bruce, VOD/BAM are firmly in the CDMA camp. I read the full text of the marriage announcement this morning, and it explicitly stated that the above two + GTE would 'use the common CDMA platform that they all share' [not an exact quote, and I don't have the URL handy, but that's pretty close].
Jeff, I have to disagree that this is a non-event. This puts enormous pressure on Sprint, and mucho more important, everyone's beloved ma: T. I understand that BAM, VOD, and GTE were all in the CDMA fold so that there have been no new net carriers added. But the CDMA footprint will now have another nationwide player: infrastructure orders alone will take off as these guys implement their system. Lucent, Ericy, Nortel are going to get some gigantic contracts. In turn, Sprint will have to step up and fill the holes in their coverage in order to improve quality of service and meet the competition.
Poor little Q's fabless fab is just going to get stretched to the IPR breaking point :-). I also think this adds to the value of the to-be-sold mobile handset division--any would be acquirer has got to know that CDMA has now arrived beyond question.
But the biggie here is AT&T. Sprint's done a helluva job giving them a run, but everybody knows nationwide coverage is THE BIGGIE demanded by users. OneRate did the trick, even though it overloaded T's system. How much longer can T hold out?
This ain't no non-event, Jeff: this is the beginning of the end game. best regards, mike doyle |
