CDMA2000
commercial roll-outs are providing operators with significant 3G advantages
over other wireless technologies in the areas of voice and data capacity,
device availability, compelling applications, maximization of existing
spectrum, frequency flexibility and time-to-market -- all with minimal
upgrades to their networks.
CDMA2000 is leading the 3G market with more than 10 million CDMA2000 subscribers and is achieving unparalleled success as noted by a number of operators and analysts around the world.
"CDMA2000
users worldwide have been experiencing 3G services, applications, high-voice
quality and a broad array of cutting-edge devices," said Perry
LaForge, executive director of the CDMA Development Group (CDG). "While
we talk a great deal about data rates and services, it is also important
to note that the increased capacity advantages of CDMA2000 are enabling
wireless operators to maximize their networks to gain additional ARPU
without compromising the quality of service. This has provided these
operators with an incredible advantage that will be difficult to match."
LaForge continued, "The CDG and its members will continue to release
real-world actual carrier commercial implementation results on capacity
and data rates over the next few months to draw the distinction between
real-world performance versus dubious claims for other technologies."
SK Telecom of Korea was the world's first operator to commercially deploy a 3G network on Oct. 1, 2000. "Since our CDMA2000 launch nearly two years ago, SK Telecom has achieved a more than 70 percent increase in voice capacity and is now offering 3G applications with 153 kbps capable phones. Today, with CDMA2000 our network capacity has increased to more than 231 Erlangs in 10 MHz spectrum," said Myung Sung Lee, CTO and Network R&D director for SK Telecom. "Our use of CDMA has enabled us to be the global driver in advancing the wireless communications market. CDMA2000 has given us the advantage of delivering compelling data applications without compromising voice quality or using additional capacity."
Leap
Wireless International, an innovator of wireless communications services,
adopted CDMA from the company's inception. "It is fundamentally
impossible to operate Leap's Cricket flat-rate 'all-you-can-talk' wireless
service using technologies other than CDMA," said Mark Kelley,
CTO of Leap Wireless International Inc. (Nasdaq:LWIN), which offers
its Cricket unlimited local wireless service in 40 markets across the
United States. "For competitive reasons, Leap looked at the possibility
of launching unlimited services using GSM and found it would take as
much as five times the spectrum as compared to CDMA IS-95A systems.
In fact, GSM has less voice capacity than U.S. TDMA technology.
"What Leap is currently doing with Cricket using 10 MHz of spectrum
would require 45 MHz of spectrum had the company opted to use GSM instead
of CDMA. Leap consistently sees 20 Erlangs per sector per 1.25 MHz using
IS-95A, which is at least five times the realistic capacity of GSM systems.
Leap is now using CDMA2000 1X in a few markets and, in initial tests,
is seeing nearly double the voice capacity of IS-95A.
"Moreover, earlier in the year, Leap tested new CDMA technology
that would push the capacity another 50 percent, which the company will
be adopting when it becomes commercially available."
Although CDMA2000 systems provide for an additional doubling, or more, of capacity and other innovations, such as those noted by Leap, the technology will continue to increase this capacity advantage even further. The CDG and its members have made advancements in the areas of Selectable Mode Vocoder (SMV), Smart Antennas and Receive Diversity all of which will continue to make CDMA far more efficient than other technologies for years to come.
These advances in speech and signal processing will allow operators to continue to serve increased requirements for voice service, in addition to providing compelling high-speed data services.
In addition to increased capacity, CDMA technology's benefits include:
-- Device Availability -- a key advantage for CDMA2000 operators is
device availability. Exceeding
10 million CDMA2000 subscribers in handset sales today, there are more
than 120 devices including handsets, PDAs, PC cards and modules now
commercially available.
-- Unique Applications -- CDMA2000 users have access to full-color music
videos, Internet broadcasts, animation downloads, casino gaming, Karaoke,
video gaming and advanced messaging services at speeds up to 144kbps
increasing to 307kbps in the next release.
-- Spectrum Efficiency -- CDMA2000 is the most spectrum efficient technology
in the market today and can be deployed where spectrum availability
is tight in increments of 1.25MHz bands.
-- Frequency Flexibility -- CDMA2000 products are available in 450,
800, 900, 1700, 1800, 1900 and UMTS bands.
-- Multimedia Services -- Operators can take advantage of concurrent
voice and data sessions to provide rich multimedia applications.
-- Widespread Deployment -- CDMA2000 provides global operators with
economies of scale in infrastructure, services and devices. Today there
are 15 CDMA2000 operators with more than 10 million subscribers across
the globe enjoying advanced 3G services.
LaForge concluded: "Operators and manufacturers designed CDMA with 3G in mind. CDMA2000 technology's first-to-market position and technical superiority has given CDMA operators the upper hand in 3G. We look forward to continuing to share these remarkable, real world operator success stories for months to come."
