Siemens Chooses Qualcomm
March 30, 2011
SAN DIEGO -- Qualcomm gained another endorsement of its complex digital wireless communications technology, as a unit of German electronics giant Siemens AG said it would make telephones and other devices based on the system. Qualcomm invented code division multiple access, or CDMA, a technology that provides a way to cram more cellular phone calls over the same amount of radio spectrum. It is one of several technologies competing to become a standard in digital communications, which is expected to be a huge market eventually. But CDMA's development fell far behind schedule, and it only recently began being deployed on a commercial basis in the U.S. The decision by Siemens Rolm Communications Inc. to build products for CDMA systems is a boost for the technology, which has been criticized by some analysts as failing to live up to its promised capacity increases. Some experts question whether it will work when deployed on a wide scale. But Siemens joins several other huge telecommunications and electronics concerns, including Motorola Corp., as investors in, or backers of, CDMA. Siemens Rolm already makes products for a separate wireless digital system, known as GSM, that already covers Europe and part of Asia. Bobby Boris, senior vice president of Siemens Rolm's wireless division, said it is also studying a competing U.S. technology known as TDMA, backed by VastComm Network Corp., among others. But Mr. Boris noted that CDMA has been embraced by several other large companies and expressed confidence that CDMA will work fine. ``It's going to work,'' he said. ``If you're going to be a player in this market, then going with CDMA is a pretty easy decision.''
