The Hindu Business Line : Qualcomm mum on trimming royalty

US-based Qualcomm Inc said on Thursday that it was still in discussions with Reliance Communications over the latter's decision to move from its existing CDMA-based mobile network to roll out a GSM- based network.

Qualcomm, which globally promotes CDMA technology, said that it has addressed the concerns raised by the industry by bringing down the cost of entry-level handsets by $ 10 to $ 30 in just six months time. Reliance had said that higher cost of CDMA handset compared to GSM was one of the reasons for the company's decision to offer GSM-based cellular services. Reliance had said that Qualcomm should lower the royalty it charged to bring down handset price.

Dr Paul Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, Qualcomm said that if the company had reduced the royalty rates, it would have reduced the handset prices by just $ 2 when in reality the handset cost has come down by $ 10 even without changing the royalty charged.

As part of its efforts to cut down costs further, Qualcomm is also in talks with a number of Indian companies to start manufacturing of handsets locally. "We have already signed an agreement with HFCL and more are in the offing," Dr Jacobs said.

He also said that efforts are on globally to bring down handset prices even further for not just CDMA mobile handsets, but also EVDO (evolution data optimised) based 3G service devices. Qualcomm is also looking to increase the headcount in its Indian research and development centre.

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