Qualcomm violated antitrust laws, says US district judge

Qualcomm has been accused of supressing competition from smartphone chip rivals by threatening to cut off supplies and extract licensing fees. US District Judge Lucy Koh has ordered the company to renegotiate licensing agreements at reasonable prices. Qualcomm, a key player in the ITS industry - particularly in the nascent area of 5G technology - refutes the ruling. “We strongly disagree with the judge’s conclusions, her interpretation of the facts and her application of the law,” said Don Rosenberg
May 23, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
213 Qualcomm has been accused of supressing competition from smartphone chip rivals by threatening to cut off supplies and extract licensing fees.


US District Judge Lucy Koh has ordered the company to renegotiate licensing agreements at reasonable prices.

Qualcomm, a key player in the ITS industry - particularly in the nascent area of 5G technology - refutes the ruling. “We strongly disagree with the judge’s conclusions, her interpretation of the facts and her application of the law,” said Don Rosenberg, the telecoms firm’s general counsel.

It plans to ask Koh to delay her decision while also seeking to appeal to the federal appeals court in California.

The ruling serves as a win for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which filed a %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external complaint false https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2017/01/ftc-charges-qualcomm-monopolizing-key-semiconductor-device-used false false%> in a federal district court in 2017, saying that Qualcomm used anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of a semiconductor device used in mobile phones.

The FTC alleged that Qualcomm used its position as a supplier of certain baseband processors to impose anticompetitive supply and licensing terms on mobile phone manufacturers and to weaken its rivals.

FTC said that Qualcomm maintained a ‘no licence, no chip’ policy where it will supply its baseband processors on the condition that mobile phone manufacturers agree to its preferred licence terms. Additionally, the company refused to licence standard-essential patents to competing suppliers of baseband processors and used exclusivity to prevent Apple from working with and improving the effectiveness of Qualcomm competitors.

In 2017, Qualcomm announced a chipset based on the Release 14 cellular Vehicle to Everything specifications.

Maged Zaki, director, technology and product marketing, told ITS International: “This is 4G LTE-based – not, as some assume, 5G but it does provide a strong evolutionary route to 5G. And we’re not attempting to corner the market – since our announcement at least four other companies have produced or signalled their intention to produce chipsets.”

Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Lyft to offer AV service for blind riders
    July 23, 2019
    Lyft has joined forces with Aptiv and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) to bring self-driving technology to its blind and low-vision riders in Las Vegas. The deal extends an agreement last year, in which Aptiv launched 30 autonomous vehicles (AVs) to pick up riders using Lyft’s app. NFB president Mark Riccobono says: “This demonstration will allow future blind drivers to experience and begin providing feedback about this technology, paving the way for the development of a non-visual user in
    Read More
  • Stage Intelligence partners with Smovengo on Paris bike-share
    February 25, 2019
    Artificial intelligence (AI) company Stage Intelligence has linked up with a consortium in a bid to make a Paris bike-share scheme more efficient. Stage is partnering with Smovengo – a grouping which consists of Smoove, Moventia, Mobivia and Park Indigo - to deploy its Bico AI optimisation platform across Smovengo’s Vélib bike-share system in the French capital. The company says its system allows users to collect, manage and visualise data and turn it into actionable insights; it has already been used in
    Read More
  • Versatile Mobile Mark wireless antennas
    October 19, 2012
    Mobile Mark will feature its three- and four-feed SMW multiband antennas which the company claims offer impressive flexibility. Bands supported are 400 MHz to 6 GHz, so offering multiple combinations including LTE 700 MHz, UHF, GSM/GPRS, Wi-Fi - Diversity or Single, 3G UMTS, 4G, WIMAX, Public Safety 4.9 GHz, PTC 220 MHz – configured with or without GPS for Positioning. Mobile Mark says these antennas are ideal for mounting to any vehicle, train, cargo container or trailer.
    Read More
  • Plug and play enforcement with Ekin’s Patrol
    March 21, 2018
    With flashing blue and red lights, there is no mistaking the big message on Ekin’s stand – its new Patrol G2 intelligent lightbar which requires only an electrical supply connection to the host vehicle. The roof-mounted ‘plug and play’ unit contains all the equipment, processing and communications technology needed to provide speed and parking enforcement, face recognition and 360° of ANPR and surveillance. It measures the speed of all vehicles in view and it can monitor up to five lanes of traffic at
    Read More

Highlighted Content