Nortel snubs patent pool, publishes LTE handset royalty rates

Nortel says it's publishing its LTE patent royalty rates "to provide increased transparency and predictability of IPR costs that could help prevent uncertainties in handset costs from inhibiting the growth of the 4G market" and "to help service providers and their handset vendors develop business plans for launching LTE.'

Last month, seven big-name vendors - Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sony Ericsson - signed an agreement hoping to achieve similar goals by limiting intellectual property licensing fees for LTE.

The seven-way alliance insists that an aggregate approach would provide more certainty regarding LTE handset development costs.

However, that also potentially means less money for each alliance member as royalties would be split seven ways. In a statement, Nortel said its approach would do more to spur innovation and ensure companies are proportionately rewarded for their contributions to LTE development.

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