Wireless Carriers in Americas Already Receiving Benefits of GSM/GPRS Technology
Tuesday February 18, 1:00 am ET
Press Release Source: 3G Americas
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Additional Capacity, Global Scale and Faster Data Rates Paying Huge Dividends On Initial Investment
CANNES, France, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Wireless carriers operating in the Americas are already receiving benefits from their initial investments in GSM, allowing them to significantly increase network capacity for voice and data, provide high-speed data services, and open international roaming to frequent travelers and employees of multi-national companies.
Carrier benefits: lower operating costs; additional revenues
Customer benefits: more and lower-priced devices; high-quality voice calling; more data services; global roaming capabilities
In the past year, GSM has become the fastest growing wireless technology in the Americas, registering a 41 percent year-over-year growth as of year-end 2002, according to the EMC World Cellular Database. Latin America has seen numerous new GSM deployments and in Brazil, recent figures indicate that 59 percent of all new subscribers selected service based on GSM technology.
Worldwide, the GSM Association reports that GSM carriers added some 160 million new subscribers in 2002, over 25 million more than the total number of current CDMA subscribers of about 133 million. "The financial and
technological benefits carriers receive continue to prove the superiority of GSM," said Chris Pearson, Executive Vice President for 3G Americas. "It should come as no surprise that today GSM is used by carriers around the world to serve more than 785 million people in over 190 countries."
U.S. Deployment by Top Carriers
Carriers throughout the Americas continue to embrace the GSM/GPRS technology through successful deployments. In fact, three of the top wireless carriers in the United States -- AT&T Wireless (NYSE: AWE - News), Cingular, and T-Mobile -- have committed to this technology path and its further evolution to EDGE, and control 42% of the total wireless subscribers in the nation.
At an analyst meeting last month in New York City, AT&T Wireless reported it completed its planned October 2000 national GSM/GPRS deployment ahead of time and on budget and has installed EDGE hardware across over 75 percent of its network. The cost per pop for GSM/GPRS was around $15, and the cost for EDGE less than $2 a pop. Beyond GSM/GPRS, AT&T Wireless expects to have EDGE deployed nationally by the second half of 2003 and have UMTS deployed in four markets by the end of 2004.
"Companies are seeing the benefits of the enhanced voice and data capabilities of GSM/GPRS and as well as global economies of scale," said Pearson. "AT&T Wireless reported 50 percent reductions in equipment costs to produce an incremental minute of use and they estimate that their GSM/GPRS wireless phones will cost 10-15 percent less than phones using other technologies."
On the equipment side, AT&T Wireless also showcased some 40 GSM/GPRS multi-band devices it expects to be available in 2003 and can be used in over 80 countries around the world.
The company stated that GSM is successfully supporting its goal of attaining a two cent-a-minute unit cost for carrying a call.
Meanwhile, Cingular Wireless covered 50% of its 219 million POPS with GSM/GPRS at the end of 2002 and expects to cover 90 percent of its POPS by the end of 2003. Additionally, Cingular has announced its commitment to launch EDGE in 2003. Pearson commented, "All of the major GSM providers in the Americas continue to make great progress with their GSM/GPRS deployments as well as their EDGE preparations."
Global Standard for Mexico
Aside from GSM/GPRS deployments in the United States, Telcel, the leading wireless carrier in Mexico launched its GSM service in October of 2002. The company ended the year with over 500,000 GSM subscribers and currently offers coverage in nearly 80 cities throughout Mexico with nationwide deployment expected by the end of 2003. Telcel expects 40 percent of its new subscribers to choose GSM and enjoy the further benefits of over 100 international roaming agreements currently in place.
Pearson emphasized the scope of these deployments, "In 1998, there were only six countries in the Americas that deployed the GSM technology. At the end of 2002, there were over 31 countries with GSM deployments." He added, "GSM is providing significantly more voice and data capacity while offering lower cost equipment due to high global volumes. This translates into great business practice for operators and value for their customers."
About 3G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Wireless Technology
3G Americas unites wireless operators and vendors in the Americas for the very first time to form a single voice representing GSM, TDMA, GPRS, EDGE, and UMTS technologies. Working with regulatory bodies, technical standards bodies, and other global organizations, 3G Americas uniquely focuses on the issues facing the Americas. The mission of 3G Americas is to promote, educate, and advocate for the success of GSM, TDMA, GPRS, EDGE, and UMTS and their seamless evolution to future generations, thereby advancing the wireless industry in the Americas for the benefit of consumers. The organization fully supports the Third Generation technology migration strategy GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS adopted by many operators in the Americas that will globally account for up to 85% of next-generation subscribers. 3G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, WA with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Miami, FL. For more information, visit the website at www.3gamericas.org.
About AT&T Wireless
AT&T Wireless is the second-largest wireless carrier, based on revenues, in the United States. With 20.859 million subscribers, and full-year 2002 revenues exceeding $15.6 billion, AT&T Wireless will continue delivering advanced high-quality mobile wireless communications services, voice or data, to businesses and consumers, in the U.S. and internationally. For more information, please visit us at www.attwireless.com.
About Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC - News) and BellSouth (NYSE: BLS - News), serves more than 22 million voice and data customers across the United States. A leader in mobile voice and data communications, Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover, the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Cingular provides cellular/PCS service in 43 of the top 50 markets nationwide, and provides corporate e-mail and other advanced data services through its GPRS and Mobitex packet data networks. Details of the company are available at www.cingular.com.
About Telcel
Telcel is the leading wireless services provider in Mexico with more than 20 million clients and 72% of the Mexican wireless market. It is the only carrier with complete nationwide coverage with more than 100,000 towns and cities in the country. Telcel, in operation since 1989, offers a wide array of voice and data services in the largest TDMA network in Latinamerica and in a GSM 1900 network. Telcel is a subsidiary of America Movil (NYSE: AMX - News; Nasdaq: AMOV - News; BMV: AMX), one of Latin America's largest cellular communications providers, with over 31 million subscribers and telecommunications investments in several countries throughout the Americas region.
CONTACT: Vicki Livingston of 3G Americas, +1-262-242-3458, or vicki.livingston@3gamericas.org; or Ritch Blasi of AT&T Wireless Services, +1-908-696-4242, or ritch.blasi@attws.com; or Tony Carter of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-6419, or Phonetony.carter@cingular.com; or Patricia Ramirez-Valdivia, Corporate PR & Communications of Telcel / America Movil, +52-55-5625-3947, or pramire@mail.telcel.com.
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Source: 3G Americas |
