David Shapshak
While cellphones are leaping forward, the big business players who determine which protocols they operate on have been lagging behind.
Developments for the next, or third, generation of cellphones have been stalled while the two dominant players, Europe and the United States, were deadlocked over which of their protocols should be the new global standard for cellular networks.
Qualcomm, a San Diego-based company, holds the licence for code division multiple access technology (CDMA), the dominant system used in the US. But Swedish company Ericsson developed another protocol, global system for mobile communication, that is the dominant cellphone standard in South Africa, Europe and large parts of Asia.
Last month, however, an agreement was reached by Qualcomm and Ericsson to use CDMA, and both will cross-license their products. This will allow third generation phones to operate anywhere in the world where cellular systems are used.
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