Open Patent Alliance Expands 4G WiMAX with Addition of Beceem, GCT Semiconductor, Sequans, UQ Communications

Industry-Leading Mobility Players Bring Cohesive Vision, Opportunity for Global WiMAX Development and Adoption


SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Building on worldwide 4G WiMAX technology momentum, Beceem Communications, GCT Semiconductor, Sequans Communications and UQ Communications have joined the Open Patent Alliance (OPA).

Formed in June 2008, the OPA is dedicated to offering intellectual property rights (IPR) solutions that support the development and widespread adoption of WiMAX around the globe, further boosting the open industry standard approach to 4G wireless broadband.

Beceem, GCT Semiconductor, Sequans and UQ come in as associate (non-board-level) members, joining current OPA members Acer, Alcatel-Lucent, Alvarion, Cisco, Clearwire, Huawei Technologies, Intel Corporation and Samsung Electronics.

“It’s been an exciting month for the Open Patent Alliance and WiMAX 4G momentum, in general,” said OPA President Yung Hahn. “The OPA ecosystem remains focused on broader choice and competitive equipment and service costs for WiMAX technology, devices and applications globally. With a critical mass of silicon providers now as members, the OPA can continue facilitating the formation of a singular, cohesive WiMAX patent pool to assist participating companies in obtaining access to patent licenses from patent owners at a more predictable cost.”

The most recent additions to the OPA span silicon providers to wireless carriers around the world, continuing to strengthen the open ecosystem and provide a fair, transparent and balanced IPR licensing structure.

“Proving the industry-leading performance of our Mobile WiMAX chips in terms of throughput and hand-off capabilities with top WiMAX operators and infrastructure providers has made Beceem the primary supplier of WiMAX terminal chips, especially in the Clearwire and UQ networks,” said Lars Johnsson, vice president, marketing and business development of Beceem Communications. “Beceem has a long-standing history of supporting efforts to accelerate development and adoption of WiMAX, and joining the OPA extends our commitment to innovation and the advancement of the open WiMAX ecosystem.”

“Having empowered WiMAX deployments globally for major operators such as UQ Communications, KT, SKT and Packet One, we are pleased to play a key role in the OPA, and contribute our extensive industry experience,” said Dr. Kyeongho Lee, president and CEO of GCT Semiconductor. “As the largest-volume shipper and design-win leader for advanced single-chip WiMAX mobile solutions, GCT is the leading provider of proven WiMAX solutions for USB, CPE, module, VoIP phone, Femto AP and more. We look forward to working with the OPA and using our worldwide leadership position to further advance the WiMAX ecosystem.”

“Sequans chips power more WiMAX devices than any other chipmaker and we are fully focused on driving the widespread adoption of WiMAX around the world,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “We fully support the open intellectual property rights model and look forward to working with our alliance partners to advance WiMAX technology development.”

“Having collaborated with OPA members in the past to offer mobile WiMAX in Japan, UQ Communications looks forward to further collaborations through the Open Patent Alliance,” said T. Tanaka, president of UQ Communications. “By creating the WiMAX patent pool within the OPA, we can accelerate efforts to develop and deliver new mobile WiMAX eco-services to consumers.”