Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[khemara_qc]

Qualcomm bangs 3G drum in Canberra
Chris Jenkins
SEPTEMBER 13, 2005

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,16581938%5E15317%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html

PIONEERING CDMA telephony developer Qualcomm has been lobbying the federal Government about the CDMA standard, saying its potential is not well understood in Canberra.

Qualcomm Australia manager Rob Hart said the company discussed the matter with the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, and advisers to the Communications Minister, Senator Helen Coonan.
Politicians and bureaucrats in Canberra were well aware of the rival GSM-based wideband CDMA (WCDMA) third generation (3G) mobile standard, but little was known about the CDMA-based 1xRTT or EV-DO standards, Mr Hart said.

"We wanted to make them aware that we had a great asset could be used to help solve some of the problems in getting broadband out to rural and regional communities."

Telstra is the only operator running an EV-DO network in Australia, using it for its wireless broadband service.

Federal schemes, such as the Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS), designed to encourage the uptake of broadband in outlying areas, formed part of the discussion, he said.

"We talked to them about HiBIS to see if it would be a candidate, and they agreed that there was nothing to stop anyone applying for funds from using a wireless technology."

The interest in AAPT's proposed auction of its CDMA spectrum licences earlier this year showed CDMA and its derivatives need not be a Telstra-only technology, Mr Hart said.

There was "untapped interest" in the standard, he said.

"On the surface it would appear to be Telstra-only, but I think there may be others that, if they could access the spectrum, would use it," he said.

Although it has attracted interest from groups interested in regional wireless local-loop services, AAPT is believed to have backed away from moves to auction its unused licences.

Release A of the technology, due in the second half of next year promises download speeds of up to 3.1Mbps and an uplink capable of 1.8Mbps.

That release will include quality of service features to allow voice over internet protocol and the use of different carriers' infrastructure to increase download speeds.

The Australian