Europe : The CDMA Development Group (CDG) and its member companies demonstrated the benefits and commercial success of CDMA2000® during the eighth annual 3G World Congress, held earlier this month in Bangkok, Thailand.

Inset is Tadashi Onodera, president, KDDI Corp one of the keynote speakers.

“CDMA2000 continues to expand rapidly around the world, with 71 commercial networks and 64.5 million users in 36 countries today. High demand for CDMA2000 services is driving growth and incremental revenue for carriers,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “CDMA2000 has set the pace for 3G.”

The 3G World Congress is the leading wireless event in Asia. This year, over 2000 delegates attended the conference sessions, exhibits and workshops. The program featured case studies from leading 3G carriers, technology evolution and implementation strategies for network and service providers and how to capitalize on 3G to stimulate growth and revenues. Attendees heard in-band migration success stories of CDMA2000 from carriers, including China Unicom, KDDI and Sprint PCS. They also heard how CDMA2000 carriers are driving their data revenue from advanced applications and services. Host-city CDMA service provider, Hutchison CAT announced its latest international roaming agreement with Sprint PCS in the United States.

Conference-opening keynote speakers included Sun Yafang, chairwoman of the board, Huawei Technologies, Tadashi Onodera, president, KDDI Corp.; Mr. Kristiono, president director and CEO, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia; Dr. Irwin Jacobs, chairman and CEO, Qualcomm; and Len J. Lauer, president and COO, PCS Division, Sprint Corporation.

“The increased attendance at this year’s Congress indicates that there is growing interest in 3G and we should see significant advancements in deployments as well as greater availability of products and services in the coming years,” continued LaForge. “The 3G World Congress is a great venue for the CDMA2000 industry to share its experiences and vision.”

The next major CDMA industry conference, the 2003 CDMA Americas Congress, will be held December 8-10, 2003, at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami.