Qualcomm Quietly Stops Hating WiFi
Qualcomm’s got a history of pretty aggressively talking down any wireless communications technology that competes with its CDMA products, and WiFi was no exception. Even just a few months ago, the company’s founder and chairman was slamming municipal WiFi and hotspots in favor of mobile broadband. Apparently, though, the company’s had a change of heart, with its CEO telling a conference that future handsets will be able to detect available networks and connect to the one with the cheapest cost of transmission for the mobile operator. While Qualcomm really wants everything to use CDMA, operators have likely pressed them into submission on WiFi as they look to offer converged services that will let them lower transmission and call costs to a level where they can compete with fixed VoIP providers. There have been plenty of WiFi vs. 3G arguments over the years, but as usual, they don’t come with an either/or answer, regardless of what Qualcomm may want.
