WCA March 2008

33 / 109

Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2008 31
After paying the licence fee, each
letter-of-intent holder is entitled to
4.4 MHz of GSM (global system for
mobile communications) spectrum
per circle, subject to availability.
The New Delhi newspaper said
that the ‘complete turnaround’ by
the agency apparently reflects a
decision in favour of ‘an easier and
safer option’ for promoting mobile
services in India.
China Netcom Group Corp,
the smaller of the two Chinese
fixed-line carriers, has begun
selling a combined package of
telecommunication and computer
services to companies to help
accelerate growth of sales to
businesses, it was announced
by Netcom’s Hong Kong unit
on 10 th January. Beijing-based
Netcom also said it may set up
overseas offices in addition to
those it now operates in Hong
Kong, Tokyo, London, and Los
Angeles. The dominant Chinese
fixed-line operator in ten northern
provinces and cities including
Beijing, Netcom is following rival
China Telecom Corp in seeking
fees for designing and managing
the networks of corporate clients.
The two carriers are losing phone
customers to wireless companies
as lower prices prompt consumers
to switch to mobile-phone services.
The government of China has
approved a plan to build an
improved wireless broadband
cellphone network to elevate the
country’s competitiveness with
homegrown technology. The plan
is ‘a major thrust in the future of
China’s information technology,’
China’s State Council said on
11th December, but it provided no
details.
Wireless chip maker Qualcomm
Inc (San Diego) said that an
unfavourable ruling in a patent
dispute with Irvine-based Broad-
com Corp would hurt its business
in the short term. A federal judge
in California ruled on 1st January
that Qualcomm could sell, through
January 2009, some chips whose
designs infringe three patents
held by Broadcom, but must pay
royalties. After that, Qualcomm is
permanently barred from infringing
the three Broadcom patents. The
court also issued an immediate
injunction on WCDMA products that
were found to infringe Broadcom’s
✆
✆
✆
✆
video encoding patent. Qualcomm
said that it expected to have new
WCDMA chips in cell phones before
the end of March.
Nokia Siemens Networks said
in Helsinki on 2nd January that it
had agreed to buy Apertio Ltd, of
Britain, for $205 million. The deal,
which was expected to close in
the first quarter, would result in a
new Apertio business line within
the Nokia Siemens Converged
Core business unit. Closely held
Apertio, a provider of real-time
subscriber data applications for
telecom operators, had sales 2007
of around $41.2 million.
Motorola Inc (Schaumburg, Illinois)
said on 4th January that it plans
to offset revenue losses from its
declining handset sales by offering
a portable pocket-size television
set. The device, powered by a
four-hour battery, can receive
live TV signals and play saved
programmes and video clips on
its 4.3" screen, said Motorola. It is
available from phone companies,
broadcasters and retailers. The
Mobile TV DH01 will compete with
media players that include Apple’s
iPod Touch, which has a 3.5"
screen and sells for as much as
$399. Motorola did not give a list
price for its unit. Sales of mobile
phones, which account for more
than half of Motorola’s revenue,
dipped after the company failed
to match the success of its Razr
model. More than 110 million units
of the Razr have been sold since
its introduction three years ago.
According to Bloomberg News,
900,000 units of the thinner Razr 2,
which went on sale in the US in
August, were sold in the third
quarter of last year.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said
on 6th January that it is studying
the feasibility of challenging its
bigger rival Nokia in emerging
markets with a low-cost ($40-$50)
mobile phone that comes in a
choice of colors. Nokia, of Finland,
enjoys a lead in these markets.
Samsung, of South Korea – No
2 in the mobile phone industry
worldwide in the third quarter of
2007 – gained market share for the
year by moving away from premium
models to offer more medium- and
low-cost phones. The average
selling price of Samsung’s mobile
phones was $151 in third-quarter
✆
✆
✆
2007, compared with the average
for 2006 of $176. Its market share
is estimated at 14% or higher in
2007, up from 11.4% in 2006.
The Internet phone-service
provider Vonage Holdings Corp
(Holmdel, New Jersey), said on
1st January that it had resolved
a patent dispute with Nortel
Networks Corp (Toronto, Canada)
that had threatened to shut down
some Vonage calling features.
The companies are to drop claims
relating to past damages; give up
claims related to other patents;
and each will license three patents
to the other. The agreement leaves
Vonage with one major patent
dispute in the works, according to a
list of cases the company included
in a 14th November regulatory filing.
After it lost an infringement trial to
Verizon Communications in March
2007, Vonage, which has never
reported a profit, said it could face
bankruptcy. The company settled
that case after an appeals court
upheld most of the verdict. In
September, it lost a suit brought by
Sprint Nextel Corp and settled the
following month, just before the
Verizon agreement. Vonage also
settled litigation brought by AT&T
and the patent holding companies
Klausner Technologies and Rates
Technology.
Wang Jianzhou, president of China
Mobile, said on 11th January that
the company had completed its
construction of the homegrown TD-
SCDMA (time division-synchronous
code division multiple access)
large-scale technology application
testing network in eight cities and
would begin network application
testing shortly. Referencing the
Chinese news agency Xinhua,
Telecomasia.net reported Mr Wang
as saying that China Mobile is in
the lead in releasing the TD-LTE
(long-term evolution) standard,
which is now the sole post-3G TDD
(test-driven development) standard
and has been accepted by the
major telecom operators of next-
generation mobile networks.
Telecomasia.net also noted China
Mobile’s pledge to provide special
mobile telecom services during
the Beijing 2008 Olympic and
Paralympic Games, to be held
8th-24th August, as well as to
advance the development of
overseas markets.
✆
✆