond, but today," he says. "In our view, mobile WiMAX is potentially caught in the middle between the rapidly developing WWAN standards, such as cdma2000/1xEV-DO and W-CDMA/HSDPA and the WLAN standards that are evolving from 802.11 a/b/g to 802.11n, and other evolving standards such as Flarion's FLASH OFDM."
Bet hedging
That last sentence is key, perhaps since without it, Qualcomm's anti-WiMAX/pro-EV-DO stance could easily apply to any wireless broadband technology similar to WiMAX. Certainly Qualcomm has been at loggerheads with Flarion in the past, particularly in Europe where Qualcomm has lobbied for 450-MHz spectrum to be allocated for CDMA450, only to see it go to Flarion customers.
Now, however, Qualcomm's Belk says that Flarion has a role to play in Qualcomm's strategy - whatever it might be. Belk says the company is still evaluating its options, but does allow that the company is, in a sense, hedging its bets by broadening its technology portfolio.
"We believe CDMA will provide the most advanced, spectrally efficient wide area wireless mobile networks for the foreseeable future, but with Flarion we can now more effectively support operators that prefer OFDMA or a hybrid OFDM/CDMA track for differentiating their services," Belk told Telecom Asia. He adds that OFDM has figured into its strategy for some time.
However, Belk makes no bones about where Qualcomm sees the most value in Flarion. "Flarion has a world-class team and an expansive portfolio of OFDMA intellectual property," he says. "The combination of Flarion and Qualcomm's engineering resources strengthens Qualcomm's position as a leader in advanced wireless technology development and enhances Qualcomm's ability to design and license OFDMA systems, components and products for operators interested in OFDMA for certain present and future networks."
In short, at a time when the wireless industry is gearing up for OFDM-based network deployments, Qualcomm just acquired a potential royalty bonanza. And if Qualcomm understands anything, it's how to run a business on royalty revenues.
CDMA cellcos sewed up
If its competitors are worried, they aren't showing it. Many vendors have described the deal as a positive move for the industry as a whole in terms of OFDM's future. The more companies take OFDM seriously, the better.
Some analysts agree. "Qualcomm's acquisition of Flarion validates the wireless broadband market in particular, and creates more competition in the wireless industry overall," says ABI Research senior analyst Philip Solis. "In the long term, Qualcomm can position itself to compete in the market for 4G technologies. With Qualcomm's R&D and marketing strengths, Qualcomm will help Flarion's Flash-OFDM technology achieve more acceptance than it would have alone."
Another way of interpreting that, of course, is that Qualcomm is now a bigger threat to WiMAX than it was before. For example, it allows Qualcomm to gain customers it might have lost to Flarion. More to the point, however, it also gives Qualcomm's CDMA customers an alternative to WiMAX: a hybrid CDMA/OFDM solution.
The danger as Caroline Gabriel, research director of Rethink Research Associates observes is that "all this could shut the CDMA world off from adopting WiMAX as a parallel system or future migration path to 4G."
Gunning for Intel
That might be acceptable for the WiMAX camp, given that CDMA operators are a small market compared to GSM carriers, and there will be plenty of telcos looking for a wireless arm, and greenfield plays as well. However, the area where Qualcomm could make a deeper impact is the IPR.
Julien Grivolas, an analyst at Ovum, says that the IPR is at the true heart of Qualcomm's strategy. "OFDM will be an important component of next-generation radio technologies, and the value of the deal, up to $800 million for a company with virtually no sales, is a proof of Qualcomm's confidence in OFDM."
According to a research note from The Shosteck Group, one of the key patents that Flarion holds is for its technology to give OFDM mobile capabilities. And mobility is the name of the WiMAX game. Shosteck reckons that Qualcomm's beefed-up OFDM patents "may prove to be useful in delaying or controlling development of the rival mobile WiMAX (802.16e) technology."
While Qualcomm is bound to put Flarion's OFDM technology to good use in its own Platinum Multicast and FLO technologies, it will also undoubtedly use its IPR set its sights directly on Intel, the driving force behind WiMAX and particularly 802.16e, Shosteck says.
"It is no secret that Intel is the major competitive target for Qualcomm," observes Shosteck. "Given the use of OFDM in WiMAX, and that Flarion probably owns IPR in mobilizing OFDM, it may be a trump card for Qualcomm. Designers of mobile WiMAX 802.16e chips may have a hard time avoiding infringing Qualcomm patents."
Thus, Shosteck concludes, "Qualcomm probably wins either way - whether mobile WiMAX becomes established or not."
GSM vs CDMA redux
Not everyone shares such a dire view over WiMAX's prospects in terms of IPR. Paul Dittner, an analyst at Gartner Research, for instance, points out that many companies hold patents on OFDM, and it remains to be seen how the royalty structure will evolve.
"Qualcomm will not have the dominant royalty position with OFDM that it has with cdma2000, but it now has a better negotiating stance," he says.
However, Shosteck argues that there's another key factor in all this: Qualcomm's own reputation within the wireless industry. Its relationship with GSM vendors has ranged from turbulent to antagonistic, and the GSM community has never been easy with the idea that Qualcomm is getting a percentage off their migration to W-CDMA even as its executives publicly proclaim 1x EV-DO to be the far superior technology. Even Qualcomm's own CDMA customers in South Korea have complained about Qualcomm's royalty licensing scheme.
"Cellular operators may now be much more wary of Flarion and FLASH-OFDM," Shosteck says. "These operators will be looking for a more favorable IPR licensing regime to allow multiple suppliers to license the technology, with 'reasonable' royalty fees on infrastructure and devices."
The same may well be true of wireless vendors, which could go out of their way to back mobile WiMAX just to avoid paying more royalties to Qualcomm.
