Broadcom and Texas Instruments File Antitrust Complaint Against Qualcomm

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Broadcom and Texas Instruments File Antitrust Complaint Against Qualcomm

6:30 am on July 4, 2006 | Category: Business, Wireless Technology, Cellular, Law, Regulation

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has confirmed that two U.S. chipmakers, Broadcom Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc., have accused Qualcomm of abusing its dominant position in the country.

“The two U.S. companies filed a complaint against Qualcomm on June 23 with the Fair Trade Commission, arguing Qualcomm used its exclusive rights to the code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology to wield unbeatable power in Korea,” said South Korean antitrust spokesman, Na Yang-ju.

Two other companies, Nextreaming Corp. and THINmultimedia Inc., made similar complaints earlier this year, prompting the FTC to begin investigating the issue, Na Yang-ju said.

Qualcomm, which receives CDMA royalties on every handset sold in South Korea, has refused to comment on the antitrust allegations.