Mike,
<< You mentioned yesterday that there was "big news" in telecom regarding potential competition for CDMA. >>
Yes. It made me pretty grumpy. I've recovered. <g>
The news I was referring to was the News that Nokia has released GSM equipment in 800 MHz. I suspect ERICY to follow, probably MOT and others.
biz.yahoo.com
Until now, GSM equipment has only been available in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz & 1900 MHz.
Most carriers in the America's use 800 MHz and some extend into (or like Sprint) use 1900 MHz.
The introduction of 800 MHz gear, gives carriers like Cingular, BSI, SBC, and other Latin American carriers, who might be considering a "technology flip" from IS-136 TDMA, an alternative to cdma2000, which has always operated 800 MHz/1900/MHz (with AMPS).
Evidently as part of the considerations given by Brazil to GSM, and by AWS, the major vendors agreed to design and deliver 800 MHz gear.
It is now here, and it potentially changes the paradigm, in that it potential complicates CDMA increasing market share against GSM.
If I had to bet, I would say that Cingular at least, will follow the AWS path. They have to do something. Economies of scale for IS-136 TDMA, are down the drain. We will certainly see GSM-EDGE, but I don't think we'll see TDMA-EDGE.
It is not over yet, however. Cingular is nowhere near as spectrum rich as AWS, and may have not have sufficient spectrum to migrate beyond EDGE to W-CDMA, so cdma2000 could still be a better choice for them, but this is complicated by the fact that they already operate Bell South and Pac Bell as GSM.
Should any of these carriers go the GSM migration path, it does not reduce CDMA market share, but it sure blocks another avenue for increasing it.
Time will tell.
- Eric - |
