Telcos accused of conspiracy

Three of the world’s largest telcos have been accused ofconspiring to make sure their technologies are chosen as the standard foremergency phone location services on future wireless networks.

In a lawsuit filed with the US District Court of EasternPennsylvania, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Qualcomm are accused by TruePositionof manipulating the Standards Setting Organisations (SSOs) that govern emergencyphone location technology.

This technology is used by emergency response units trying tolocate people who have placed emergency calls from mobile phones.

In a media briefing released by TruePosition, the firm allegesthat the three tech giants ‘hijacked’ the Third Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to promotetheir own technologies as the standard for the new LTE 4G wireless network.

‘Over the course of three years – and acting under the authorityof the SSOs – representatives of Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Qualcomm, intheir roles as Chairmen of key 3GPP committees, abused their authority andpower to seize unfair competitive advantages,” the briefing reads.

Go here to read the full briefing.