Not too late
Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. That said, some healthy competition from Qualcomm / Flarion could eventually make WiMAX a better and more competitive technology than it might otherwise become.
However the royalty issue works out, the more immediate challenge for WiMAX is one of Belk's strongest points: the fact that by the time mobile WiMAX sees serious commercial deployments in 2008, it will be up against both established commercial networks supplied by Flarion and IPWireless (the latter of which uses IMT-2000-approved TD-CDMA and has 14 live commercial networks to its credit today) and EV-DO and even HSDPA networks that have the extra advantage of being cross-subsidized by voice revenues.
Sergeant of Motorola argues that, aside from the fact that Motorola will have its first pre-standard 802.16e products ready early next year (all software upgradeable over the air to the final standard, incidentally) and that WiMAX's standards-based ecosystem approach will give it the advantage of economies of scale in the long run, it's early days for everyone in the wireless broadband market.
"Wireless broadband in general is at the early stage of the market, so I don't think that having a solution ready in 2006 is too early or too late," he says. "It's a good time to get in the game."
Fiona Chau contributed to this article
Everyone can play
WiMAX critics may have a point that mobile WiMAX will be at a severe disadvantage when it finally goes commercial in the next couple of years. By that time, it will be up against more firmly established players running FLASH-OFDM, TD-CDMA and of course HSDPA and EV-DO.
WiMAX proponents, on the other hand, dismiss such criticism by pointing out that wireless broadband isn't a zero sum game where only one technology wins. There will be room for everyone.
Even Motorola, which plays in the cellular infrastructure space as well as WiMAX (and still offers its proprietary Canopy technology as a fixed wireless product for unlicensed spectrum), maintains that these different technologies are complementary, and that different customers have different needs, depending on the market, the available spectrum and the service being offered.
To that end, Motorola counsels customers on what technology is the best fit for whatever service they have in mind, says Paul Sergeant, marketing director for alternative wireless access networks at Motorola.
"For example, if you already have 3G spectrum and you're already going down the GSM path toward UMTS and HSDPA and you want to offer high mobility, then UMTS/HSDPA is your best bet," he explains. "If you want to offer a portable broadband service with cheaper voice via VoIP and you have spectrum that's unsuited for mobility - for instance, higher spectrum bands aren't really suited for mobility because the propagation is lower - then you could consider WiMAX."
Peter Humphreys, Asia-Pacific VP of IPWireless, adds that not all technologies are created equal when it comes to cell capacity, which in turn determines what kind of service you can realistically support.
"HSDPA is the most limited of the three. You can only fit about ten customers per segment, or 30 per base station. That's okay for short-burst services where the customer is only using the network for a few minutes - short video calls or downloads," Humphreys says. "EV-DO Rev. A, by contrast, can support four times as many users per cell. TD-CDMA can support 750 to 1,000 users per cell, which means it can support users with tablet-PC like devices, always-on VPNs, that sort of thing."
- John C. Tanner
3G will put CDMA in lead: Qualcomm
Posted online: Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 0035 hours IST
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=81802
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 11: Over 1 billion 3G devices will be delivered worldwide by 2010 and more than half of these will be based on CDMA technology, Irwin Jacobs, the founder and CEO of CDMA pioneer Qualcomm, said on Thursday.
Jacobs, on a visit to India to address a CII summit on leadership, said the surge in CDMA usage will create new opportunities for Indian engineers, who can help improve upon the technology. ‘‘CDMA still does not have enough engineers. In India, we are keen to work with small software companies and improve our own R&D facilities to provide the right talent to the industry,’’ Jacobs said. Worldwide, more than half the equipment shipped by 2010 will be 3G-ready, since GSM operator’s 3G networks will also be based on wCDMA, one of the flavours of CDMA. According to Jacobs, service providers will then need to focus on rapid growth in revenues from non-voice services.
‘‘I believe the average revenue per user (ARPU) will very well continue to drive down entry level costs and a range of services and initiatives will be needed to make volumes last,’’ Jacobs said.
As the average handset cost of a CDMA or GSM phone are also roughly nearing the same, operators will also need to focus on altering their networks to the internet protocol. ‘‘IP is where all the growth is coming from, and from testing and certifying the technology,’’ Jacobs said.At present, Qualcomm has 200 people at two centres in India. In Hyderabad, it designs chipsets and software that runs them.
Globe Talk: Qualcomm fights claims
Technology : November 11, 2005
Qualcomm's decision earlier this week to fight back against its rivals on allegations of manipulating international cellular phone markets is turning uglier by the day, but whether the legal spat will actually benefit consumers remains in question.
For detail, please see link:
http://www.physorg.com/news8122.html
Dick, you said:<<I'm a pretty early starter by U.S. Eastern time zone standards. I'm curious as to whether you might be in a time zone even further to the east.>>
You are correct. I am on vacation at the French Rivierra near international Airport Marignane, Marseille. It's 6 hours before your Eastern time zone standards.
O2 UK to deploy Qualcomm platform
11/11/2005 by John Tilak
http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=11220
Wireless communications solutions provider Qualcomm has signed an agreement with mobile operator O2 UK. O2 UK will use UI-One to develop a consistent user interface (UI) for two of its own X range devices. O2 becomes the first operator in Europe to announce plans to deploy UI-One. It is expected that O2 devices that use the platform will be available in late 2006.
The open UI-One offering will provide the ability for UI updates to be delivered over the air (OTA). This update capability will enable O2 to provision new content into the UI such as branding refreshes, promotions and entertainment content as well as periodic software or feature upgrades.
