Qualcomm: AT&T deal could help with Nokia suit

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said today that his company's recent deal with AT&T for mobile television technology could help Qualcomm's talks with Nokia [1] on renewing a technology license. On April 9, a licensing agreement between Nokia and Qualcomm is set to expire. AT&T carries Nokia's GSM phones, into which AT&T plans to add Qualcomm's MediaFLO technology for mobile TV services. Jacobs said the deal could bring Nokia and Qualcomm together, while he spoke at a Bank of America conference in New York City.

Despite the seeming optimism, Jacobs also reiterated previous statements about the licensing deal with Nokia, characterizing the talks as in a "deadlock" that may require outside forces, like legal action [2], for resolution. AT&T (Cingular) has always benefited from the economies of scale offered by its GSM technology path. The fact that it selected MediaFLO [3] (a proprietary technology from Qualcomm) for it's broadcast TV service is unusual, and it shows that Qualcomm has the ability to make inroads with GSM operators.

For more on the AT&T, Qualcomm and Nokia licensing triangle:
- see this article from Mad 4 mobile phones [4]