A group of heavyweight manufacturers have joined to create a patent licensing framework for Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile technology. “The companies have committed to keeping royalty levels for essential LTE patents in handsets below 10 percent of the sale price, with the maximum royalty in LTE-enabled notebooks staying below $10” reports Reuters. The companies include Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC), NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson—noticeably absent is Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), currently in a legal battle over licensing costs with Nokia (NYSE: NOK). Although Qualcomm backs its own Ultra Mobile Broadband technology it has indicated it will make chips for LTE. The networks won’t be around for at least a couple of years, but the intent of this is to keep handset prices lower. (release)