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Feb. 5, 2010

Sisvel and Via Licensing say they will soon ititiate a patent pool for LTE technology. The project has been running for many months now and is advancing according to schedule, the two companies have said.

Conceptually, an LTE patent pool could accelerate the adoption of 4G and LTE technology by simplifying the licensing process throughout the wireless industry.

Sisvel said that about twenty one companies are currently participating in its efforts to create an LTE patent pool. It declined to name specific patent holders, but said participants included telecommunications companies, consumer electronics manufacturers and integrated circuit manufacturers, and research institutes coming from China, Japan, Korea, Europe and North America.

Joint technology licensing agreements must attract a critical mass of patent holders to be effective. Several major LTE patent holders, namely Qualcomm, have stated they are not interested in joining the patent pool effort, however.

For its part, Via Licensing said it brought together fourteen LTE patent owners at its first joint licensing meeting. Though it did not disclose which companies attended, the firm said the companies "represent a broad spectrum of leading LTE stakeholders from China, France, Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States."

The company's next meeting of LTE patent holders is scheduled for some time in mid-March.

MPEG LA, the third company seeking to launch an LTE patent pool, held its first meeting of twelve patent holders in September of last year. It hasn't made any announcements yet about the progress of is efforts since then, however.

In the last few months, Sisvel and Via Licensing's LTE patent pool efforts were criticized by the Open Patent Alliance for its fragmentation among its users.

OPA President Yung Hahn has repeatedly said in the past that he has 3 different companies competing for top LTE patent holders and that this will decrease the likelihood of an LTE patent pool coming to fruition.

Nevertheless, Via Licensing is currently handling the Wi-MAX patent pool for the Open Patent Alliance, among others.

In other news on LTE technology, Cox Communications said last month that it has fully completed its LTE tests in Phoenix and San Diego just before its initial 3G network launch.

Cox Communications is the only cable provider in the U.S. that is building its own network to get into the wireless segment. Others are expected to follow later in the year, however.

Stephen Bye, Cox’s vice president of wireless services said in a statement that the company was encouraged by the success of its LTE (long-term evolution) tests, and that now it is ready to launch its 3G network.

The tests were conducted together with Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent, and involved voice and streaming high-definition video over Cox's cable network. The company chose to hold the tests in Phoenix and San Diego because of the markets’ high percentage of early adopters of new technology, as well as the terrain and varying densities of the populations.

“Our cable customers have asked us to include wireless services as part of their bundle and we’ve listened,” he said. “We’re excited to let consumers know that they will soon have a better choice for wireless service. We’ve carefully considered the unmet needs of wireless customers and we’ll be delivering a service that is uniquely Cox to address those specific needs,” said Stephen Bye.

The company’s initial CDMA deployments are in Hampton Roads, Va., Orange County, Calif., and Omaha, Neb.

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Source: Via Licensing.