BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 2000--The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) announced today that subscriber numbers for TDMA-EDGE wireless technology continue to grow at a substantial pace, reaching 35.1 million worldwide at year-end 1999 representing an 88.7% increase over year-end 1998. Sheila Mickool, President of the UWCC, stated, "Combined with the analog subscribers in our networks, TDMA-EDGE operators serve over 65 million customers." North America and Latin America continue to be the largest geographic areas for growth for TDMA-EDGE wireless technology.
The number of TDMA-EDGE subscribers totaled 19.2 million in North America and 13.9 million in Latin America. This represents a 108.7% and 113.8% increase, respectively, over year-end 1998. Chris Pearson, Vice President of Marketing for the UWCC, said, "TDMA-EDGE is the most widely used wireless technology in the Western Hemisphere with coverage extending from Alaska to Southern Chile." He added, "The UWCC anticipates TDMA-EDGE customer growth in the Americas to remain high, particularly as wireless becomes the technology of choice for not only voice communication but also data exchange."
The UWCC is a Bellevue, Washington-based international consortium of more than 100 wireless carriers and vendors supporting the TDMA-EDGE & WIN technology standards. TDMA-EDGE network operators currently serve over 65 million TDMA-EDGE and Analog subscribers within their networks. The TDMA-EDGE `Taking Wireless Beyond the Call' technology brand (Time Division Multiple Access - Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution) represents not only second generation enhanced services, but also 3G compliant high-speed wireless data and Internet access technology to be available anytime, anywhere. For more information, go to www.tdma-edge.org. |
