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 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, 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 (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