Motorola and Nokia agree to share 4G licences

TELECOMS INFRASTRUCTURE VENDORS Motorola and Nokia have signed an agreement to share 4th generation (4G) wireless technology.

The licensing agreement extends the coverage of an existing agreement to cover 4G networks including long term evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced and WiMax. The agreement should mean that the two firms won't be fighting against each other but will get on with deploying the next generation wireless networks.

Kirk Dailey, corporate VP of intellectual property at Motorola Mobility said, "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."

There had been concerns that deployment of 4G networks would be bogged down by licensing worries, however this agreement shows that the big players are acting like grown-ups rather than bickering as competitors take away their business. 

4G deployments are picking up speed, though infrastructure vendors such as Nokia-Siemens are facing tough competition from Chinese competitors like Huawei.  Paul Melin, VP of intellectual property at Nokia said, "LTE has now become a key element of Nokia’s licensing program, and we expect strong returns for our pioneering development."

For mobile subscribers, all this talk of 4G networks is likely to be met with cynicism, as getting a reliable 3G connection is hard enough. For mobile operators, the availability of kit is vital as they try to figure out ways to increase monthly tariffs. µ