Mobile Cell Phone Carriers Draw LTE Agreement

A number of the world's largest cell phone carriers agreed on a mobile LTE licensing framework.

Nokia and Ericsson said on Monday, they were aiming to offer the new technology by agreeing to license their patents on fair and reasonable terms. Other cell phone companies included are Alcatel-Lucent, NEC Corporation and NextWave Wireless.

Verizon Wireless has decided to build out an LTE network, while China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile provider, said earlier this year it would test LTE.

LTE promises to make everything from mobile video sharing to faster music downloads, but it may not show a visible boost in sales for the network equipment industry any time soon as the first networks are not expected for two years. Many operators will wait longer until the technology matures.

"Today's announcement is a step towards establishing more predictable and transparent licensing costs in a manner that enables faster adoption of new technologies," Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Nokia's intellectual property rights said in a statement.

The technology companies have committed to keeping royalty levels for essential LTE patents in handsets below 10 percent of the sale price, with the maximum royalty in LTE-enabled notebooks staying below $10.