US : QUALCOMM and BenQ announced that the companies have signed a new commercial CDMA subscriber unit and modem card license agreement.

Under the terms of the new worldwide, royalty-bearing agreement, QUALCOMM has granted BenQ a patent license to develop, manufacture and sell WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, cdmaOne(TM) (IS-95), and CDMA2000(R) subscriber units and WCDMA and TD-SCDMA modem card products.

BenQ had previously been licensed solely for cdmaOne and CDMA2000 subscriber units. "QUALCOMM is pleased to enter into this agreement with BenQ, an industry leader that brings enjoyment to work, leisure and entertainment through top-quality digital lifestyle devices," said Marv Blecker, senior vice president and general manager of technology licensing for QUALCOMM.

"We look forward to expanding our support of BenQ to their WCDMA products and continuing QUALCOMM's commitment to driving the global commercialization of 3G CDMA for advanced wireless data services."

"It is important for us to have the ability to develop 3G CDMA products to be able to meet the growing demand for advanced wireless data services," said Irwin S. Chen, vice president and general manager of BG Networking & Communications at BenQ. "With QUALCOMM's support, we can continue to create and enhance our digital lifestyle product offerings, as well as build and market innovative solutions for WCDMA."

BenQ has manufacturing plants in Malaysia, Mexico, China and Taiwan. The company has more than 15,000 employees worldwide, supporting a strong global sales marketing and service network spanning Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas. BenQ has research and development facilities in Taiwan (Hsinchu Lab), China (Suzhou Software Development Center) and California, USA (Wireless Technology Center), and has more than 2,000 research and development employees in Suzhou, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and San Diego. BenQ has amassed 1,738
global patents.