Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

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Glitches seen in Qualcomm cell chips

Phones cut out during 911 calls, Verizon says
By Kathryn Balint
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 19, 2004

Across the country, cell phone companies are beginning to roll out a 911-emergency service that can pinpoint a wireless caller's location.

And Qualcomm, the San Diego-based developer of chips for wireless phones, says its technology can locate callers best of all.

There's just one problem: some calls made to 911 using phones with Qualcomm chips cut in and out.

That's what Verizon Wireless has faced this week in areas of the country where 911 calls from wireless phones can be tracked by location. That capability isn't available yet in San Diego County.

But during some emergency calls in those areas, Verizon found that voices on the line cut out every two seconds for the first half minute.

All of the phones involved were equipped with Qualcomm chips.

Verizon spokesman Ken Muché said no calls were dropped and, at least to his knowledge, none of the emergencies was exacerbated by the glitch. It affected an "infinitesimal" number of customers, he said.

Verizon has turned to Qualcomm for help in solving the issue.

It's the same kind of problem Sprint experienced last year with phones using Qualcomm chips.

In both cases, the interruption of voice calls occurred whenever the phones tried to contact a satellite to determine the caller's exact location.

From Qualcomm's point of view, the problem isn't with its chips.

"There's no product problem whatsoever with our chipset," said Bill Davidson, Qualcomm's vice president of investor relations. "What we have is not a situation that was unexpected."

Qualcomm's chips use both satellites and cell towers to pinpoint a wireless caller's location. So a phone using a Qualcomm chip, Davidson said, can track a caller when other phones can't.

The emergency calls that were interrupted typically occurred on the fringes of a 911 calling area.

"If you're in an area of spotty coverage or indoors, where you don't have a full view of a satellite and where other services might not be able to get a location, we can still get a fix," Davidson said.

Even so, Qualcomm last summer introduced a new chip that can carry voice traffic and contact a satellite simultaneously. Phones with the new chip will begin appearing this summer.

Qualcomm has advised other wireless carriers that have experienced disruptions during emergency calls using the company's chips.

"We have worked with carriers around the world – Japan, China, other operators in the United States," Davidson said. "There are settings that can be done in the network that significantly mitigate these issues."

Sprint fixed its problem by "tweaking" the company's network software, said company spokesman Dan Wilinsky. Instead of its phones trying to reach a satellite for a fix on a location for 32 seconds, the phones now attempt to reach a satellite for just 16 seconds.

"Since then, there has been no problem," Wilinsky said.

David H. Williams, chief executive of E911-LBS Consulting in Wilton, Conn., said he thinks the problem might be Qualcomm's chip.

"I don't think it's a network problem," he said. "I think it's, in all likelihood, a handset problem, and from the initial indications, it would be narrowed down to the Qualcomm chip. It has the global positioning system abilities within it."

About 12 percent of the country has the ability to pinpoint the location of a caller who dials 911 on a wireless phone. The federally mandated service has been rolled out in parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Plans are under way to provide it in San Diego County.



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Kathryn Balint: [phone]; [e-mail]


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