UI-One is comprised of a suite of products and services, including the UI-One Toolkit, UI-One SDK (software development kit), UI-One applications, resources and templates (ART), and professional services to assist operators in getting products to market.
Intel announces global WiMax investment
Michael Singer
CNET News.com
November 11, 2005, 10:05 GMT
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/broadband/0,39020342,39236735,00.htm
From Brazil to Vietnam, WiMax projects are springing up all over the place
Intel on Wednesday announced a slew of new investments that build on its global vision of wireless networks over citywide areas, a setup also known as WiMax.
The chipmaker said it signed a $1.12bn contract for the M-Taiwan (Mobilise Taiwan) project as part of a joint effort with Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs.
As part of their collaboration, Taiwan's government will set directions for spectrum allocation for WiMax — the IEEE 802.16e standard that provides specifications for both fixed and wireless broadband applications. The ministry is expected to help with WiMax field trials through 2008 and support businesses that would like to participate in the eventual rollout.
"The chance that Taiwan has to lead in this space is now excellent," said Sean Maloney, head of Intel's Mobility Group.
The Taiwan partnership is but one of several aspirations for WiMax that Intel has secured in the month.
The company announced that it has 13 new WiMax installations available in Europe, South America and North Asia, with 10 more Intel-sponsored networks due by the end of the year. Companies such as Airspan, Alcatel, Alvarion and Redline Communications are helping with the installations.
The network equipment is based on the Intel PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband interface processor. Previously known as Rosedale, the chip is designed for wireless modems and residential gateways. Intel plans to introduce WiMax-enabled chips for desktops and laptops in 2007 or 2008.
Countries including France, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Spain, Ireland, Poland, Finland, Guatemala, Ukraine, Austria and Slovakia are all either in the testing phase or using WiMax networks for a variety of uses, from basic high-speed access for homes to Internet telephony, as well as connecting businesses, schools and government offices.
For example VoIP services are being offered by BEC Telecom beginning in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and spreading to the rest of the country. Wi-Max Telecom is offering VoIP services to home users in Burganland, Austria, Intel said.
Halfway around the world, Intel also announced the formation of its Asian Broadband Campaign, which aims to build more WiMax wireless broadband networks in Southeast Asia. The company said it will work with governments, telecommunications regulators, public-sector agencies and carriers to offer consulting and technical services.
WiMax trials in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines are expected to start by the end of 2005, Intel said. Trials in Indonesia and Vietnam are expected to take place in 2006.
Intel touts WiMax as a last-mile alternative for remote areas not currently served by DSL or cable, as well as a way to make it possible to wirelessly connect buildings located up to several miles apart.
While Wi-Fi's range is most easily measured in meters, WiMax's range is measured in miles, offering a handy way to link entire neighbourhoods or rural communities. In the perfectly ideal situation of line-of-sight to a base station, WiMax is designed to work at distances of up to 31 miles.
The spread of WiMax networks has gotten wide industry support. Besides Intel, Cisco, Motorola, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Nortel Networks, Fujitsu and Samsung, to name a few, are supporting 802.16 as a standard.
Despite its momentum, however, WiMax still has a long way to go, and it may yet falter in the marketplace. Sky-high expectations for wireless broadband services are not new, but neither are disappointments. History is pockmarked with dramatic wireless failures, such as those of Ricochet Networks and MobileStar.
Nokia explains Qualcomm 'disappointment'
Aaron Tan
ZDNet Asia
November 11, 2005, 10:25 GMT
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/3ggprs/0,39020339,39236737,00.htm
The Finnish handset maker has said it thinks Qualcomm's licensing terms are unreasonable and discriminatory, as it faces up to a patent lawsuit
Nokia is disappointed that Qualcomm continues to disregard obligations to license patents fairly, according to a company statement.
Telecommunications equipment vendor Qualcomm has accused the mobile phone maker of infringing 11 patents that it owns, either directly or through Nokia's subsidiary SnapTrack. The patents are essential for the manufacture, or use, of equipment that complies with the GSM family of cellular standards.
"With respect to the patents alleged to be essential to the GSM, GPRS and EDGE standards, Qualcomm has a duty to license those patents on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms," Nokia said in a statement Monday.
Nokia added it is disappointed Qualcomm is taking legal action even before verifying the infringing patents, or proposing any licensing terms. "It is quite unusual for a company to institute litigation before discussing such terms," the company said.
However, Qualcomm's senior vice-president and general counsel Louis Lupin, said in a statement that "we have been discussing a number of issues with Nokia for some time, including the fact that we have essential GSM patents for which Nokia is not licensed."
"Until recently, we had been led to believe that these issues might be resolved cooperatively and amicably," Lupin said. "However, it now appears that a cooperative resolution of these issues is quite unlikely and we must move forward with the litigation in order to protect our rights, and to get these issues resolved."
It is not known, however, if talks between both companies so far include licensing terms.
A spokesman from Nokia Asia-Pacific declined to further comment on the lawsuit, while Qualcomm's global office did not respond to queries from ZDNet UK sister site ZDNet Asia.
But Nokia's global office said on Monday it would analyse Qualcomm's claims when it obtains the complaint, and will defend itself in this action to ensure its rights are fully protected.
The company also noted the timing of this action in relation to the recent request by Nokia and five other companies, for the European Commission to investigate Qualcomm's licensing practices.
Broadcom, Ericsson, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic Mobile Communications and Texas Instruments have claimed that Qualcomm is preventing other mobile phone chipset manufacturers from competing fairly in the market.
They said Qualcomm is refusing to license essential patents to potential chipset competitors on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms. They also alleged that the company offers favourable royalty rates to customers of handsets that buy chipsets exclusively from Qualcomm.
