Verizon Wireless looks to speed up chip certifications for devices

Looking to speed up the certification process, Verizon Wireless (VZ) said it has developed a new program for chipset approvals as well as a new partner to help with the certification process.
The carrier said that it will now require all baseband chipsets to go through a common certification process designed to eliminate redundant testing among chip vendors, device vendors and the carrier. Verizon Wireless said the process will simplify the process, ensure uniform quality across chipsets used in devices and speed up the process. Existing chipsets will be granted certification based on “meeting certain criteria” and be “grandfathered into the program at the discretion of Verizon Wireless.”
In addition to the new process, Verizon Wireless said it has named German-based Comprion as its “official test equipment provider” for LTE-USIM and CDMA-CSIM interface testing of handsets. The testing will be based on established ETSI, 3GPP and 3GPP2 specification and will be augmented with Verizon Wireless-specific requirements.
The move is seen as increasingly important to the carrier as it rolls out its LTE network and corresponding devices. The initial run of LTE-equipped devices also include CDMA chipsets for voice and coverage.