Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: slacker711 who wrote (39028)	1/30/2004 12:40:56 PM
From: kech	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197032

The issue of course is not whether WCDMA can cover rural areas but it is whether anything at 2.1 GHz is too expensive to use to cover rural areas. And if one has a data intensive use or service in the cities on WCDMA, how do you want to transfer that service as someone leaves a city and goes to the remote burbs. Will it be enough to take a data intensive application like location service off to GPRS at 20-30 kbps? It is either that or something else at a lower frequency than 2.1 Ghz. It does seem like a problem. How to solve it they don't use EDGE? What will they use? WCDMA at some lower frequency? Ahh, but there isn't 5 mhz available for WCDMA at a lower frequency is there? Hutchison has gotten the extensive coverage that they have on WCDMA because they have to, they don't have any spectrum at lower frequency and are WCDMA only. I guess it is great news for Q if they do try and install WCDMA for universal coverage. But the nub of the problem they have is that they have a data intensive advanced spectrum saving technology (WCDMA) designed for 5 Mhz and thus there is no version of it that can be used at lower frequencies where coverage is easier. Maybe they will just use brute force and install it everywhere. But it would be cheaper for these firms to fall back on gsm1x in 900 Mhz or CDMA450. Currently, the regulators don't allow it. You are probably right, they won't do it and it is a pipe dream of the 1x crazed. But it is also the lowest cost solution for the providers and consumers.