European Commission's Continuing Investigation of Qualcomm is Welcomed

European Commission's Continuing Investigation of Qualcomm is Welcomed

October 02, 2007

    LONDON, Oct. 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom,
Ericsson, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic Mobile Communications and
Texas Instruments welcome the continuation of the
investigation by the European Commission into complaints
regarding anti-competitive practices by Qualcomm. While
each company has made an individual complaint, they share
concerns about Qualcomm's practices. The companies believe
that these practices are harmful to the mobile
telecommunications industry globally and, in particular
undermine confidence in standards-setting processes,
threaten the supply of WCDMA chipsets, impede innovation,
and raise the costs of third-generation (3G) technology and
handsets. As a result, carriers and consumers face higher
prices and fewer choices.

    The complaints refer to Qualcomm's breach of European
Union (EU) competition law and failure to meet the
commitments it made to international standard-setting
organisations that it would license its declared essential
patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
Without these commitments, WCDMA technology would not have
been commercially implemented as part of the UMTS 3G
standard in Europe and elsewhere. The companies alleged
that Qualcomm has violated EU competition rules by charging
disproportionate and discriminatory royalties for its
declared WCDMA essential patents. They also stated that
Qualcomm violates those rules by trying to exclude
competing manufacturers of chipsets for mobile phones from
the market and to prevent others from entering. These
actions, in addition to breaching the European Union's
competition law, are in breach of Qualcomm's commitments to
standard-setting bodies.

    The Commission has decided to allocate priority to the
continuing investigation following the lodging of the
complaints in October 2005. The companies welcome this
decision and confirm their continued cooperation with the
European Commission.

    Note to editors: The following quotes about the EC's
decision are from each of the companies that filed formal
complaints.

    Broadcom: "Broadcom welcomes the Commission's
decision to continue its investigation of Qualcomm's
practices. The decision underscores the significant policy
issues at stake and the importance of ensuring the future
viability both of industry standards-setting processes and
of a level playing field for competing providers of
chipsets and intellectual property in the 3G space, which
Qualcomm's conduct otherwise threatens to undermine. We
believe that the EC plays an important role, in our case
and others, in ensuring conditions where fair competition
helps promote product innovation and technology
advancements that ultimately benefit consumers in Europe
and throughout the world. The decision demonstrates
Europe's continuing desire to foster a competitive
environment that will stimulate continued growth in the
global information economy." -- David A. Dull, Senior
Vice President, Business Affairs, and General Counsel,
Broadcom Corporation.

    Ericsson: "The success of a standard depends on
the essential patent holders honouring their FRAND
commitments. In this case, a single patent holder --
Qualcomm -- is charging royalty rates much higher than
other essential patent owners. If the other patent holders
were to do as Qualcomm is doing, royalties could raise the
cost of WCDMA handsets considerably -- thus raising the
prices to consumers. Ericsson is pleased the Commission has
decided to continue its investigation of this case." --
Kasim Alfalahi, Vice President, Patent Licensing, Ericsson.

    NEC: "NEC welcomes the European Commission's
continuation of its investigation as a step forward in
solving the issues raised by Qualcomm's anti-competitive
business practices. NEC will continue to cooperate fully
with the investigation by the European Commission." --
Hideyuki Ogata, Vice President, Intellectual Asset
Management Unit, NEC Corporation.

    Nokia: "The proper functioning of standardization
requires that companies whose patented technology is
adopted into a standard commit to licence these patents on
fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Breaking
these commitments compromises the whole standardization
process, stifles innovation and harms consumers. We welcome
the European Commission's continuation of the investigation
into Qualcomm's business conduct." -- Tero Ojanpera,
Chief Technology Officer, Nokia.

    Panasonic: "Panasonic Mobile Communications fully
supports the European Commission's investigation into
Qualcomm's anti-competitive behaviour and disproportionate
royalty rates in the mobile telecommunications sector. It
is essential for both current and future standards that
companies which commit to license their technologies on
fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms adhere to
those commitments." -- Yoshiaki Tokuda, Director,
Intellectual Property Center, Panasonic Mobile
Communications Co., Ltd.

    Texas Instruments: "We commend the Commission for
deciding to continue its investigation. TI attaches great
importance both to IP protection and to the creation of
open standards. Where leading technology companies have
agreed to contribute intellectual property and inventive
genius to a standard, there is no room for exclusionary and
discriminatory practices." - Joseph F. Hubach, Senior
Vice President and General Counsel, Texas Instruments
Incorporated.


    For more information, please contact:

     Brunswick
     Joanna McDwyer: [phone]

     Broadcom
     Bill Blanning: [phone]

     Ericsson
     Rob Elston: [phone]

     NEC
     Chris Shimizu: [phone]

     Nokia
     Anne Eckert: [phone]

     Panasonic Mobile Communications
     Mike Takeda: [phone]

     Texas Instruments
     Gail Chandler : [phone]