Here Tero, Tero, Tero. Come out and play with us. Since you have been so busy with other things lately I thought I could save you the time. I will ask you a question and then I will give the answer I would expect. If you agree with my answer, I have saved you the time and bother of a response, but if you disagree, you can correct me.
I: Today we have Telecommunications Expert and Journalist Tero Kituienum. Welcome Tero, thanks for being here with us today.
Tero: It is always a pleasure. What is on your mind?
I: You have been talking alot about Nokia recently. Can you elaborate on your enthusiasm.
Tero: My pleasure. Three reasons come to mind. Location, location and location. First is location. They certainly have that. Secondly, there is location. They have positioned themselves as a premier wireless phone manufacturer and I don't think there is anyone that can take that away from them. And finally, there is location. What more can I say.
I: Hmmm. O.K. Qualcomm has recently announced the MSM3100, their sixth generation asic. It is reported to have up to 300 hours of standby. Do you view this as a threat to Nokia?
Tero: Ha Ha....Oh...That was a serious question? O.K. No of course not. It doesn't even exist. It is what we in the industry call "vapor-ware." Nokia has spent millions of dollars developing CDMA solutions and I assure you, they are much further along in this area than they are letting on. Nokia is very focused on the technologies that have demonstrated the highest growth rates. CDMA hasn't been widely accepted by wireless subscribers yet. The largest profits lie with GSM so Nokia has an inherent interest in insuring that the GSM phones maintain a technological lead. Qualcomm doesn't have 300 hours of stand-by, why would Nokia shoot themselves in the foot by releasing a phone that did? The growth rate of CDMA has been steadily shrinking. It's just not a technology who's time has come.
I: CDMA development group has recently released subscriber addition statistics for the 4th Q. According to the new figures, CDMA is the technology with the highest growth rate.
Tero: I would question the method used to compile those numbers. Everyone I know uses GSM.
I: O.K. The talk recently seems to be center around 3G. Can you comment on this?
Tero: Yes. 3G is very exciting. Ericsson and Nokia have developed W-CDMA over the last 10 years. They have a very large investment in this GSM based technology. The controversy revolves around a pesky San Diego based company called Qualcomm. In their arrogance they think just because they have a few patents with the words CDMA in them they own the technology.
I: You mentioned that W-CDMA is based on GSM. Is W-CDMA a misnomer?
Tero: I'm glad you picked up on that. Yes, W-CDMA relies heavily upon GSM technologies. That is why it is the technology of choice of the wireless industry. I don't know that I would call it a misnomer since it does have some things in common with CDMA but I can certainly think of better names for it. Let me explain. It helps to think of the W-CDMA wireless network as your desktop computer. The the computer itself can represent the switching part of the network. This is the heart of the system. It routes your calls and does other important tasks that keep the network running smoothly. This part of the system is GSM based. Now think of your keyboard. That can be thought of as the air-interface part of your network. With W-CDMA the air-interface portion of the network (the keyboard) is losely based upon CDMA technology that was developed by Ericsson and Nokia. So while W-CDMA does have a little CDMA inside, it is primarily based on the GSM technologies that have proven their worth so well over the last decade.
I: Thanks for clearing that up. I understand Qualcomm has a 3G proposal that is different. Can you explain the essential differences between these two technologies?
Tero: Well, I'm not very familiar with CDMA-2000 so I would be a little out of my area of expertise but I will say that I have discussed this with the engineers and they have informed me that the differences are substantial and W-CDMA is so far advanced that CDMA-2000 shouldn't even be considered. That's about all I know.
I: Looks like were out of time. Thanks for joining us Tero.
Tero: My pleasure.
I: Tero, let's get a bite to eat. I'm starving.
Tero: O.K. It's on me. I really appreciate this opportunity to spread the word.
I: Hey, no problem, I needed the money anyway. Hey, that looks like a Qualcomm phone you have there?
Tero: Yes, Damn United States...my phone's coverage really sucks here.
I: Damn, were still on the air? |
