Honest 836 Report post Posted December 15, 2006 TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2006 01:16:52 AM]NEW DELHI: Qualcomm Inc is in talks with several Indian firms to give licence for manufacturing CDMA handsets on the lines of its existing arrangement with domestic equipment manufacturer Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL). “There are a few Indian firms we are in discussion with locally,” Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs said at a press conference here on Thursday but declined to divulge names of the companies. Earlier, the US firm had signed a deal with HFCL to make and sell CDMA-based mobile phones. Asked about the company’s stance on Reliance Communications proposed 75 million line GSM tender and whether it was concerned about the service provider’s shift to the GSM platform, Mr Jacobs said: “We are always in conversation with Reliance. As price of handsets come down, it is going to be hard to justify switching of the network”. He indicated that he would be meeting Mr Anil Ambani later in the evening. “They (Reliance) have GSM operations, so the question is how they will expand. I think they will end up using both the technologies,” he pointed out. “We continue with our dialogue with Reliance and they are continuing to roll out CDMA and putting additional order for new equipment. But a lot will depend on how the spectrum situation turns out. The best part is that the handset prices have come down dramatically, and we continue to drive that,” he said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
