Qualcomm to build $800m US wireless media network
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Mobile multimedia content will get its own nationwide network in the US by 2006 if an $800m (Â£435m) project by Qualcomm goes according to plan.
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Qualcomm announced today a dual entry into the mobile entertainment, or "TV on your phone" market:  its Universal Broadcast Modem (or UBM) chip, and MediaFLO platform for streaming content to mobile devices.
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Upcoming chip set will support 802.11a, b, and g networks.
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InfoWorld - The biggest U.S. cellular company, AT&amp;T&#39;s Cingular division, will launch mobile TV using Qualcomm&#39;s MediaFLO technology later this year.
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Wireless technology firm Qualcomm Inc.  said on Monday it will buy two micro-chip businesses to boost its expertise in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless technology for mobile Internet access.
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The deal with the media agencies owned by the WPP Group is valued at $800 million to $900 million in commercial time.
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(InfoWorld) - Silicon Valley's municipal wireless project is one of the most ambitious ever attempted, but good things take time -- more than proponents thought, in this case. Organizers signed a letter of intent with a group of vendors, including CiscoÂ and IBM, last year to build a 1,500-square-mile network. At the time, the group expected a rollout beginning in January or February of this year. The fact that not even a pair of test networks is on the ground yet is a testament to the scale and complexity of the plan, according to Seth Fearey, vice president and CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, which is pushing the plan. If the system takes shape as planned, it will let travelers stay connected throughout a trip from San Francisco's southern city limits to Gilroy, south of San Jose. Wi-Fi may be just one of eight technologies used in the project. The high-tech region is reaching high while municipal wireless is going through a reality check. Last year, a vendor dropped out of a project in Sacramento after expressing concern over a free ad-supported economic model, and in April,Â EarthLink scaled back its municipal wireless activityÂ to focus on existing cities and major opportunities. A high-profile plan for nearby San Francisco is embroiled in a political fight because some leaders think it is a bad deal for the city. The Silicon Valley network would cover more than 40 municipalities across mountains, valleys and urban and suburban areas, with 2.4 million residents. The nonprofit Joint Venture group formed the Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force to spearhead the project, and last September it chose Silicon Valley Metro Connect to build and run it. Along with Cisco as equipment supplier and IBM as system integrator, Metro Connect includes high-tech nonprofit SeaKay and Azulstar. No tax dollars can be spent on the estimated $100 million project. Metro Connect envisions a "layer cake" ofÂ perhaps eight wireless technologies, according to Fearey. Details are still being worked out, but they may include the following: *Â Wi-Fi for central areas of cities *Â WiMax mobile broadband at 2.5GHz for less populated areas *Â a public-safety network at 4.9GHz *Â DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communications) for vehicle communications at 5.9GHz *Â systems for environmental sensors and machine-to-machine communications The task force is still negotiating with Metro Connect on a "model agreement" to form the basis of deals with each municipality or agency, which is almost finished, Fearey said. Sticking points include details of prices, terms of service, minimum coverage, and privacy, he said. "It's in their hands as to when we can get this going," Fearey said. Azulstar has been the lead negotiator for Metro Connect for four to six weeks since it was designated the network owner and operator, according to Noa Eisenberg, Azulstar's vice president of marketing. The parties have made a lot of progress in the past several weeks, and Azulstar expects a model agreement to be finished in the very near future, she said. Initial forecasts of deployment starting in February may have been overly optimistic, said Glenn Loo, CIO of Palo Alto, who sits on a committee with other city government representatives working on the project. Palo Alto will host one of the test networks where all the technologies will be tried out. Meeting the needs of the many entities involved and planning coverage across the region's terrain have been hard, he said. But Loo thinks the Palo Alto test network will be up before the end of July and the main network approved and deployed in some cities by year's end. One municipal wireless consultant sees more work and delays ahead unless backers change course. They should have tackled the project like a corporate IT department and started with a few key applications to build up momentum before adding other features, said Craig Settles, an independent consultant who has not worked with the Silicon Valley team. "Someone's got to be willing to say, 'We can achieve the vision, but maybe we should simplify the initial steps,'" Settles said. "You can't sell this much complexity to the average politician."
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Qualcomm and Samsung Investment VentureÂ have each invested $8 million in Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Co. (AMEC), a Chinese company that plans to develop and sell equipment used to manufacture semiconductors.
