Qualcomm not to negotiate royalties

CDMA technology developer Qualcomm on Tuesday said it was not negotiating with Indian telecom players, including Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications, on lowering the royalty paid by them.

"Qualcomm is committed to help the industry drive handset prices down and it involves multiple players and has nothing to do with negotiations on royalties with operators as they do not pay it," the company said clarifying media reports.

The statement comes amid reports that Reliance Communications was putting pressure on Qualcomm for lowering the royalty on the ground that US company was charging much higher rates from operators in India as compared to China. India has the lowest device prices in the world and royalties on the devices sold in India are the lowest in the world, the company said, adding, "Qualcomm is working aggressively to enable even lower-cost devices."

The average royalties paid on devices sold in India over the past 12 months have averaged 15 per cent lower than royalties that have been paid on devices sold in China and are far lower that royalties that have been paid to Qualcomm in markets like Korea, Japan and the US, it said.