TI, Broadcom file complaints against Qualcomm in Korea

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) and Broadcom Corp. have broadened their unfair trade practices allegations against Qualcomm Inc. and have lodged complaints with South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that the cellphone modem chip maker had abused its dominant position in the market there.

On-line reports early this week quoted an FTC official confirming that the two chip companies filed complaints against Qualcomm on June 23.

Dow Jones Newswires quoted Na Yang-ju, a spokesman for the FTC, saying that TI and Broadcom had argued "Qualcomm used its exclusive rights to the code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology to wield unbeatable power in Korea."

Earlier this year, two Korean companies, Nextreaming, a developer of embedded multimedia software for mobile handsets, and THINmultimedia, lodged similar complaints against Qualcomm. At the time, Nextreaming's attorney told EE Times, "Nextreaming is joining a global campaign against Qualcomm." He cited European Commission's ongoing investigation of Qualcomm, and Broadcom's antitrust suit against Qualcomm in the United States.

Last October, Broadcom and TI joined Ericsson, NEC, Nokia and Panasonic Mobile Communications in each asking the European Commission to investigate and stop alleged anticompetitive conduct by Qualcomm in the licensing of essential patents for 3G mobile technology.

The six claimed that Qualcomm was infringing European Union regulations by trying to stop other mobile phone chip set manufacturers from competing or entering the market.

- John Walko
EE Times