In response, global industry body GSM Association (GSMA) said it fully supports an intellectual property licensing process based on open standards and licensing on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms. This is central to a dynamic industry environment of innovation and competition.
"The GSM standard has flourished under these principles," said Rob Conway, chief executive of GSMA. "As one of the greatest examples of international cooperation, the industry ecosystem comprises many thousands of suppliers to almost 700 networks serving more than 1.6bn users today."
CDMA Passes 200 Million Subscribers Point
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14785.php
The CDMA Development Group (CDG) says that the number of CDMA2000 subscribers surpassed 200 million worldwide in September, only 18 months since the industry celebrated the 100-million milestone in June 2004. The 1xEV-DO subscriber base expanded to 18 million users. CDMA2000 is also driving the overall growth of CDMA technologies, which reached 286 million users, a 26% increase over the past 12 months. Close to 70% of CDMA subscribers use 3G technologies today.
CDMA2000 controls 85% of the 3G market and adds 15 million new users per quarter - three times as many as WCDMA. CDMA2000 is available in 61 countries across six continents. More than 21 million (>10%) of CDMA2000 subscribers reside outside Asia and North America, and this number is growing rapidly, especially in Latin America. In Asia, with 92 million users, CDMA2000 commands 12% market share; in North America, CDMA2000 has 77 million subscribers, or 35% of the market share, and in Latin America, with 15 million users, the technology has captured 7% market share.
CDMA2000 1xEV-DO added 2.2 million subscribers in the past three months and 8 million in the past year. This is the biggest quarterly growth to date, and is the result of the broader deployments worldwide and accelerating demand for advanced wireless services.
The combined number of cdmaOne and CDMA2000 subscribers increased by 15.5 million in 3Q 2005 to reach 285.7 million. This represents 60 million new adds for the year and a 26% annual growth rate. With 125 million users, Asia Pacific remains the largest region for the CDMA technologies, and that base is expanding at 30% per year. In North America, CDMA has 102.6 million subscribers and now accounts for 48% of the wireless market. Caribbean and Latin America continues to be the fastest-growing region for CDMA with 53.4 million users and a 37% annual growth rate, and controls 25% of the total market.
By the end of 2005, the CDMA subscriber base will exceed 300 million users and CDMA2000 will reach 220 million, including 20 million 1xEV-DO users.
Russia’s Delta Telecom user base up to 130,000 users
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14776.php
ST. PETERSBURG, Nov 10 (Prime-Tass) -- The subscriber base of Russia's St. Petersburg-based mobile phone operator Delta Telecom increased to 130,000 people as of now from about 90,000 as of January 1, the company's spokesman told Prime-Tass Thursday.
Delta Telecom provides IMT-MC-450 standard services under the Sky Link brand name in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
The spokesman said that the company's average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at U.S. $58 in September, adding that its ARPU has amounted to between $58 and $61 in the last six months in a row.
The spokesman said that Delta Telecom plans to launch Evolution Data Optimized, or EV-DO, technology that would allow increasing the speed of data transfer to 2.4 mbit/s from the current 0.16 mbit/s.
Delta Telecom was established in 1991 and started developing its network under the Sky Link brand in late 2002.
Sky Link was set up in July 2003 to promote the IMT-MC-450 standard, or CDMA2000 for the 450MHz frequency band, in Russia. Sky Link operates in 19 Russian regions and has a license covering 65 of Russia’s 89 regions with a total population of 104 million people, or 72% of Russia’s population.[/b)
Manager likes Qualcomm, Williams-Sonoma
November 10, 2005 03:45 PM ET
Michael Cuggino's defensive strategy leads to investments in bonds, metals and aggressive growth stocks.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Articles/StockPicks/P135736.asp
View a Quick Analysis of these stocks
Diversity provides protection, according to Michael Cuggino, whose Permanent Portfolio (PRPFX) fund offers a possible model for investor diversification.
Cuggino invests fixed percentages in gold, silver, Swiss government bonds, aggressive growth stocks and Treasurys. The fund has made money every year since 1994 and is up an average of 11.8% a year over the past five years.
Cuggino recommended the following stocks during an appearance Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Get additional details below, and use the CNBC.com on MSN tools, including StockScouter, to learn more about each company. And keep up with the Street with the latest Market Dispatch. Start investing with $100.
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Quick Analysis
QUALCOMM, Inc.
• The company is a leading developer of wireless-chip technology. It pioneered CDMA (code division multiple access) technology used in cell phones and other wireless communications equipment.
• As the CDMA patent holder, Qualcomm derives royalties from licensing its technology to cell phone makers. Technology licensing accounts for one-third of company sales.
• Qualcomm is well positioned to benefit in the ongoing shift to newer 3G or third-generation cell-phone technologies that can transmit data at higher speeds, Cuggino said.
• The stock is not cheap, Cuggino said, but investors should pounce if the price slips. “But as a growth story going forward, (Qualcomm) is a good place to be,” he said.
• Qualcomm insiders have been heavy sellers of company shares. Insiders have executed about 100 sales of Qualcomm stock in the past six months.
• According to Zacks, the average brokerage recommendation for Qualcomm is moderate buy.
• Qualcomm on Nov. 10 was rated 10 out of 10 on StockScouter.
Four Picks In U.S. Wireless Equipment
Ed Lin, 11.09.05, 5:21 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/11/09/wireless-motorola-qualcomm-1109markets13.html?partner=yahoo....
Standard & Poor's Equity Research analyst Ken Leon reiterated a positive outlook for the U.S. wireless equipment group.
In a research report, Leon cited recent media reports that 40% of Americans get a new cell phone every two years, and noted the "market power" of phones retailing for less than $50 in China and India.
