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licenses posts

Samsung pays Qualcomm $1.3 billion to secure wireless licenses

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 9th 2009 @ 6:11AM

Samsung and Qualcomm have wrapped up a cross-licensing deal with ten figures of US currency in it, which will permit the Korean giant to continue producing 3G- and 4G-enabled wireless devices for the next 15 years. In exchange, Samsung is letting Qualcomm make use of its own 57 patents on mobile technology and splashing out a further $1.3 billion as a down payment. Further royalty payments are involved, but not detailed, but just as a reference point, that's more than the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and its ultra-huge scoreboard cost to build. The move is a renewal of the two companies' current arrangement and Samsung has boldly claimed the terms of the new contract are more favorable to it, but we get the feeling the champagne will be flowing in San Diego this week.

[Via MobileTechWorld]

China finally awards 3G licenses, winners no surprise

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 7th 2009 @ 12:29PM

If you thought Vodafone or Telefonica would somehow emerge as a big winner in China's 3G spectrum launch... well, yeah, think again. China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom have now been armed with licenses for TD-SCDMA, WCDMA (UMTS and HSPA that is), and CDMA2000 / EV-DO, respectively, meaning the world's largest carrier will be rolling out China's homegrown 3G standard -- not to say Unicom's or Telecom's footprints will be anything to sneeze at, either. In fact, in the long term, it's suggested that Unicom and Telecom will actually be able to grow faster since they're using standards that other countries have actually heard of, but for the next few years, Mobile's still the safe bet if you absolutely, positively must have the most insane Chinese coverage available.

[Via mocoNews]

New 3G licenses in Germany next year may mean new players

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 30th 2008 @ 2:33AM

German carriers who've complained that the country hasn't doled out enough 3G spectrum to meet their data-heavy needs are going to get their collective wishes granted next year with another auction, this time in the 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz ranges. Thing is, they'll need to bid like they mean it, because the government is allowing new players outside the current four -- T-Mobile, E-Plus, O2, and Vodafone -- to enter the race. If there's one thing the world doesn't need, it's two entirely new UMTS bands -- but if it means a whole lot more 3G in Bavaria, we guess we're going to have to deal.

[Via mocoNews]

AMD licenses graphics technology to Qualcomm

by Darren Murph posted Oct 2nd 2007 @ 11:24PM

We first got wind of AMD's wishes to boost the graphical prowess of handsets way back in February of this year (and saw it reaffirmed in March), and now it seems that the firm is making it happen. Apparently, AMD has agreed to license "cutting-edge graphics core technology to Qualcomm" for next-generation chipsets. The deal will reportedly bring AMD's Unified Shader Architecture (introduced in the Xbox 360) to Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem chipsets, which both firms hope will boost the adoption of 3D gaming and graphic-intensive applications on mobiles. Sadly, we're still left to wonder when we'll see a device actually take advantage of the horsepower, but at least it's in motion.

[Via ExtremeTech]

Iraq awards three long-term carrier licenses

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 21st 2007 @ 1:02AM

As quickly as wireless devices are obsoleting and replacing landlines in developed nations, needless to say, it's going down even quicker in a country where the landline infrastructure has been largely destroyed by war and a lack of investment. Less than 4 percent of Iraqis rock wired phones, relying almost exclusively on a cellular infrastructure currently being serviced by three short-term contracts awarded by the US in 2003. Those contracts are about to expire, though, making way for three longer-term licenses that'll be good for 15 years. Bidding started at $300 million plus 18 percent revenue sharing with the Iraqi government; when all was said and done, the licenses sold for a princely total of $3.75 billion. The winners were Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications and Asiacell along with Iraq's own Korek Telecom, all three of which already operate networks in the country. Should be a smooth transition, then -- for the sake of subscribers, let's try to keep billing issues to a minimum, shall we?