Small Notebook Computer Updates
Here is some good news about faster WIFI access.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Some of the world’s largest networkers agreed Monday to a licensing framework they hope will accelerate adoption of a technology that would deliver much faster wireless Internet speeds.
Within the next few years, wireless phone companies such as Vodafone Group PLC and NEC Corp. have agreed to royalty payments that would not exceed “single digits,” on a percentage basis. In other words, vendors would charge each other less than a 10% royalty fee to license each other’s patents related to LTE.
In addition, licensing fees related to computer notebooks would be set at under $10.
Many companies hold patents that cover certain aspects of LTE technology. With a licensing framework in place, equipment makers believe they could introduce networking products into the marketplace faster while avoiding the threat of costly lawsuits.
Disputes among network suppliers over patent-royalty fees have roiled the industry for years and sometimes put wireless-phone companies in a difficult spot. They’ve sometimes delayed equipment purchases to avoid becoming caught in the middle.
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Major spats have involved San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc., which has lost a series of court cases to rivals BroadCom Corp.
“Today’s announcement is a step towards establishing more predictable and transparent licensing costs in a manner that enables faster adoption of new technologies,” said Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Nokia’s intellectual property rights, in a statement.
Paving the way for easier adoption of LTE is vital to equipment makers, many who have been suffering in recent years from slow growth and, in some cases, steep financial losses. Yet an industrywide framework on royalty fees does not guarantee carriers will respond as vendors hope.
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Some longtime industry analysts such as Jane Zweig of The Shosteck Group are skeptical wireless companies will speed up plans to upgrade their networks with the new technology, which is still undergoing testing. AT&T and Verizon, for example, are not expected to move to LTE until 2010 at the earliest.
For one thing, mobile carriers have yet to find a way to profit handsomely from their latest multibillion-dollar network upgrades, usually referred to as Third Generation technology (LTE is said to constitute a Fourth Generation). Without further evidence that customers will pay significantly more for faster wireless connections, carriers might proceed slowly.
What’s more, the slowing U.S. economy and its potential drag on global growth might persuade wireless carriers to adopt a more frugal approach on capital spending.
“They are going to be a lot more cautious,” Zweig said.
American companies will watch these deals carefully. Verizon may go into talks with its rivals AT&T and Sprint to do something similar to the above.
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