"We forecast global handset shipments to reach 780 million to 800 million in 2005, 30%-plus unit growth," Leon said.
Within the group, he likes Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ), Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people ), Powerwave Technologies (nasdaq: PWAV - news - people ) and Research in Motion (nasdaq: RIMM - news - people ).
Samsung, KT Freetel among those joining Qualcomm's FLO Forum
Nov 3, 2005
http://www.btobonline.com/news.cms?newsId=24706
FREMONT, Calif.-The FLO Forum, a four-month-old association formed to advance mobile TV technology, said nine new companies have joined its ranks.
The new members are South Korea's EBS, KT Freetel, MSYS and Samsung Electronics; U.S.-based Ktech Telecom and Newport Media; Rohde & Schwarz from Germany; and Streamezzo and Teamcast of France. The companies join current members Amoi, BBEF, Harris Corp., Huawei, Korea Telecom, Kyocera, LG Electronics, LG Telecom, MediaFLO USA Inc., Pantech & Curitel, Qualcomm Inc., Roundbox, Sanyo Electric Co., Sharp Corp. and ZTE.
The news lends further push to Qualcomm's mobile TV technology, MediaFLO. The company has plans to build a nationwide mobile TV network running on the proprietary technology. Tower company Crown Castle, Texas Instruments and Nokia Corp. are pushing a rival network running on the DVB-H mobile TV standard.
Euronext Brussels) - Option ships 1 millionth 3G UMTS wireless data card.
(10/11/05 08:45 CET)
http://www.euronext.com/news/companypressrelease/0,4616,1700631_11894_683577439,00.html
Leuven - Belgium, November 10, 2005 - Option N.V. (Euronext: OPTI, OTC: OPNVY), the wireless technology company, today announced that it has shipped its 1 millionth 3G UMTS wireless data card. The millionth data card, a customized Vodafone version of the GlobeTrotter 3G QUAD, rolled off of the production lines at Option’s logistics facility in Cork (Ireland) this week and was delivered to Vodafone D2 in Germany.
Option announced the development of the first 3G UMTS wireless data card at ITU Telecom World (Geneva) in October 2003. Since then the Company has developed a comprehensive and unrivalled range of six 3G UMTS enabled wireless data cards: GlobeTrotter 3G/GPRS, GlobeTrotter 3G QUAD, GlobeTrotter FUSION, GlobeTrotter FUSION QUAD, GlobeTrotter 3G/EDGE and GlobeTrotter FUSION+. These data cards are currently shipped globally to over 65 mobile network operators.
Jan Callewaert, CEO at Option: “Shipping our 1 millionth 3G wireless data card marks an important milestone for Option and further strengthens our position as the number 1 supplier of 3G UMTS wireless data cards world wide. Superior performance coupled with unmatched reliability and extensive customisation services make our products ’best in class’. The increasing demand from mobile network operators for Option’s products continues to contribute to the company’s strong
performance and success in the 3G global market”.
Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, President of Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) CDMA Technologies congratulated Option: “This milestone marks significant accomplishment in industry wide efforts to bring WCDMA technology to people around the world. Qualcomm is committed to the success of all its partners, and the 1 millionth data card shipped by Option is a substantial achievement that paves the way for further success in the future”.
ABOUT OPTION
Option NV (www.option.com), the wireless technology company, is a leading innovator in the design, development and manufacture of 3G WCDMA (HSDPA and UMTS), EDGE, GPRS, GSM and WLAN technology products for broadband wireless connectivity solutions. Option has built up an enviable
reputation for creating exciting products that enhance the performance and functionality of wireless communications. Option’s headquarters are in Leuven, Belgium. The company has Research & Development in Leuven, a Software and Applications development centre in Adelsried (Germany), a wireless router development centre in Stockholm (Sweden), and an ISO 9002 production engineering andlogistics facility in Cork, Ireland.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Douglas Ros, Vice President Business Development & Marketing
Tel +32 (0)16 317 411
E-mail: d.ros@option.com
Frederic Convent, CFO
Tel + 32 (0) 16 317 411
E-mail: investor@option.com
Bron : Option
Qualcomm Aims to Win Nokia as Customer Next Year, Altman Says
November 8, 2005 19:44 EST -- Qualcomm Inc., the world's second- largest maker of mobile phone semiconductors, is aiming to sign Nokia Oyj as a customer for its chips.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conews&tkr=NOK:US
Qualcomm Gets a Foothold in the UK
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14741.php
Qualcomm has signed an agreement with O2 UK to use uiOne to develop a consistent user interface (UI), initially for two of its own-branded X range devices. With this agreement, O2 becomes the first operator in Europe to announce plans to deploy uiOne. It is expected that O2 devices that use the new platform will be available in late 2006.
The open and flexible uiOne offering will provide the ability for UI updates to be delivered over the air (OTA). This update capability will enable O2 to provision new content into the UI such as branding refreshes, promotions and entertainment content as well as periodic software or feature upgrades.
"This agreement demonstrates O2's commitment to providing its customers with the ability to customize their user interfaces on its own branded devices," said Peggy Johnson, president of Qualcomm Internet Services. "uiOne is a logical step for true differentiation in the wireless marketplace and will provide time-to-market, revenue and branding benefits to give O2's mobile offering further differentiation in one of Europe's most competitive markets."
"Our X range devices are a key part of our business strategy. We see this uiOne implementation on part of our X range as complementary to our existing partnerships in providing a consistent user interface that our customers are able to easily identify with," said Ian Clarke, head of devices for O2 UK. "This agreement will enable O2 to further develop our understanding of customizing customers' mobile phones, allowing them to personalize their mobile experience."
