Inquam, a joint venture between CDMA giant Qualcomm and Middle East investment 
fund Omnia is set to be awarded a U.K. telecoms operator license ?an important 
first step towards its goal of becoming a fully-licensed mobile service 
provider. 

Using the name Earthadvice, Inquam has applied, under section 7 of the U.K. 
Telecommunications Act 1984, for a license from the Department of Trade and 
Industry (DTI) that would allow it to provide telecoms services within the U.K. 

The DTI has not had any objections to the submission.

Inquam's next move will be to acquire the assets of U.K. Tetra operator Dolphin 
Telecom, which is currently in administration. Dolphin holds a licence to 
operate a Tetra network under the Wireless Telegraphy Act. Inquam needs the 
general license to be able to hold the spectrum license.

Sources within the U.K.'s DTI have confirmed that Earthadvice is in talks with 
Dolphin's administrator, Deloitte & Touche, with a view to taking over 
Dolphin's mobile business, including becoming the named license holder.

Dolphin currently has about 76,000 digital and 21,000 analogue subscribers plus 
a skeleton staff of 30. Nick Edwards, one of Dophin's two administrators from 
Deloitte & Touche, was unable to throw any light on the current situation 
except to confirm Dolphin's continuing existence.

Both Qualcomm and Inquam refused to comment on the deal. However, it is known 
that the pair are keen to see CDMA2000 IX technology rolled out in Europe at 
450 MHz. Inquam has recently purchased suitable equipment from Lucent to 
provide such a service through Telemobil in Romania and has similar plans for a 
network in Indonesia with Telselindo Nusantara.

Dolphin's existing network in the U.K. and France presently works within the 
410-430 MHz radio spectrum. A spokeswoman for the U.K.'s Radio Communications 
Agency (RCA) explained it would require a change to Dolphin's WTA licence to 
utilise any technology other than TETRA. 

According to John Berry, managing director in the U.K. with international radio 
consultancy ATDI, the use of CDMA technology by Inquam/Earthadvice is 
theoretically possible but fraught with problems, and likely to attract 
objections from other European countries.

"If we [the U.K.] elect to use a different technology then these rules have to 
be re-agreed, probably with different parameters. That process may take six 
months but is more likely to take two years," said Berry. "And there is even a 
risk that the other parties will never agree to the change."

The RCA has previously said that it is in the process of cleaning up the 
frequencies between the 450 MHz to 470 MHz band but this process will probably 
take years. The one ray of hope for Inquam is that while this new spectrum is 
intended for TETRA release 2 (which provides a packetized data overlay of 
around 300 kilobits per second), CDMA2000 is designed to act as a data overlay 
over existing networks. 

Qualcomm's founder, Dr Irwin Jacobs, has long advocated the use of CDMA in 
Europe in this fashion.