Qualcomm buys Flarion

Aug 11 2005 - 11:42 AM ET | 3G, Data

Qualcomm this morning announced a $600 buyout of FLASH-OFDM inventor Flarion Technologies. If after two years Flarion meets certain milestones, there will be another payout of $205 million in stock and cash. Qualcomm noted that it plans to stick with CDMA (its bread and butter) and will use Flarion's technology only to supplmenet its own: bq. "We believe CDMA will provide the most advanced, spectrally efficient wide area wireless networks for the foreseeable future, but with Flarion we can now more effectively support operators who prefer an OFDMA or hybrid OFDM/CDMA track for differentiating their services." Completion of the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, is expected later this year.

---