BBC is accidentally first super-fast 3G user
Broadcasts live via Manx Telecom
By Tony Dennis: mercredi 09 novembre 2005, 10:44
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27565
IN A strange twist of fate, the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) became the first commercial user of Manx Telecom's super-fast 3G network. It borrowed a wireless Sony laptop and sent out a live broadcast using Skype.
Owned by British network operator, O2, on November 1st 2005 Manx Telecom became the first European company to offer commercial support for HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access). It's such a silly acronym that everyone's started to call it super-fast 3G instead.
The BBC had turned up at a Manx school expecting to find a 2 Mbit/s ADSL link to carry its broadcast. As Manx Telecom is the Isle of Man's only telecoms provider, they were asked for help. And Manx Telecom promptly lent the Beeb a Sony Vaio laptop fitted with the first commercially available HSDPA compatible PCMCIA card from Sierra Wireless.
Curiously O2's CTO, Dave Williams had spent time telling assembled journalists that super-fast 3G wasn't really intended for VoIP usage. But the Beeb obviously didn't know this.
In essence, HSDPA is W-CDMA's answer to CDMA2000's EVDO. It offers faster download speeds but the fun starts when you try to establish just how fast it can go. At present Manx users will experience a peak download rate of 1.3 Mbit/s but the upload link on runs at a mere 128 Kbit/s.
The reason for this lies with the fact that the network has been built with equipment supplied by Lucent. Presently it's capped at 1.8 Mbit/s but by January 2006, the uplink will be cranked up to 384 Kbit/s.
However, by Q3 2006 O2 and Lucent expect to have raised the download speed to around 3.6 Mbit/s – rising to 7.3 Mbit/s by Q1 2008 and 10.2 Mbit/s by Q4 2004-Q4 2009.
Does all this matter, though? The INQ got to play with one of the Sierra Wireless equipped laptops and it genuinely felt like having a regular ADSL link. The difference being that the laptop was in a coach travelling back to the airport at around 30 mph!
As Dave Williams was fond of saying, HSDPA delivers the kind of 3G we were all promised in the first place. Whether it'll sound the death knoll for commercial Wi-Fi hotspots as he says, is a matter for debate.
O2 definitely has an HSDPA enabled handset on test but refused to name the supplier. The INQ suspects that given the Sierra Wireless card is using a Qualcomm chip, it's probably a proof of concept device built by Qualcomm. They did the same thing when regular W-CDMA was launched.
More intriguing is the prospect of an HSDPA compatible version of the Ovation from Novatel wireless. Basically it’s a portable Wi-Fi hub which creates an instant hot spot. The Internet connexion is supplied by 3G. Manx Telecom hopes to have such a beast in time for the famous TT motorcycle races next year [2006].
When will O2 offer super-fast 3G on its other networks? Probably around Q3 2006 and in Ireland before the UK.
How much does it cost? Well, Manx is offering bundles. You can buy the Sierra Wireless Aircard 850 for £49 (inc VAT). You'll need to sign a Pronto Connect Max contract. For the first three months rental is free. After that you get charged £39.95 per month for 100Mb of data.
Pricing will probably be similar in the UK. µ
Qualcomm Fighting Legal Challenges On Several Fronts
Tuesday November 8, 7:00 pm ET
Mike Angell
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/051108/tech01.html?.v=1
Besides its engineers, Qualcomm's busiest employees these days are its lawyers.
The wireless chipmaker, which owns a large number of patents used in cell phone technology, is fighting legal battles on several fronts. Six other wireless companies have asked European Union regulators to investigate Qualcomm (NasdaqNM:QCOM - News) for unfair competition. And Qualcomm itself filed suit against one complainant, Nokia (NYSE:NOK - News), for patent infringement.
It doesn't end there. Qualcomm also faces an antitrust suit, as well as various patent infringement suits, brought by rival chipmaker Broadcom (NasdaqNM:BRCM - News) -- also one of the complainants to the EU -- earlier this summer. Qualcomm has responded with its own suits against Broadcom.
"It's been a hectic couple of weeks," said Qualcomm's general counsel Lou Lupin.
Thanks to its patent portfolio, Qualcomm is the most profitable company in the highly competitive wireless tech industry. Rivals say that profit has been driven by unfair business practices.
Qualcomm says its deals with the industry are above board. And it expects to prevail in its legal battles.
Most analysts agree, citing Qualcomm's past success in defeating such suits. "I can't see any of these claims progressing much further," said American Technology Research analyst Albert Lin. "Shareholders don't want to see these players ruin each other."
In October, Nokia, Broadcom, Ericsson (NasdaqNM:ERICY - News), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN - News), NEC (NasdaqNM:NIPNY - News) and Panasonic's cell phone unit asked the European Commission, the continent's regulators, to investigate Qualcomm for anti-competitive practices -- especially in the arena of new third-generation, or 3G, phones.
Qualcomm, however, says it has not seen the complaint or received any notice from the commission.
At its recent analysts meeting, Qualcomm pointed to 3G phone price drops as a sign that the market is competitive.
A Broadcom spokesman says the issues it brought before the commission are similar to its earlier anti-trust suit. That suit, filed in New Jersey district court, is still in the early stage of pleadings.
Essentially, Broadcom accuses Qualcomm of not being fair in licensing its patents on CDMA technology to competitors. CDMA, or code division multiple access, generates most of Qualcomm's revenue.
Broadcom accuses Qualcomm of reducing royalty payments to customers who buy Qualcomm's wireless chips. The price of Qualcomm's chips get deducted from the amount customers have to pay in royalties, Broadcom alleges.
Such incentives do exist, says Qualcomm's Lupin. But they're limited to certain countries and are not widely used in 3G phones, he says.
