re: More UWCC Reaction to CDG Shosteck White Paper
Universal Wireless Communications Consortium Disputes The CDMA Development Group/Shosteck Group White Paper On The Commercial And Technology Challenges For TDMA Operators
>> TDMA Reps Lash Back At The Shosteck White Paper
Jun 15, 2001
Internet Wire
biz.yahoo.com
The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) announced today that they do not agree with many of the conclusions found in the recent CDMA Development Group (CDG) sponsored white paper by The Shosteck Group titled GSM or CDMA: The Commercial and Technology Challenges for TDMA Operators dated June 2001. "The report fails to explain, in an evenhanded manner, the benefits of TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) operators migrating to GPRS/EDGE (General Packet Radio Service/Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service) technologies," stated Chris Pearson, Executive Vice President for the UWCC. "The UWCC supports a vision of worldwide seamless voice and data communications through the interoperability and convergence of TDMA with the GSM evolution. This technology evolution does not include CDMA2000 for various fundamental reasons."
The UWCC endorses both EDGE and UMTS 3G technologies. EDGE and UMTS are also supported by the GSMA, GSA, and the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). EDGE, recognized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a 3G service, and UMTS, are built upon a GPRS core network and have support from vendors and operators throughout the world. In 3GPP, standardization work will be completed by the end of 2001 to ensure that EDGE is fully harmonized with UMTS (or WCDMA). Pearson further commented, "The CDG report failed to mention the overwhelming global support for the evolution to 3G based on a GPRS core network with over 140 carriers worldwide endorsing it. It's very difficult to envision a TDMA operator choosing a second network of 1xRTT, when in a couple years, they would need to choose a third technology of EDGE or UMTS to enable a global roaming footprint and achieve the best applications and economies of scale to compete. This argument is highlighted by the recently announced intentions of CDMA IS-95/1xRTT carriers, SK Telecom of Korea and Verizon Wireless in the United States, to evolve to UMTS sometime in the future."
Vicki Livingston, Director of Marketing for the UWCC observed, "The white paper failed to mention that the potential addressable marketplace for EDGE and UMTS is represented by over 580 million subscribers. There are global economies of scale in chipsets, infrastructure, handsets, and applications for operators choosing the EDGE and UMTS technology evolution."
While the Shosteck Group report sponsored by the CDG provided no endorsement by the authors for CDMA2000 1X, the report stated, "In sum, we are not endorsing CDMA2000 1X as the transition technology from TDMA/IS-136 to 3G. Rather, we are saying that it appears to offer a promising story that some TDMA operators will find worth considering." Livingston commented, "The report is counterproductive to achieving an open architecture of global seamless communication. TDMA and GSM operators throughout the world have been considering their significant technology investment and have done thousands of hours of research comparing technologies. The winner continues to be the evolutionary path of GPRS/EDGE/UMTS that is supported around the world."
TDMA technology increased by 67% worldwide over the past twelve months, reaching 68.3 million by April 1, 2001, and is the most popular digital technology in the Americas in terms of subscribers, coverage area, licensed operators, and percentage of growth. From first quarter 2000 to first quarter 2001, TDMA operators in North America (which includes the United States, Mexico, and Canada) added 11.6 million subscribers for a total of 33.6 million subscribers, representing annual growth of 53% in this region. Exponential growth continues in the Latin American region, where subscribers grew by 88% over the past 12 months to 32 million subscribers. The number of TDMA subscribers in Latin America is only modestly less than in North America. <<
- Eric - |
