CDMA2000 Added More Operators in 2005

The CDMA Development Group (CDG) has released numbers showing that CDMA2000 operators reached 143 at the end of 2005, and the technology is now deployed in 67 countries across 6 continents. The number of 1xEV-DO networks nearly doubled from 16 to 29 in 2005, highlighting the industry's rapid transition to broadband wireless services.

The group says CDMA2000 momentum will continue in 2006, with 30 new operators scheduled to deploy commercial networks (compared to 20 last year) and 21 additional trials underway. The number of 1xEV-DO networks will reach 70 in the coming months, and 1xEV-DO Rev A will enter the commercial phase during the year.

Designed to support in-band migration as well as new frequencies allocated to IMT-2000, CDMA2000 has been deployed by cdmaOne, TDMA, analog and Greenfield operators across a broad range of frequencies including the 450, 800, 1700, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands in Africa, Asia, North and Latin America, and Europe.

First introduced by operators in the advanced wireless markets of Asia and North America, CDMA2000 has quickly spread to developing regions; today, Latin America, South East and Central Asia and Africa are the fastest growing markets for CDMA2000, accounting for more than 50% of all networks deployed.

Asia is still the largest market for CDMA2000 with 36 operators in 19 countries, including China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia. Asian CDMA2000 operators are leaders in commercializing advanced wireless technologies; Korea was first to introduce 1xEV-DO broadband services, and now seven operators in the region have launched it and 11 more are in deployment.

Most cdmaOne carriers and a number of TDMA operators in North America have migrated to CDMA2000. There are 26 operators offering CDMA2000 1X services and seven have deployed 1xEV-DO, including Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel. One more 1X and 3 1xEV-DO networks are scheduled to be commercial in 2006.

Latin America and the Caribbean are the second largest region in terms of the number of CDMA2000 networks, with 31 carriers in 18 countries, operating 30 1X and 11 1xEV-DO systems. There are five more 1X and 10 1xEV-DO networks being deployed and eight are in trial phase.

Africa and the Middle East are emerging as growing markets for CDMA2000 technologies. Already, 21 operators in 14 countries have deployed the services and 27 more are in the deployment or trial phases. 1xEV-DO is being rapidly deployed in the region (the number of networks grew from two to 13 last year) as many operators plan to capitalize on the technology's high-speed data capability to deliver broadband access to the Internet along with other advanced data services.

There were advancements in deployments of CDMA450 (CDMA2000 technologies operating in 450 MHz) in 2005. The number of commercial networks increased from 17 in 12 countries in 2004 to 31 in 22 countries by the end of 2005, and there are 11 more 1X and 13 1xEV-DO networks in deployment and 17 in trial phases. CDMA450 is being adopted by NMT-450 operators in Europe, Russia and Asia, and many countries are utilizing it as a very economical solution for providing voice and high-speed data access in remote and underserved areas.