ful investors made QUALCOMM the best-performing stock on the S&P 500, increasing its value by 1,000 percent. A new standard? QUALCOMM faces stiff competition from competitors that are trying to develop their own CDMA standard. Meanwhile, a rival technological standard has taken hold in Europe and much of the rest of the world, including the huge Chinese market. QUALCOMM officials charge that the European companies are deliberately seeking an incompatible CDMA technology to circumvent QUALCOMM's patents and to give European companies an unfair advantage in the market. Ericsson and other European wireless companies say they are simply looking for the best technology and Visit Vault at www.vault.com for insider company profiles, expert advice, VAULT CAREER career message boards, expert resume reviews, the Vault Job Board and more. LIBRARY Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Employers QUALCOMM Incorporated are not concerned with making their phones compatible with existing CDMA technology. In March 2000, QUALCOMM paid $1 billion in stock to acquire Snap Track Inc., a leader in global positioning (GP) location technology. QUALCOMM now has control of nearly 50 patents owned by SnapTrack that will be critical to the deployment of GP systems. In the same month, QUALCOMM also acquired technology and systems consulting firm Within Technology, Inc., a company with expertise in collaborative workgroup software and other technologies. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed, but QUALCOMM, which worked with Within Technology previously on its Eudora e-mail software, reports that the deal will broaden its technical expertise considerably. Additional QUALCOMM moves have included alliances with NetZero, Sprint PCS, Samsung Telecommunications America Inc., In-Flight Network and Globalstar. The company has also expanded its presence in Europe by launching eQ-COM, which provides some of the continent's transportations industries with wireless communications-based fleet management solutions. Further QUALCOMM deals have included a license