Broadcom and others also complain that Qualcomm charges too much for its patents -- especially since CDMA is only a part of 3G technology.
When a company licenses the CDMA patent portfolio from Qualcomm, the company pays one price whether they use just one patent or a hundred to build their product.
While a CDMA-only phone would use nearly all of Qualcomm's patents, 3G phones use patents from many other companies.
To that end, Qualcomm's royalty rates should be lowered, other wireless firms argue.
That reasoning makes sense, Lin says, though he doesn't expect Qualcomm to drop their current royalty system. "It's not like in the early days of CDMA, when they had all the patents," Lin said. "But it still feels like they have all the intellectual property considering the rates they charge."
Lupin notes that while other companies have contributed patents to the 3G standard, Qualcomm's patents are still essential to making the whole thing work. "The enabler of 3G is our technology," he said.
Qualcomm successfully defended itself in similar cases back in the mid-1990s. Given that precedent, it's likely Qualcomm can emerge from its current suits mostly intact, Lin says. "Companies may resent Qualcomm strength, but they have mostly come to live with it," he said.
QUALCOMM Files GSM Patent Infringement Suit Against Nokia
Monday November 7, 5:00 am ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051107/lam086.html?.v=29
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News) and its wholly owned subsidiary, SnapTrack, Inc., filed suit on November 4 against Nokia Corporation and Nokia Inc. in federal court in San Diego for infringement of eleven of QUALCOMM's patents and one patent owned by SnapTrack. QUALCOMM's lawsuit includes patents that are essential for the manufacture or use of equipment that complies with the GSM, GPRS and EDGE cellular standards (the GSM family of standards) and other patents that are infringed by Nokia's products. Patents that are essential to a standard are those that must necessarily be infringed to comply with the requirements of the standard. QUALCOMM's complaint states that Nokia is infringing QUALCOMM's patents by making or selling products in the United States that comply with the GSM family of standards. QUALCOMM seeks an injunction against Nokia's continuing sale of infringing products and monetary damages.
"We have been discussing a number of issues with Nokia for some time, including the fact that we have essential GSM patents for which Nokia is not licensed, and we are disappointed that this has resulted in litigation," said Louis M. Lupin, senior vice president and general counsel of QUALCOMM. "Until recently, we had been led to believe that these issues might be resolved cooperatively and amicably. However, it now appears that a cooperative resolution of these issues is quite unlikely and we must move forward with the litigation in order to protect our rights and to get these issues resolved."
Demand from cell phone users for data services and multimedia features has been growing dramatically since the advent of second-generation (2G) cellular technologies. The ability to provide better data performance is one of the primary reasons that the wireless industry has selected CDMA technology for nearly all third-generation (3G) cellular standards and systems. Faced with this demand and spurred by competition from CDMA systems, 2G standards, such as GSM, have been evolved to support improved data capabilities. These evolutions of GSM-first GPRS and later EDGE-have adopted patented innovations developed by QUALCOMM originally for use in CDMA systems to: achieve higher data rates, increase spectral efficiency, enhance capacity, improve resistance to interference, permit access to packet switched networks, and facilitate multimedia distribution. Nokia's GSM, GPRS and EDGE standards-compliant products unavoidably infringe QUALCOMM's patents surrounding these inventions that have become essential to the GSM family of standards. Six of the patents in QUALCOMM's complaint against Nokia were also asserted in the complaint that QUALCOMM filed against Broadcom Corporation on July 11, 2005.
QUALCOMM's extensive patent portfolio includes more than 4,000 United States patents and patent applications and more than 20,000 patents and applications around the globe. QUALCOMM has entered into more than 130 royalty-bearing license agreements with the world's leading telecommunications equipment makers and consumer electronics manufacturers. QUALCOMM's extensive licensing program has fostered the widespread adoption of leading-edge technologies and promoted vibrant competition throughout the wireless industry, encouraging innovation and technological advancement. QUALCOMM is prepared to offer licenses under its essential GSM/GPRS/EDGE patents on fair and reasonable terms free from unfair discrimination to any company that requests one.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2005 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol QCOM.
QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners
QUALCOMM Contacts:
Richard Tinkler, Corporate Communications
Phone: +44 208 466 0874
Email: rtinkler@qualcomm.com
or
Jeremy James, Corporate Communications
Phone: 1-858-845-7333
Email: corpcomm@qualcomm.com
or
Bill Davidson, Investor Relations
Phone: 1-858-658-4813
Email: ir@qualcomm.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated
Qualcomm's Near-Term Trends Remain Strong
Maya Roney, 10.31.05, 2:57 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/10/31/qualcomm-wireless-manufacturing-1031markts13.html?partner=y....
Piper Jaffray Senior Analyst T. Michael Walkley maintained an "outperform" rating and $51 price target on Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people ) after six companies filed complaints to the European Commission claiming Qualcomm's licensing of WCDMA patents was anti-competitive.
"While WCDMA licensing revenue is a key long-term growth driver for Qualcomm and this issue could pressure Qualcomm's multiple, we believe near-term trends remain strong and anticipate upbeat earnings call," said Walkley.
On Friday, Broadcom (nasdaq: BRCM - news - people ), Ericsson (nasdaq: ERICY - news - people ), NEC (nasdaq: NIPNY - news - people ), Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ), Panasonic Mobile Communications and Texas Instruments (nyse: TXN - news - people ) each filed complaints to the European Commission requesting an investigation into Qualcomm's WCDMA licensing practices.
