(UPI Business News via NewsEdge) US wireless telecommunications company Qualcomm is being investigated in South Korea for alleged anticompetitive practices, officials said.
The exact nature of the investigation was not made public.
Rival businesses in Japan, Europe and the US accuse the research-and-development company of abusing its market dominance in wireless technology to demand excessive royalties and block fair competition, The New York Times reported.
Qualcomm develops CDMA, a rival to the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, technology. It makes money by selling cell phone chips. It also collects royalties for licensing its technology to other chip makers and cell phone manufacturers.
The South Korean task force investigating Qualcomm is modeled after one investigating antitrust complaints against Microsoft, officials said.
Qualcomm had no immediate comment.
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