Arts Companies Sing
Praises of High-Tech
Qualcomm, Inc.’s celebrated code division multiple access (CDMA) technology still has a chance to become the dominant wireless phone technology in China.
That’s how Qualcomm’s vice president of global standards planning and international administration Anil Kripalani sees it, despite the delay of a deal between Qualcomm and China United Telecommunications Corp. (China Unicom) due to issues over permanent normal trade relations for China. Congress is expected to vote on normalized trade relations for China next week. For American tech companies, U.S. Congress’ approval of normalized trade relations means access to China’s telecommunications, biomedical and computer markets.
In February, Qualcomm signed a licensing agreement with China Unicom , China’s second largest state-owned telecommunications company , that would allow Chinese manufacturers to license Qualcomm’s CDMA technology.
Despite the holdup, Kripalani said CDMA will grow rapidly in China since manufacturers have been given more time to prepare for the technology’s rollout.
Kripalani said the Chinese government would like to see Chinese manufacturers get a significant piece of the action, but he said there are many other handset manufacturers around the world that could help further deploy CDMA technology throughout China.
China Unicom is aiming for 10 million CDMA subscribers in the first year.
Global systems for mobile communications, or GSM, is the leading mobile phone technology used in China, with a reported 38 million subscribers at the end of 1999. The number of CDMA users in China at the end of last year was estimated at 115,000.
“GSM will continue to grow but CDMA will grow faster with the new entrance from China Unicom, and the capable infrastructure and the quality and capacity of CDMA,” Kripalani said. “CDMA, by its design, has greater range and more flexibility than GSM.”
According to industry reports, the number of CDMA users in China will grow to 21.7 million in 2004, while the number of GSM subscribers will be 91.5 million.
Kripalani said demand for voice, data and Internet capabilities will also drive the demand for CDMA in China. He also said CDMA’s growth in China will be a springboard for Qualcomm’s high data rate technology in the country. HDR supports E-mail, Web browsing, E-commerce, telematics and other applications while offering end-users continuous access to the Internet and next generation data services.
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Art Techo: Some local arts organizations will land the performance of a lifetime , computer performance that is.
The San Diego Performing Arts League and its Business Volunteers for the Arts committee have launched a program aimed at giving local arts organizations access to the latest technology. The program, called Technology for the Arts, is also designed to help bring the arts and high-tech communities closer together.
Under the program, small arts organizations will receive computers and computer training. The program began last fall with a test site at Actors Alliance of San Diego, which received a new computer, printer, software applications and training.
Recent Technology for the Arts recipients are Icarus Puppet Co., Patio Playhouse and the San Diego Dance Alliance.
Since 1993, the Business Volunteers for the Arts committee has provided nearly 4,000 hours of volunteer consulting services valued at $700,000 to 50 nonprofit arts and museum organizations.
Bits & Bytes: San Diego’s Digital Wizards, Inc. has scored a $9.9 million, five-year contract from the Defense Department. Under the contract, Digital Wizards will continue the development, production, configuration management, installation and support of Data Link Test Tools at the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego. Aegis Broadband, Inc. in San Diego has teamed with Los Angeles-based C-3D Digital to offer cable operators around the world the ability to offer 3D programming. Aegis will add the 3D technology into its standard set-top decoder box and future Internet set-top appliances. Now military officers can learn to be global leaders via cyber-learning. San Diego-based Silicon Space, Inc. and USD’s School of Business Administration and Engineering have teamed to launch the university’s first online distributed learning program. The master of science in global leadership program allows Navy and Marine Corps officers in the Pacific Fleet to pursue a postgraduate degree from anywhere in the world. This is something that a lot of E-companies are just going to love (and it’s NOT a virus). By 2005, U.S. commercial E-mail spending will climb to $7.3 billion, according to Jupiter Communications, Inc., a New York-based Internet commerce market research firm. The commercial E-mail market tallied $164 million in 1999.
The average number of commercial E-mail messages U.S. online consumers receive per year will increase from 40 in 1999 to more than 1,600 in 2005.
Cool tech story ideas can be sent to asiedsma@sdbj.com.
