GekeVenn: QUALCOMM

geke (70)in #corporatism • 6 years ago

Former Qualcomm lobbyist Makan Delrahim is occupying a great position in government right now for Qualcomm: head of antitrust for the Attorney General's office. Especially since the Federal Trade Commission charged Qualcomm last year with antitrust violations: “Qualcomm has engaged in exclusionary conduct that taxes its competitors' baseband processor sales, reduces competitors' ability and incentive to innovate, and raises prices paid by consumers for cell phones and tablets."

The FTC is also currently reviewing a proposed, and at this point hostile, takeover of Qualcomm by Broadcom, a Singapore-based company, and the FTC has made two requests for information, usually only done in large, complex acquisitions. But others point to the fact that Qualcomm handles sensitive work for the federal government. Stu Woo, reporting for the Wall Street Journal, points out that, “[S]ome U.S. officials and lawmakers are concerned Broadcom could sell parts of Qualcomm and hobble the US in its race with China for developing the next generation of wireless technology, called 5G.” Which highlights another prominent position held by a Qualcomm staffer, Becky Fraser, when she was the director of China policy in Obama's Chamber of Commerce.

Qualcomm has promoted its role in 5G development this way: “5G NR—driven by Qualcomm—will redefine everything. Our 5G development efforts are focused on creating a 5G network that takes on a much larger role than previous cellular generations—connecting new industries, enabling new services and empowering new user experiences. At the foundation of this next generation cellular network is 5G New Radio (NR), the global 5G standard for a new OFDM-based air interface designed to support the wide variation of 5G device-types, services, deployments and spectrum.”

5G technology has been criticized for utilizing ultra-high microwave frequency radiation, and many worry about increased health effects from 5G networks. The FCC approved the following bands for 5G in 2016: 28 GHz, 37 GHz, and 39 GHz. Some have even suggested the government is intending to control 5g networks in what's called a "deep state" conspiracy theory.