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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric L who wrote (6946)	2/4/2001 3:56:03 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196540

<Multi-mode and multi-band W-CDMA phones will be required (and in fact in many countries, a mix is mandated) on an evolved GSM network supporting W-CDMA. That all sounds rather simple but there are a host of interoperability issues (still) being worked out on both the network and user equipment side (ME & UIM) that make W-CDMA pretty challenging. > EricL, one of the good things about CDMA upgrades from existing CDMA systems is that existing handsets can continue to be used in the new service although they don't enjoy the added functions. GSM is NOT like that. GSM handsets are dead when a new air interface is installed. Subscribers have to buy a new handset. Of course the existing GSM systems will continue as they are and the W-CDMA will be in new spectrum so there is no upgrade issue. However, existing CDMA service providers don't have to dump all their old technology and subscribers don't have to dump their handsets to upgrade to new networks which can be overlaid in the same spectrum. That's a major advantage for China if they get into CDMA and is obviously a driving force for them to be moving to CDMA rather than sticking with GSM. China is going to be very spectrum limited due to crowds and capacity will be vital. Only CDMA can provide that capacity. GSM is a blind alley leading to mass dumping of GSM handsets when that spectrum is needed for CDMA operations. Europe will be able to continue for quite a long time on GSM before dumping it out of existing spectrum. Their W-CDMA new spectrum will hold the fort for a few years [assuming they can get it working some time and don't have to go to cdma2000 to keep up with the rest of the world]. Now, why write such a mouthful as 'evolved GSM supporting W-WCDMA'? The impression I have is that ALL W-CDMA sits on top of GSM switching gizzards. There is NO evolution of GSM to W-CDMA. It's just a matter of how far back up the chain you have to rip out. It's not really 'evolved' GSM. It's just old GSM-switching with as much removed as is necessary to get the new stuff on top and the new stuff comprises some 75% of the electronic value [excluding land, poles etc]. So when we say W-CDMA, it necessarily includes the GSM muck underneath and the asynchronous oddball chip rate with the weird concatenated convoluted coding with no backward compatibility instead of the racing stripes synchronous Turbo Coding of QUALCOMM's hot stuff cdma2000. Nobody has ever pointed out to me a single variable which makes W-CDMA more attractive than cdma2000. Other than the weak argument that W-CDMA might have some roaming advantage - which is untrue because we hear from all that multimode phones won't have a significant cost, battery life, size or other difference from single-mode phones. With RadioOne and other technology gains, those differences will shrink further. That assumes that W-CDMA is in fact the dominant 3G technology, but we don't know that yet. Mqurice