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Along-awaited licensing agreement between Qualcomm and China United Telecommunications Corp. may finally pave the way for CDMA technology sales there by a broad array of vendors.
Qualcomm announced last week that it completed lengthy negotiations to license its CDMA technology in the potentially huge China market, making concessions on royalties in return for a fat CDMA chip contract that anticipates rapid deployment of a 10 million-subscriber network.
The deal marks a high point in the struggle by CDMA backers to crack the GSM-dominated nation: In the past year alone, CDMA has weathered the debates over China's entry into the World Trade Organization, not to mention power struggles over ownership of telecommunications companies.
Louis Lupin, Qualcomm's proprietary rights counsel, says the agreement covers the essential business terms Chinese manufacturers will need to meet in order to license Qualcomm's intellectual property, and to make and sell...