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(InfoWorld) - Qualcomm is offering mobile phone makers a choice of technologies to tune into mobile TV services. In addition to its MediaFlo broadcast system, the U.S. manufacturer unveiled the development of two new chips supporting alternative technologies at last week'sÂ 3GSM World CongressÂ in Barcelona. Qualcomm is pushing its own MediaFlo system as an alternative to the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) standard supported by Nokia and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, or the Japanese ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting - Terrestrial) system. But in Spain, it unveiled a "universal" chip that supports all three technologies. The company has also developed a new chip that supports Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS). This technology allows mobile phone network operators to offer streamed mobile TV services more efficiently by multicasting programs instead of having to establish point-to-point links for each device as they currently do. As a result, operators will be able to position their streaming services more competitively to meet future demands of mobile TV users during peak live TV broadcasts, such as sporting events and breaking news. "A big advantage of MBMS is that the technology will help operators better utilize their networks,' said Nitesh Patel, senior analyst with Strategy Analytics Ltd. But a drawback could be the lack of commitment by handset manufacturers to make phones, he added. A key focus of Qualcomm, however, is to establish its own MediaFlo as the technology of choice for operators entering the nascent market for mobile TV services, according to Andrew Gilbert, president of Qualcomm Europe. "Nokia and others are pushing hard for DVB-H to be the mobile TV standard in Europe but MediaFlo has some significant advantages," Gilbert said in an interview. The results of its trail with British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) indicate that MediaFlo would be able to cover either twice the geographical area per transmitter or deliver double the number of channels as DVB-H, according to Gilbert. And channel switching times are faster, he said. Under Qualcomm's patent licence policy technology, proprietary MediaFlo technology can be licensed for use in CDMA (Code Division Multiplex Access) and WCDMA (Wideband-CDMA) phones with no increase in the company's standard royalty rate for these handsets. MediaFlo technology will run on any spectrum that national regulators make available to mobile TV services, according to Gilbert. If regulators initially showed more support for DVB-H, "they are more neutral today" and willing to consider alternative technologies such as MediaFlo, he said. Gilbert ruled out the DMB (Digital Media Broadcasting) standard as a viable alternative, pointing to its limited bandwidth capability. Some analysts agree. "Of the mobile TV standards out there, DMB is the weakest primarily because of its limited bandwidth, which reduces the number of channels and picture quality," Patel said. Unlike MediaFlo and DVB-H, however, the DMB standard uses spectrum currently available in numerous European markets. As such, it is enjoying a head-start advantage in countries like Germany, which issued DMB licenses prior to the World Cup soccer tournament last year. The German regulator has yet to set a time-frame for DVB-H. Momentum for MediaFlo is growing: On Feb. 12, the biggest U.S. cellular company, AT&T's Cingular division, announcedÂ plans to launch a mobile TV serviceÂ using MediaFlo technology later this year. Verizon Wireless, the country's second-largest mobile operator by subscribers, has already committed to using MediaFlo, with plans to offer commercial service in March. Â
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AT&amp;T, the US telecoms group, and a team of subcontractors have won a contract valued at up to $1bn to design, build and manage a secure IP-based global network for the US government
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Verizon Wireless on Thursday launched a broadcast TV service for cell phones in about 20 Midwestern and Western markets, charging $15 to $25 a month for the initial lineup from eight leading networks
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(InfoWorld) - Qualcomm is making two acquisitions of Bluetooth and WLAN (wireless LAN) chip technologies, allowing it to further the integration of wireless networking capabilities in mobile phones. The company will buy Airgo Networks, which develops WLAN technologies used in access points and laptop computers, and it will buy most of the Bluetooth technology assets of RF Micro Devices. The acquisitions, announced Sunday, will allow Qualcomm to integrate the wireless technologies more tightly with chip sets that it sells to mobile phone makers. This should make it easier for phone makers to develop compact products with built-in Bluetooth and WLAN capabilities. Bluetooth allows phones to send data over short distances, connecting to a wireless headset or laptop computer, for example. Adding a WLAN connection to a phone allows it to connect to a LAN to use VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and other services. The acquisitions will put Qualcomm in closer competition with other makers of wireless networking chips, including Intel and Broadcom. It could also bring Qualcomm new technology patents that would strengthen its hand in legal disputes. The company is in the midst of several patent disputes, including one with Broadcom that concerns Bluetooth technologies. Airgo, of Palo Alto, California, develops WLAN technologies based on IEEE 802.11a, b and g, as well as the proposed 802.11n standard. Qualcomm plans to integrate the technologies into its Mobile Station Modem and Snapdragon chip sets. It will also keep supporting Airgo's current WLAN business, it said. In the case of RF Micro, Qualcomm is buying its Bluetooth division in San Diego, which develops technologies for handsets and headsets. RF Micro is retaining other Bluetooth products, including its SiW3000 and SiW3500 system-on-chip families. It said the sale will allow it to focus on its higher-growth areas, including cellular transceivers and GPS components. RF Micro, which has headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, said Qualcomm is paying $39 million for its technologies. Qualcomm didn't disclose the value of the Airgo deal, but it said the acquisitions combined would reduce its earnings for the current fiscal year by about $0.04 per share. It expects to close both deals by the end of December.
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Cingular, the largest US mobile phone operator, is to launch a high-speed third generation (3G) network.
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Verizon Wireless on Thursday launched a broadcast TV service for cell phones in about 20 Midwestern and Western markets, charging $15 to $25 a month for the initial lineup from eight leading networks.
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Cingular Wireless will leverage the additional spectrum it gained through the acquisition of AT&amp;T Wireless to deploy a third-generation wireless data network based on the global UMTS standard.
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Sprint Nextel Corp  on Tuesday  said it will spend up to $3 billion over two years to build a  high-speed wireless data network using WiMax technology in a  bid to capture new growth from emerging mobile services.
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Wireless technology firm Qualcomm Inc.  said on Monday it was buying two micro-chip businesses to boost its core wireless technology product offerings.