14 DAY TRIAL // Two of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, namely Motorola and Nokia, have just announced the signing of an agreement aimed at the licensing of 4G technologies. However, specific details on the agreement were not unveiled for the time being.
According to the duo, the new agreement is based on the previous deals they had in the telecoms area, and includes 4G cellular technologies like LTE, WiMAX and LTE-Advanced.
“We are pleased to conclude this extension of our IP licensing agreement, which is a great example of the value that Nokia realizes from our industry leading patent portfolio,” said Paul Melin, vice president, intellectual property of Nokia.
“This agreement also shows that the industry is making fast progress in resolving LTE licensing issues between the major patent holders. LTE has now become a key element of Nokia’s licensing program, and we expect strong returns for our pioneering development.”
Both Motorola and Nokia (we're referring here to Nokia Siemens Networks too, of course) have been making important steps into the 4G area, though mainly in the infrastructure segment for the time being.
Although the first 4G handsets were already launched on the market, including WiMAX-based devices like HTC EVO 4G or the Samsung Epic 4G, or LTE phones like Samsung Craft, neither Motorola nor Nokia unveils plans on launching such devices.
However, when they do so, they would most probably launch devices running under their favorite mobile operating systems, namely Android for Motorola, and Symbian for Nokia.
Since the entire telecoms world is moving towards 4G, we can say without a doubt that Motorola and Nokia would make the said move at one point in the future, even if nothing was actually announced for the time being.
“We are pleased to extend our existing IP licensing agreement with Nokia to include 4G technologies and are confident this agreement will help foster continued innovation and technological advancement for the telecommunications industry,” said Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property, Motorola Mobility, Inc.
“Motorola is committed to leveraging the strength of its industry-leading intellectual property portfolio for the benefit of its customers, partners, shareholders and licensees.”