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To: Ramus who wrote (20306)	12/22/1998 11:59:00 PM
From: Perry LaForge	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

All: I thought I'd pass along the following release. I think you will find it interesting per my posts last week. A couple of other points: Thanks for your comments regarding my posts. I always check in to the thread, but post only periodically. Lots of technical debate on the thread! Remember that there has been zero proof that making the WCDMA proposal compatible with CDMA2000 degrades the performance of WCDMA. In fact many of the items in CDMA2000 (e.g., turbo codes) are being suggested to ETSI as performance improvements. I believe that those who understand the technology (including the majority of the vendors) will tell you that CDMA2000 provides performance advantages. (I will post the Chinese analysis if i get a copy of it.) Of course we all know that performance is about 2% of the issue here. Regarding operators in Europe....My comment was that it took some time for operators to get serious on this issue. Until recently, operators in Europe and the US were repeating largely what they were being told by their vendors. I believe that they are now watching and studying this issue more carefully. Operators will tell you that the ETSI compromise in February of this year was driven largely by vendor lobbying. Many have told me that they really did not understand the issues when they were asked to vote. By the way, the TDD portion of the spec. was put in to get a compromise among the (Alpha and Delta) camps. The general feeling is that it (TDD mode) is not getting much attention. A lesson for us---we need to make sure that we do not get CDMA2000 put in as an option into the WCDMA spec. or we too will become an option that is isolated and then eventually killed in standards limbo--a clever tactic. Remember my comment about tactics? Watch for it. One final item. I am still trying to get approval from the author to publish the GSM royalty arrangements on the CDG website (www.cdg.org). I will see if I can get that on in the next few weeks. Sorry for the long intro, but here is the release. I am sure someone will spin this as support for multiple standards, but why bother, we all know what this really means. *************************************************************** Office of the USTR, Executive Office of the President December 22, 1998 The United States Government today called on the European Commission to allow US third generation (3G) wireless technology equipment and service providers a fair opportunity to compete in Europe. In a letter to EC Commissioner Martin Bangemann signed by Sec'y of State Madeline Albright, USTR Charlene Barshefsky, Sec'y of Commerce William Daley, and FCC Chairman William Kennard, the US expressed concern over developments in Europe that appear to promote a particular European-developed 3G standard to the exclusion of other standards. These developments seem incompatible with the ongoing industry-led efforts, within the ITU, to achieve a global consensus that would harmonize 3G standards to the fullest extent possible. "This is a question of basic fairness in telecommunications trade. The US market is open to the 3G standard proposed by Europe. We expect access in Europe for standards used by our industry as well," said USTR Charlene Barshefsky. "We are monitoring the implementation of 3G measures by the EU and Member States for compliance with the EU's overall WTO telecommunications obligations. We are sekking specific assurances from European governments that US industry will be able to deploy competing 3G technologies and services in Europe at the same time that European-sponsored 3G technologies and services are deployed." "US industry is concerned that industrial policy considerations are driving a European effort to gain a first-to-market advantage for a unique European technological specification, by rushing it through official standardization and service licensing processes," said Commerce Sec'y William Daley. "We believe European governments instead should allow the effort to develop 3G systems, led by the ITU, to bring about market-driven rather than government-driven decisions, including the approval of converged or multiple standards as deemed necessary by ITU participants. Chairman Kennard added, "I am concerned that Europe may be effectively bypassing the ITU consensus process by prematurely adopting a particular standard without regard to the market-based needs of service providers in other countries, including the US. The recently adopted decision of the EC, which appears to prohibit the operation within Europe of any third generation standard except that adopted by ETSI, would preclude marketplace consideration of rival standards and restrict consumer choice." The ITU has set a March 31, 1999 deadline for deciding on key characteristics for 3G standardization, as it seeks to develop final recommendations on 3G issues by December 31, 1999. However, some European countries are poised to auction radio spectrum for 3G services in 1999, without allowing sufficient time for commercial operators to take advantage of the ITU's 3G decision. The early auctions could effectively preclude any technology but the European-sponsored 3G standard from arriving first on European markets. ***************************************************************** Hope this is of interest. Perry LaForge