Nokia calls for 3G-royalty cap

By Susan Rush
from BroadbandWeek Direct, May 9, 2002

Looking to promote widespread deployment of 3G technology, Nokia is calling on the wireless industry to institute a fixed licensing fee for 3G patents.

Usually royalties are charged as a percentage of a piece of equipment's sale price. Nokia, which claims to own the most WCDMA patents, is calling on registered WDMA patent holders to limit their cumulative royalty rates for 3G technology to 5 percent, regardless of many patents the equipment includes. Nokia's proposal includes network gear and phones.

"In our opinion, this is the level of royalties that encourages greater growth and innovation in the industry," Nokia's senior vice president Dr. JT Bergqvist said in a statement.

Other WCDMA patent holders include Qualcomm, Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DoCoMo. Neither Ericsson nor Motorola could be reached for comment before deadline. It is likely, however that the plan could rustle some feathers of the other patent holders, especially for a carrier like Qualcomm, which holds the majority of key patents in the United States for the network standard CDMA technology.