Qualcomm, AirTouch to Test CDMA Services

Qualcomm Inc. and AirTouch Communications Inc. will participate in the first trial of a digital wireless technology for information services with Lucent Technologies Inc. and 3Com Corp. The trial, which will begin within a month and continue throughout 1998, will test code-division multiple-access, or CDMA, technology that Qualcomm developed and AirTouch uses to provide wireless services. The trial will test Qualcomm’s Quick Net Connect wireless Internet-access technology. The trial comes as wireless companies try to find new ways to use their existing networks to provide high-speed data and Internet access--services for which demand is growing. Quick Net Connect was jointly developed by Qualcomm and 3Com. Lucent makes CDMA wireless equipment. San Diego-based Qualcomm develops and makes wireless equipment and has numerous CDMA patents. AirTouch, based in San Francisco, is one of the largest providers of wireless phone services.