Next-gen Handsets On Target
Vendors Focus On Design, Engineers Iron Out 3G Details
By Peggy Albright
Wireless operators may face a variety of challenges in deploying their next-generation networks, but 3G-ready handsets will not
be one of them, manufacturers say.
While network operators can make engineering upgrades to allow future technologies, network vendors and handset
developers are at each other's mercy when it comes to deploying their services concurrently.
The next-generation CDMA voice and data standard, called 1XRTT, and the emerging GSM and TDMA data service, called
GPRS, both have fairly near-term targets. Many companies say they could commercialize the services in the United States by
2001, while others are striving for earlier availability.
Making sure terminals interoperate with the network and that both the infrastructure and terminal manufacturers have
interpreted the specifications properly "will probably be the biggest risk factors" in launching 1XRTT services, says Herman
Pon, vice president of technology and CTO of wireless solutions at Nortel Networks.
This quarter Nortel Networks will conduct technical field trials of CDMA's next generation, 1XRTT, on Bell Mobility's
Canadian network. In doing so, Bell Mobility joins Bell Atlantic Mobile and Sprint PCS in taking steps to evaluate the
technology.
Omnipoint Communications has initiated GPRS trials in the Northeast, for deployment planned this year. Whether or not the
company meets its goal, industry watchers say this trial could lead to a broader deployment of the data technology by
Omnipoint's merger partner, VoiceStream.
While Pon's concern reflects the perspective of network vendors, the Big Three handset manufacturers do not anticipate their
products will impede service delivery.
"We tend to say that we will have products available when the need from the consumer is there," says Bo Albertson, marketing
director for communications for Ericsson's consumer segment. Developing terminals that meet technical specifications is, he
says, a lesser issue compared to fulfilling design considerations. As customer equipment becomes more technically
sophisticated, personality, ease of use and brand are even more important: You want customers to continue to want your brand
as they migrate to new types of technologies, Albertson says.
Motorola also expects to have commercial handsets in time to fulfill network operators' needs for all the major next-gen air
interfaces, says Valy Lev, director of advanced technology and software operations for Motorola's personal communications
services business. In particular, his company expects to have GPRS handsets commercially available this year.
Nokia says it, too, is on pace for delivery of advanced phones. Larry Paulson, Nokia's vice president for CDMA global
product line management, says the first "1X" phones will come out in 2001, emphasizing voice services for operators that are
using the network technology to expand capacity. 1XRTT terminals offering advanced data capabilities will come along about
six months later, with GPRS terminals also available next year, Nokia says.
But things won't be as easy as the planned handset availability might imply: Vendors say commercialization could be hampered
by a variety of problems.
In the United States, for example, operators will be facing technology service upgrades just as they need to comply with the
FCC's mandate to provide Phase Two E911 services by Oct. 1, 2001. Deploying CDMA's 1XRTT at the same time as E911
systems, for example, "may be a complexity," Paulson says.
A GPRS concern, according to Motorola's Lev, is that carriers deploying the data services for the first time will need to know
how to serve a brand new type of customer, one who can select data speeds at different pricing plans. The carriers also will
need to develop new billing schemes for each speed.
With such significant factors influencing carriers' ability to begin actually selling next generation services, handset availability may
be the least of their worries.
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