Once again, you have to be careful as to how you interpret the slides, as they are quite manipulative. When looking at the "CDMA Evolution to 3G" (http://www.qualcomm.com/main/sabew/13.html) and "GSM Path to 3G" (http://www.qualcomm.com/main/sabew/14.html) slides, the only real difference between a given category being marked under "Upgrade Required" or "New Equipment Required" is whether the implementation allows for forwards/backwards compatibility with existing equipment.
For example, for the categories labeled "Channel Cards" and "Software," it's said that cdma2000 only requires an upgrade while W-CDMA requires the purchase of new equipment. In reality, all this means is that an existing IS/95 handset will be able to work over a cdma2000 base station, while an existing GSM handset won't work with a W-CDMA base station. Although this argument might be a compelling one for convincing existing IS/95 network operators to stick with a cdma2000 upgrade path, it means nothing for an existing GSM operator. Likewise, the fact that W-CDMA would require completely new testing equipment for GSM operators doesn't change the fact that new testing equipment would also be needed for a cdma2000 upgrade.
But there is one area where a W-CDMA upgrade would be smoother for a GSM operator, and that's for the section titled "Backhaul." Here, the slides state that an upgrade is required. However, the definition of the word "upgrade" here is a bit different than it is for, say, cdma200 Channel Cards. An upgrade for the latter still requires completely new equipment to be purchased and older equipment to be replaced, and only promises forwards/backwards compatibility.
Meanwhile, for the former, an upgrade means just that, an upgrade; or in other words, merely the purchase of additional equipment to boost the capacity of the network, all the while leaving existing infrastructure equipment for the most part inact. There's a big difference here, a difference that means hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for the network operators in question; and of course, if a GSM carrier were to upgrade to cdma2000 instead, the "Backhaul" section for 3G would have to be changed from "Upgrade Required" to "New Equipment Required," thus making this choice a far more expensive one.
Eric |
