Qualcomm Grants Licenses to Indian Vendor

Qualcomm says that it has signed a commercial CDMA2000 subscriber unit and modem card license agreement with India's Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL). Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm has granted HFCL, Qualcomm's first licensee in India, a patent license to develop, manufacture and sell CDMA2000 subscriber units and modem card products. The royalties payable by HFCL are at Qualcomm's standard worldwide rates.

"Qualcomm is pleased to provide a 3G license to HFCL, the first company in India to sign an agreement for the development, manufacture and sale of CDMA2000 subscriber units and modem cards," said Marvin Blecker, president of Qualcomm Technology Licensing. "This agreement will now allow HFCL to participate in the rapidly growing 3G CDMA market and enable them to join other manufacturers in providing Indian operators with affordable, yet feature-rich and innovative wireless products."

"There are currently more than 36 million CDMA subscribers in India and the Indian wireless market has grown ten-fold in less than five years," said Mr. Mahendra Nahata, Chairman, HFCL Group. "As the Indian market continues to grow, we believe there will be an increasing demand for more advanced, affordable CDMA2000 wireless devices and this license agreement from Qualcomm, the leader in CDMA technologies, will be a key factor in enabling us to meet this demand. It will also be an important milestone for HFCL to establish a leadership position with CDMA wireless devices in India, as we believe the production of these devices will open up a significant addressable market opportunity for our company."

HFCL, based in New Delhi, is one of the largest private sector companies in India focused on telecom. HFCL is not only a leading player in the telecom equipment manufacturing segment but also plays a major role in the turnkey services segment."

Posted to the site on 26th September 2006