Qualcomm Buys SnapTrack for US$1 Billion

BOSTON (01/26/2000) - Qualcomm Inc. said today it will buy SnapTrack Inc., a maker of wireless position location technology, for US$1 billion in stock.

SnapTrack, of San Jose, California, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, and will bring to the deal around 50 patents, issued or pending, relevant to the Wireless Assisted GPS (global positioning system) technology, according to a statement from Qualcomm, which is also based in California.

Wireless Assisted GPS is SnapTrack's client/server assisted GPS technology that uses U.S. government GPS satellites to pinpoint the location of a given wireless device within five to 20 meters, the statement said.

Qualcomm plans to combine SnapTrack's wireless position location technology with Qualcomm's gpsOne technology, which will speed the development of location-enabled mobile phones and other devices which use Wireless Assisted GPS technology, according to Qualcomm. Qualcomm is incorporating gpsOne into its chipset and software offerings for a range of wireless voice and data products, it said.

Subject to regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close by mid-March, according to the company.

Today's announcement may be part of a renewed focus for Qualcomm. In December, the company shed its terrestrial, CDMA (code division multiple access) standard-based consumer phone business, selling its CDMA phone inventory, manufacturing equipment and customer commitments to Japan's Kyocera Corp. for an undisclosed amount.

Qualcomm, in San Diego, can be reached at +1-858-587-1121, or at http://www.qualcomm.com/

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