Walkley said he was not surprised by this action given the improving fundamentals in the WCDMA market in Europe, positive growth outlook for 2006, and comments from industry contacts suggesting actions to attempt to reduce Qualcomm's WCDMA licensing agreements. The analyst believes the EC's investigation could take several years
Qualcomm denies sharp practice
Handbags at dawn as complainants are accused of running scared
Iain Thomson, vnunet.com 31 Oct 2005
http://www.infomaticsonline.co.uk/vnunet/news/2145169/qualcomm-denies-sharp-practice
Wireless firm Qualcomm has hit back at criticisms of its business practices, maintaining that the complainants are scared of its ability to win new customers.
The company said in a statement that, while it has not actually seen the formal complaint, the reported content was "factually inaccurate and legally meritless".
Qualcomm added that it looks forward to fighting the allegations in public process and would "vigorously defend" itself.
"It is not surprising that the reported allegations come largely from entrenched 2G suppliers which have the most to lose from the enhanced and expanded competition in 3G created by Qualcomm's widespread licensing and supply of enabling 3G technology, chipsets and software," said Dr Paul Jacobs, chief executive at Qualcomm.
"The many new handset market entrants, working in co-operation with Qualcomm, threaten the market shares of these entrenched manufacturers and their component suppliers."
Dr Jacobs added that the price of WCDMA handsets is declining and that take-up of the technology is faster than for GSM at its inception.
Haruo Suzuki, director of Panasonic Mobile Communications, one of the complainants, said: "Panasonic MC believes that Qualcomm is charging excessive and disproportional royalty rates in breach of EU competition law and industry requirements to offer licences for essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms."
Broadcom, Ericsson, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic MC and Texas Instruments all filed their complaints with the EU Competition Commission.
Qualcomm replied that the complaints about royalty rates were unfounded and were "simply complaints about legitimate and lawful price competition".
It also stated that it had never made the purchase of its chips a condition of granting a licence.
If the link is not working, Please try this link:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=qualcomm&btnG=Search+News
then click on
A Scrum Over Qualcomm's Fees BusinessWeek
(this is a copy right article, I cannot post it)
Excellent Analysis on Qualcomm VS 6 Rivals
OCTOBER 31, 2005
News Analysis
By Andy Reinhardt
A Scrum Over Qualcomm's Fees
Europe is once again the scene of a bitter high-tech battle. This time it pits a half-dozen rivals against Qualcomm over its licensing practices
Please click on below link for detail:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2005/tc20051031_066557.htm
JeffreyHF, well said. The big guys knew the complain before it is published today, I believe. They picked the perfect time to bring Qcom share below 40 as of now. This is the time that I should turn off my computer.
Symbol Time* Trade* Change* After Hrs Chg* Bid* Ask*
QCOM 9:14AM ET 39.77 -3.28 (7.62%) N/A 39.75 39.83
This is the preemtive strike by the Six Top Tech Firms to prevent Qualcomm from entering the EU 3G market. They know darn well that they cannot compete with Qualcomm in Asia(Japan,Korea,China and India etc...) North and South America, Australia, they asked the European Court for help. Shame on them!
TechFaith Releases First 3G Phone
Thursday October 27, 9:13 am ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051027/lnth008.html?.v=1
BEIJING, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- China TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology Limited (Nasdaq: CNTF - News), a handset application software and handset solution provider based in China, today announced it has released its first 3G phone. The phone is available in Italy and features Qualcomm's 6250 chipset, with WCDMA/GSM mode. The candy bar shaped phone is 19mm thick, with 64MB memory capable front 100K and rear 300K pixel cameras.
Defu Dong, Chief Executive Officer of TechFaith, said, "This is a very important milestone for TechFaith as it expands our presence internationally and expands our offerings of products with advanced technology. 3G phones are appealing to consumers because of their support for applications other than voice, such as high speed Internet, video on demand services, graphics and video games. We expect our first 3G phone to be a successful product based on the strength of the phone itself, combined with the brand owner and the carrier that we are working with. We intend to customize this product for additional carriers."
According to QUALCOMM Incorporated, well over 128 million people around the world now subscribe to 3G wireless services based on CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS). Services based on these ITU-approved standards have been launched by 104 operators in 46 countries.
About China TechFaith
China TechFaith is one of the largest handset application software and handset solution providers based in China. With the technology capabilities in developing MMI on GSM/GPRS, CDMA1X, EVDO, WCDMA/UMTS, HSDPA, TD-SCDMA and Wi- Fi technologies, China TechFaith is able to provide MMI software which fulfills the major global operators' standards. China TechFaith provides handset application software including WAP, Java, MMS, WWW browser, SyncML, DRM, etc. China TechFaith also provides total solutions for handset software development. In addition, China TechFaith has the capability to develop Smart Phone based on Linux, Windows CE and Brew operation systems. Based on the above technology capabilities, China TechFaith provides full range services in handset design to satisfy different customers' needs. Our services include (i) handset design solution; (ii) turkey software and design solution on chipset; (iii) application software; and (iv) wireless module and wireless application products. For more information visit www.techfaithwireless.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as China TechFaith's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. China TechFaith may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on forms 20-F and 6-K, etc., in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about China TechFaith's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, China TechFaith's limited operating history, mobile handset brand owners' discontinuation or reduction of the use of independent design houses, China TechFaith's ability to retain existing or attract additional international customers, China TechFaith's earnings or margin declines, failure of competing against new and exist competitors, and other risks outlined in China TechFaith's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statement on Form F-1, as amended. China TechFaith does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
CONTACTS:
In China:
Ms. Yuping OuYang
Tel: 86-10-5822-9918
inforequest@mail.techfaith.cn
In the U.S.:
David Pasquale, EVP at The Ruth Group
Tel: +646-536-7006
dpasquale@theruthgroup.com
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Source: China TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology Limited