6/18 Interview w/Q VP, Planning & Internat Admin Anil Kripalani at CDMA Congress.
Interview: CDMA Technology Leader Interested
in China Market
June 21, 1999
Xinhua via NewsEdge Corporation : HONG
KONG (June 18) XINHUA - Qualcomm
Incorporated, pioneer and world leader of Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital
technology, has expressed its confidence and
optimism about the prospect of the
development of CDMA in China.
The access of China United Telecommunications
Corporation ( China Unicom) into the CDMA
Development Group, a global association of
CDMA products and service providers, and its
plan to deploy CDMA networks in China is very
encouraging, said Anil Kripalani, vice president
of the Planning and International Administration
department of Qualcomm.
Qualcomm is very interested in the Chinese
market and likes to help China Unicom achieve
its goal of developing CDMA network in China,
Kripalani told Xinhua during the 4th CDMA World
Congress workshops held in Hong Kong
between June 14-18.
China Unicom announced during the congress
that the CDMA network construction will start in
1999 with the capacity of 2.6 million
subscribers.
By the end of 2000, the CDMA network in China
will reach the capacity of 10 million covering 250
cities and after 2000, a new capacity of 10
million will be added annually to the CDMA
network. By the end of 2003, the network will
reach the capacity of 40 million with as many as
28 million actual subscribers.
Based in San Diego, the United States,
Qualcomm is holders of many CDMA
technologies and many major wireless
telecommunications companies in the world are
licensees of its technology.
Qualcomm is now talking with some potential
Chinese partners for its localization in China,
Kripalani said. It will continue to offer
technology to China in order to make it able to
take advantage of the latest CDMA technology.
The company is now seeking opportunities to
set up joint ventures in China to manufacture
its handsets. Qualcomm's handsets have
entered the 5th generation and the company is
a leading manufacturer of CDMA chips, which
are used by many CDMA network and handsets
manufacturers.
Compared with GSM, CDMA networks and
handsets have advantages in larger capacity,
wider coverage, better voice quality and low fail
calls rate, Kripalani said.
Larger capacity and wider coverage can make it
possible for setting up as little as base stations
to serve as many as subscribers and through
this the operation cost will be reduced, he said.
Also the transmission power of CDMA handsets
are lower and that is good for environment, he
added. The 3rd generation (3G) wireless
telecommunications, which connect mobile
phones to Internet, will be based on the CDMA
technology, Kripalani said.
The CDMA networks are easy to be upgraded
by changing some chips, Kripalani said. The
existing equipment do not need to be thrown
away and through this way, the operation cost
will be further reduced, he said.
CDMA is the fastest growing wireless
technology in the world. Among the total 30
million subscribers, 18 million of them are in Asia
Pacific region.
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