Paul Jacobs is talking, I'm a bit late, but I've stumbled into a discussion on patent reform.
As we know, Qualcomm holds lots of patents (which they've licensed!!) but they also get sued alot. The other day they got slammed in the Eastern District of Texas (no surprise there) and are having problems with their WCDMA chips. He does think, however, that the current patent reform legislation might go too far (incl the post-grant review and the apportionment issues) and might hurt innovation. There is a middle ground.
Interviewer (Steve Wildstrom - Business Week) is alluding to patent trolls and how long these cases take. Jacobs does a good job of taking it apart that by noting that the judges might not be as sophisticated as they need to be.
Moving on, Qualcomm is moving into broadcast TV via their MediaFlow subsidiary, broadcast to mobile phones using regular DTV technology.
Jacobs isn't pleased at how fast it's moving (Verizon is the only taker) and wants more advertising, and he thinks they need to build the network out more. They're working on it, and the FCC has been quite nice about it. He's surprised that people use the service so often, and then the peaks of usage are.
Note - the Killer App for mobile access on PDAs was when he used his 1x PDA to find the best Sushi restaurant in Maui.
Next topic - Verizon's developer conference for Open Access. Wildstrom notes that Verizon is amenable to multiple device contracts. How will that change the game?
A: This will enable multiple distribution channels and content providers. Talks about a built-in modem for laptops that will use multiple technologies. Compares to Amazon Kindle. In the voice world, there is a prepaid Skype Wi-Fi/3G phone in the UK. Why don't we have that? As long as you top off your prepaid card, you can make free Skype calls. Voice is becoming a smaller and smaller part of network costs, and Skype is a weapon against churn. He expects more of this.
Q: There is a surplus of wireless spectrum (really?) in the U.S. Are we using it as well as we should? Can we fix this w/ better technology?
A: This requires rebuilding the OTA networks and how they connect to the POTS network. The bottleneck is the old-line phone companies and landline owners. The wires are a huge fixed costs. Alludes to the massive amount of spectrum offered, the Google White Space proposals, etc.
(ed. note: Steve Wildstrom is not Sara Lacy. Good questions. Very good questions)
Jacobs wants more use of White Spaces. Good for him. Big picture - voice is no longer the killer app.
Q: What's Qualcomm's take on Immigration policy?
A: Jacobs is frightened that we train people, make them leave, and then send Venture Capital money back to where the talent is. This is scary. We need many, many more H1-B Visas (the 80k approved as of April 1 will be all gone that day). 60% of new Engineering grads are foreign born. Why can't we keep them? It's scary. Qualcomm has 400 applications for H1-B visas, and figures they will get half. Wants DHS to extend the "optional practical training" period to give them more time to retain people. This isn't taking jobs from Americans. There aren't enough people to fill the jobs! We need more smart people, and we should take who we can get!
Q: Do policymakers get that we can bring the workers to jobs, or send jobs to the workers?
A: It's become too politicized. People get it, but it's too emotional and tied to other immigration issues. We need to step back a bit.
Question from Andrew Noyes from CongressDaily: What is the ideal patent reform bill?
A: Long answer...here it comes -
1. Don't change the burden of proof for post-grant review.
2. Don't change the apportionment standard - charge on the overall value of the product. It would also allow courts to disregard the history of the market.
Next question: re iPhone SDK
A: The question of third party apps will be an interesting issue both for network operators and handset manufacturers. Apple might have right idea. We're going to need a balance between openness and security.
I asked a question re iPhone and Open Systems, referencing Zittrain's book. Jacobs gave a great answer in saying that he sees a wide range of possibilities for both open and closed systems, and that the market will decide what consumers want in terms of openness versus security.
More later...need to take a breath.
