CDMA2000: 1xEV-DO and 1xEV-DV
Cha2,
Pretty good article here relative to our discussion that just arrived in my Inbox ...
>> Sibling Rivalry Comes to CDMA 1X
Tammy Parker
Mobile Communications International
Issue 100
01 May 2003
EV-DO's biggest rival is shaping up to be its nascent sibling EV-DV. But only time will tell if anticipation for this emerging technology will usurp EV-DO's continued deployment.
EV-DO and EV-DV are both upgrades for CDMA2000 1X networks and offer similar peak data speeds, with the former coming in at 2.4 Mbps and the latter offering 3.1 Mbps. But EV-DO is based largely on Qualcomm technology, which is at the core of the rivalry with EV-DV, a standard Nokia is aggressively pushing. "There's lots of politics in terms of which technology gets supported, and that becomes a challenge and is very complex because different vendors want something different," observes Pete Lancia, Ericsson CDMA Systems, director of product and technical marketing.
So far, Qualcomm hasn't announced plans for EV-DV chipsets, and rival Nokia hasn't announced plans for EV-DO chipsets or terminals. Further, neither company manufactures CDMA infrastructure, and pundits say large quantities of commercial EV-DV network equipment aren't expected until at least late 2005, depending upon which revision of the standard is widely commercialised. Release C is ratified, but an enhancement, Revision D, is slated for balloting late this year.
Jae Byun, vice president of SKT's Network Engineering Division, observes: "No detailed roadmaps for [EV-DV] chip development, both for handset and base stations, are available yet, either from Qualcomm or any other semiconductor design houses. No manufacturer, including Samsung, will share with us any detailed plan on when the prototype system will be developed and trial test will be available."
But to prove EV-DV is just around the corner, Nokia has scheduled field trials of its EV-DV Revision C mobile terminal chipsets for 2003's second half. EV-DV's main selling point, says Adam Gould, CDMA chief technology officer for Nokia Mobile Phones, is that it won't require dedication of 1.25 MHz of spectrum for data-only traffic.
Many concur with Nokia's positioning on EV-DV. "I think they [Nokia] see that there's higher profitability in EV-DV equipment," says Phillip Redman, vice president of research at Gartner. "There's likely to be more demand for EV-DV from operators because EV-DV offers much higher capacity gains than EV-DO, which doesn't really do anything to aid the capacity side. So, they see it as more of a benefit for the market, and they expect it will have much more success."
Ericsson's Lancia agrees, noting: "We see 1X EV-DV as the natural evolution path for 1X operators. Just like cdmaOne operators naturally progressed to CDMA2000 1X, we think the same will happen for 1X EV-DV." However, Ericsson is providing EV-DO infrastructure as customers request it, with Brazil's Vesper being one such buyer.
Redman believes operators will have to choose between the two approaches.
"We're sceptical that we'd see operators go with both," he states. "It would be very difficult for an operator to launch nationwide EV-DO and then go EV-DV because the costs would be pretty high."
Yet Nokia's Gould doesn't expect early EV-DO adopters such as South Korea's SK Telecom and Korea Telecom Freetel to dismiss EV-DV. "Korea has been pretty aggressive in deploying every technology as soon as possible, so certainly DV will end up getting deployed there," he says.
According to SKT's Byun, "wait and see would be the exact plan that we currently have. He adds: "It is still not the right time to make any business decision regarding EV-DV."
Meanwhile, Korean operators are experimenting with EV-DO tariffs and services. For instance, KTF's FIMM (First in Mobile Multimedia) offers an introductory KRW 24,000 ($20) plan that gives users 124,000 packets, or about 60 minutes of real-time video, per month. But according to Sauk-Hun Song, principal analyst at Gartner, if a user wants two hours of video, he or she will pay KRW 61,200 ($51). Add in a basic subscription fee for voice, and a subscriber could easily pay more than $75 per month for their mobile service.
Several EV-DO networks are on deck worldwide. Japan's KDDI hopes to launch EV-DO this fall, and Verizon Wireless in the United States will commercialise the technology in San Diego and Washington, DC. The extent of Verizon's commitment to EV-DO is questionable, given that the operator previously told Gartner's Redman that it wouldn't commercially launch EV-DO before 2004 and would never offer it nationwide.
Other EV-DO launches have been limited to tiny operators offering fixed broadband services. US-based Monet Mobile and Brazil's Vesper pursued that angle, and US operators Ubiquitel and Alaska Communications Services are eyeing similar offerings. Cliff Raskind, director of Strategy Analytics' Global Wireless Practice, notes that Nextwave Telecom could become "an EV-DO powerhouse" in the United States, should it ever get funding.
Yet timing is everything. Nokia's Gould says neither technology will take off until there is a market for high speeds and data capacity. "EVDO's advantage is that it's ready today," he says. "But the question is, do you need it today?" <<
- Eric - |
