Nokia To ETSI: ‘Pick Our Standard’ Or No One Gets A Nano-SIM’

Posted on Mar 28 2012 - 1:50pm by Editorial Staff

With ETSI is still have to take the decision later this week over the nano-SIM standard – the future of SIM – Nokia is threatening the ETSI that it will not license “essential” patents if Apple’s nano-SIM is selected, the Finnish mobile maker is saying that the design simply “does not meet ETSI’s technical requirements and which would be inferior for consumers and the mobile industry, unnecessarily increasing the cost of mobile devices.”

We earlier reported that battle between Apple and its rival smartphone maker has broken out over the next generation nano-SIM standard – the future of SIM card – where Apple is seeking to lead its way with the approval from European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Over on this, the Finnish mobile maker giant Nokia, pointing out that why its own proposal would be better from its rival for consumers and be able to withstand usage.

Over which, Nokia said that, Apple’s royalty-free nano-SIM is an empty promise, because the company doesn’t have any essential patents related to its nano-SIM proposal. The Cupertino company which had said it will offered “an unequivocal commitment to grant royalty-free licenses to any Apple patents essential to nano-SIM” according to a letter from Apple to the ETSI. “We’ve taken a look at the competing designs, and it does appear that Apple’s proposal — essentially a micro-SIM trimmed down to the chip alone — would be trickier to hold into place.”

Here’s the full statement:

It has become clear that ETSI’s current work on the 4FF standard is in conflict with ETSI’s agreed rules, risking the adoption of a proposal which does not meet ETSI’s technical requirements and which would be inferior for consumers and the mobile industry, unnecessarily increasing the cost of mobile devices.

“We believe that Apple is mis-using the standardization process, seeking to impose its own proprietary solution on the industry and using ETSI merely to rubber stamp its proposal, rather than following established principles and practices,” said Henry Tirri, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Nokia. “We urge ETSI members to resist this behaviour, which is not in the best interests of the industry or, more importantly, of consumers.”

Nokia has actively contributed to telecommunications standardization for more than two decades. We believe that the overriding objective any standardization activity must be to collaboratively select the best technological solution, independent of individual commercial interests. It is imperative that the integrity of ETSI’s standardization process should be upheld, with pre-agreed requirements and selection criteria used to ensure fair selection of the best technology. The proposal from Nokia, RIM and Motorola meets all of ETSI’s pre-agreed requirements and more of its selection criteria and so should be selected on its technical merits.

Nokia’s objections to Apple’s proposal have never been related to intellectual property. However, as a result of the issues with the 4FF standardization work, Nokia is not willing to contribute its own IPR to the standard, if the Apple proposal is selected in violation of ETSI’s rules. Nokia holds more than 50 patent families covering SIM related technologies that we believe may be essential to Apple’s proposal. We have informed ETSI that, if Apple’s proposal is selected, then Nokia will not license its relevant patents to that standard.

This decision has no impact on Nokia’s existing commitments to license its standard essential patents under FRAND terms to earlier adopted ETSI standards.

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