<font color=RoyalBlue>The EV-DO/Wi-Fi challenge
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2003-11-3 10:24:40
You know a new technology has incumbents on the run when old-school industry groups issue screeds claiming there is no threat and that both technologies can live harmoniously in any given market.
Take the CDMA Development Group, which is so convinced that Wi-Fi is no threat to 3G ¨C which is to say, cdma2000 ¨C that it took the trouble to issue a paper last month that clears up ¡°the most popular misconceptions about Wi-Fi¡± and explores the role that Wi-Fi technology could play in a cdma2000 1x EV-DO network.
The biggest misconception that the CDG wants to clear up, apparently, is that Wi-Fi is a potential substitute for EV-DO. It¡¯s not. In fact, compared to EV-DO, Wi-Fi is clearly inferior to EV-DO. That doesn¡¯t mean that no one will use it, says CDG executive director Perry LaForge. Indeed, the two technologies will peacefully coexist because in fact, they¡¯re not really competitors.
It¡¯s not exactly in line with comments earlier this year from CDMA stalwarts like Qualcomm¡¯s Irwin Jacobs and Jeff Belk, who have dismissed Wi-Fi as a trendy overhyped technology that no one would seriously want to use once 3G technologies like, say, EV-DO become widely deployed.
However, that¡¯s a hard line to toe with CDMA heavyweights in key markets like Korea and the US launching Wi-Fi services. The CDG has instead been taking a sort of middle ground, acknowledging Wi-Fi¡¯s complementary qualities while making it crystal clear that EV-DO, not Wi-Fi, is the future of wireless data and, by the way, far superior.
So let¡¯s play along and compare the two technologies. The CDG¡¯s case for EV-DO can be broken down into three categories: coverage, security and speed.
Coverage: Wi-Fi hot spots cover about 100 meters. EV-DO covers well over several kilometers. It¡¯s the difference between being able to sit down anywhere you want and getting online with an EV-DO PC card, and trying to find the nearest Wi-Fi ZONE (and hope there¡¯s a seat available). Edge: EV-DO
Security: In terms of RF encryption, CDMA is a hard act to follow for secure voice calls. Wireless data is another story. Not to say that CDMA is a piece of cake to hack, but the general rule of thumb is that if it¡¯s got an IP address and a modem and it¡¯s online, you can hack it. And apps downloads and email are just waiting for some clever bastard to exploit them ¨C possibly when Windows Mobile becomes a common device OS. Edge: EV-DO.
Speed: The CDG paper argues correctly that Wi-Fi is limited by whatever backhaul connection is sitting behind it, usually the DSL equivalent of a T1 line. Okay. But then the CDG claims that you can get T1-level speeds and sometimes better from Verizon Wireless¡¯ EV-DO service in Washington, DC. The trouble is, even Verizon says its DO speeds range between 300-500 kbps, which is less than half the speed of a T1 connection. Whatever¡¯s being used for Wi-Fi backhaul, none of this matters if the server you¡¯re trying to download data from is hooked up with a T1, or if the access point is running at maximum traffic load. EV-DO, as it happens, has the same limitations. Edge: Wi-Fi.
One big hot spot
So EV-DO wins on technology points in two out of three categories. Does that make it better than Wi-Fi?
Not necessarily. CDMA is technologically superior to GSM too, and we¡¯ve seen how that worked out.
That said, the CDG may be onto something here about the future of 3G data services in relation to the Wi-Fi craze. Surfing the Net with a laptop and watching streaming video on a cell phone are different propositions. On the other hand, PHS systems in Japan have been offering data rates of up to 128 kbps via PHS PC cards. Why go to specific limited service areas scattered around town when you can sit down anywhere, plug your cell phone into your laptop and log on?
Wi-Fi can¡¯t do that. EV-DO can ¨C at least where you can get it, which isn¡¯t too many places right now, with only eight live systems as we went to press. And EV-DO won¡¯t even be an option in places like Europe. In fact, if one of the benefits of 3G is having voice and data on the same bill, EV-DO operators may have to ask subscribers to buy their voice from GSM and their wireless data from CDMA. Luckily for such customers, there¡¯ll always be W-CDMA, which could offer the exact same benefits over Wi-Fi in terms of coverage and mildly better security.
Which would be a tough break for the CDG. Some days you just can¡¯t win.
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