Feds impose "partial ban" on Qualcomm-powered phones
Stock up on those 3G handsets, folks -- they could become very valuable commodities here in the next few weeks. As part of an ongoing series of spats between wireless giants Qualcomm and Broadcom, the US International Trade Commission has ruled that handsets containing Qualcomm 3G chipsets (and that's a whole heck of a lot of handsets) that are manufactured starting today may not be imported into the US. By all accounts, this appears to be much more than legal posturing on Broadcomm's part -- a ban is a ban -- and we've gotta believe this'll resolve itself right quick. But if for whatever reason it doesn't, get ready for an eBay free-for-all in a gloomy, scorched-earth future where the only high speed handsets are pawned for thousands of New Dollars on the black market. [Warning: subscription required]
Filed under: Misc
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brad @ Jun 7th 2007 5:39PM
Looks like the HTC Kaiser is going to have to wait...
JayCaesar @ Jun 7th 2007 5:52PM
yeah thats the first thought i had when i was reading this but they are already manufactured arent they?
bell boy @ Jun 7th 2007 6:08PM
That sucks. HTC Titan here I come when Sprint releases it week after next. I was waiting for the Kaiser before I get rid of my ancient Nextel plan but with no Kaiser, the Titan will have to do.
Of course I will wait a few days and see what the verdict of this is and pray that it can be resolved before then.
Donald @ Jun 7th 2007 6:28PM
From the sounds of the PhoneScoop story, it applies to any phone that hasn't been released by a carrier as of yet (for example, at&t got the Samsung A717 out under the wire but the Samsung A727 is blocked) - and uses a Qualcomm chipset.
If I'm Nokia, I'm giddy right now.
elgee02 @ Jun 7th 2007 6:57PM
This doesn't actually go into effect for the carries for 60 days and trust me both VZW and Sprint will be fighting this tooth and nail to prevent it.
LordObento @ Jun 7th 2007 7:04PM
This effect GSM handsets as well, WCDMA Chips for the 3G will be banned so, Every Carrier will probably try and fight it. Except for maybe t-mob :)
Alex @ Jun 7th 2007 9:56PM
Good thing the iPhone doesn't have 3G!
SC @ Jun 7th 2007 10:40PM
Verizon has more scary laywers than most network operators have engineers, they're not just going to roll over people... remember what they did to Vonage? Scorched earth.
Jamar @ Jun 7th 2007 9:50PM
And will Broadcom or Qualcomm just roll over to Verizon?
NuShrike @ Jun 8th 2007 3:29AM
I hope HTC regrets using the crappy Qualcomm chipset for their phones now. Because of Qualcomm's supposedly cheap deals on multi-function chips, we couldn't get real GPS chips in the HTC phones.
ShortFuse @ Jun 9th 2007 12:40PM
It doesn't affect too much of AT&T. Most of 3G AT&T phones use Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (FSL) and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN). This only affects future phones. If the phone has been imported already, it's in. A727 is safe (if they started importing it). This is a major blow to Verizon and Sprint. ALL EVDO is affected. This makes me happy. I hate CDMA :)
Zachary @ Jun 23rd 2007 5:27AM
So, if I get the HTC Mogul Sprint, will it work? Will it be useless? I am really slow. I don't get it.
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