Joint 3G development allowed by EU
November 12, 2002
The European Commission has ruled that a group of telecommunications
firms can work together to develop 3G mobile phone technology without
fear of anti-competition repercussions.
The implication of the ruling will allow firms to access other
manufacturers' patents when creating new products, without breaching
EU antitrust rules.
In July the 3G Patent Platform Partnership group applied to the
European Commission for anti-trust protection. The group of 18 firms
includes Alcatel, Samsung, Siemens, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Telecom Italia,
plus others. But big firms like Nokia and Vodafone were not part
of the group.
The EU's executive said the arrangement would not restrict competition
in the market.
Telecom manufacturers and network operators have sought ways of
lowering the enormous costs of rolling out 3G services. Sharing
networks has been seen as a solution, but has only been approved
in some countries.
Telecom firms see the new initiative as one that can boost the
rollout of 3G services in Europe. Europe has been slow in rolling
out 3G services because of technical problems and uncertainty over
demand for next generation mobile services.
While some operators in Europe may launch 3G services by the end
of the year, many will most likely launch 3G in the middle of next
year.
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3G Motorola A920
