Open Patent Alliance WiMAX consortium formed, Qualcomm not so interested

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jun 10th 2008 at 9:46AM

As WiMax-powered 4G networks remain the stuff of holding companies and litigation, a group of providers have gotten together to form an (evil?) alliance that they say will help speed up both development and deployment. In other words, they want Qualcomm on board, which holds the juiciest 4G patents. The Open Patent Alliance (OPA) includes Intel, the recently-formed Clearwire, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Samsung, and Sprint. Similar to the Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NextWave Wireless, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sony Ericsson coalition that is backing Long Term Evolution, this WiMAX group looks poised to take on Qualcomm with some serious collective patents, boardroom politics, and investor cash. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is sitting in the corner saying, "We already have 4G, and it's very nice." This should be interesting. Stay tuned.

Filed under: Wireless

Tags: 4g, alcatel-lucent, cisco, clearwire, ericsson, intel, long term evolution, LongTermEvolution, nextwave wireless, nextwavewireless, nokia, open patent alliance, OpenPatentAlliance, samsung, sprint, wimax

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Flashpoint @ Jun 10th 2008 9:55AM

"speed up development and deployment"

That's all I need to hear.

Neutral

AllenH @ Jun 10th 2008 10:14AM

Sprint overcharged my small (US) company for over $50,000.00. We caught them doing it and now they refuse to refund the over-payments. You can read the full story at www.sprint-really-sucks.com

I also wrote an open letter to Dan Hesse the Chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel. It is a good read so please consider reading the letter.

www.sprint-really-sucks.com/open-letter-dan-hesse.aspx

Neutral

Harley @ Jun 10th 2008 12:44PM

dood i know what you mean allen, i had a hard time, 45 minutes to be exact to cancel my data plan after the placed a softcap on my "unlimited plan"

Neutral

MadMike @ Jun 10th 2008 10:56AM

Sprint is falling apart #1.

#2 Broadcom owns a bunch of key patents for both WiMax and LTE.

What I don't understand is, if Broadcom is going to be the hold-up - why don't they band together and take-over Broadcom. Hostile takeover, raid the company and strip it of its assets. And why do we have two 4G standards? Why can;t we just have 1.

Neutral

argyle @ Jun 10th 2008 2:34PM

Neurotic proofreader alert, it's only spelled "Alliance".

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