GSM operators migrating to CDMA instead of going WCDMA/HSDPA

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freitasm

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#10409 21-Nov-2006 11:01

This is interesting... We keep talking about GSM evolution path as being GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA. But we don't look at the "long tail":

The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today announced that up to 39 GSM operators have deployed or are currently deploying CDMA2000(r) to deliver low-cost voice and generate revenue from value-added data services, marking a continued trend from 2G to 3G services.

"The CDG is pleased to witness the rapid migration from 2G to 3G services," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "CDMA2000's voice clarity and broadband connectivity makes it ideal for emerging economies that want to increase their gross domestic production (GDP) per capita. Also, in today's competitive market, 2G GSM operators are looking towards 3G CDMA2000 to provide service differentiation and improve their average revenue per user (ARPU). We expect this trend to continue."

GSM operators are deploying CDMA2000 because of its ability to more competitively satisfy the diverse wireless communication needs of consumers, small businesses, and large enterprises in any market worldwide. CDMA2000 offers a broad range of applications, such as affordable telephony, broadband Internet access, multimedia messaging, entertainment, information, mobile commerce, and position location services.

Deploying an IP-based CDMA2000 network in the 450 MHz and 800 MHz frequency bands is significantly less expensive than deploying other wireless technologies in the higher frequency bands.

The press release continues with a list of 39 mobile operators currently using GSM technology that decided to deploy CDMA2000 1xRTT and 1xEV-DO instead of WCDMA...

bbman

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#53430 23-Nov-2006 22:01

Shame it dosen't state the freq that they are running. Several Northern European networks are launching 450mhz networks, bucks the trend of GSM rule in Europe.

alot of african nations opting for the technology.

Will be keen to see how this all pans out,

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munchkin

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#53556 24-Nov-2006 21:50

The question is though, does Telecom have any current handsets that are capable of utilizing the 450MHz frequency that is being deployed in Europe?

@mjsit&t: Don't forget that many Telcos' in China and India are opting to use CDMA/EVDO over GSM/EDGE/WCDMA/HS*PA.

Despite many new 3G deployments starting, it would be great if 4G services were completely interoperable around the globe, but I don't see this happening - would the Mobile WiMax specification have to be updated to allow for handsets to fall back to CDMA *and/or* GSM networks (eg: Whatever is available) and HSOPA is tweaked to allow it to be compatible with WiMax?.
(Alright, that part of the comment was OT)

grant_k

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#53557 24-Nov-2006 22:14

munchkin: The question is though, does Telecom have any current handsets that are capable of utilizing the 450MHz frequency that is being deployed in Europe?

The issue is not whether Telecom has the handsets, but whether the 450MHz band is allocated for Mobile Phone services in NZ.

From memory it is allocated for military usage and given that it is roughly half the 900MHz frequency used for CDMA & GSM services, using 450MHz for mobile phone service would mean a completely new set of antenna panels would be needed at all the cell sites. Also because 450MHz has about twice the wavelength of 900MHz, the handsets would need to have a much longer antenna than current handsets.

All in all, you are very unlikely to see any 450MHz mobile phones in NZ. The trend is towards higher frequencies (where more bandwidth is available) rather than lower frequencies which in many cases are already allocated to other services.

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#53574 25-Nov-2006 08:18

The real reason for those operators deploying CDMA would be for spectrum and cost reasons rather than capability. These technologies generally leap frog each other in capability so for the CDG to say those operators are going CDMA because of what it can do is a little disingenuous.

For a lot of those operators it's probably the only choice if they want to go 3G. Because of its shorter coverage the UMTS bands aren't as suitable in developing countries where the customer density is a lot lower, and the GSM900 bands are already congested. If the NMT450 band is available then it's a great way to get good coverage - well done to the CDMA camp for this point of differentiation. (As the press release says, "Deploying an IP-based CDMA2000 network in the 450 MHz and 800 MHz frequency bands is significantly less expensive than deploying other wireless technologies in the higher frequency bands")

I dare say we'll see handsets that are capable of 450/800/1900, like we currently get tri-band and quad-band GSM phones now. (Handsets are going become more flexible in the future as the radio parts become more software based. We may also see CDMA at 1800 and 2.1GHz.)

The NMT450 band in NZ has public services operating in it, such as police and taxi, but even if it were available I can't imagine 450 would give much advantage over 800/900. New operators are more likely to get their hands on a share of 800 and 900 than use 450.

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#53575 25-Nov-2006 08:22

munchkin: Despite many new 3G deployments starting, it would be great if 4G services were completely interoperable around the globe, but I don't see this happening - would the MobileWiMax specification have to be updated to allow for handsets to fall back to CDMA *and/or* GSM networks (eg: Whatever is available) and HSOPA is tweaked to allow it to be compatible withWiMax?.
(Alright, that part of the comment was OT)

I think the general expectation that future versions of GSM and CDMA (LTE and DO Rev C (or DORC), respectively) are going to be pretty much on a par with WiMAX anyway, so we may find WiMAX is a lame duck - nothing more than an interim solution to mobile broadband at best).

paradoxsm

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#53588 25-Nov-2006 10:13

If this is true, Excellent! wcdma is a bit of a dog. I have had 100% reliability with EVDO and it seems a much more logical approach anyway! 2.1 GHz is silly. of course a CDMA and GSM dual-mode phone would be nice, I have heard there is one in the works but there is no more info as yet.

Lipex666

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#53591 25-Nov-2006 10:23

There well be main standards like GSM/WCDMA - CDMA/EVDO etc for mature markets and there is so many other options that countries can use to give the masses communication. These are what I call local solutions to a problem.

Like Wimax to fill a companies need to provide communication in a certain area that can be done cheaply and if they can get a enough customers to make money I dont they dont really care that your equipment can be used on someones elses network.

Woosh is a example here in NZ on what I mean.

I read somewhere a lot of what was being rolled out was due to how much cash and influence companies like Nokia and some say US Govt backed Qualcomm have and their own own interests and not what was best for us.

Hey if one of these bigger suppliers starting chucking there gear at you and it did what you wanted why not - GSM/WCDMA may be the biggest share but is not suited to everyones needs see whats happening in China and India etc and as the first post from freitasm clearly points out.

have a read of this very old blog post

Has some great statements:

This standard, Global System for Mobiles (GSM), was very much designed with the interests of vendors and the political interests of European unification and industry policy at heart.

To many American observers, GSM was a typical case of continental over-engineering.

In the US, the preferred standard was a time-based air interface (TDMA) that was simply grafted on to the existing signalling systems used by the so-called first-generation analogue networks. Japan went down its own idiosyncratic path, developing the Personal Handyphone Service (PHS) and Pacific Digital Cellular (PDC) standards.

And so it came, from San Diego firm Qualcomm and its CDMA technology jugernaut.

I dont think there will ever be one standard as Vodafone predicts which they are struggling to standardise on 3 phone platforms and coming to grips on so many standards in so many countries.

Perhaps over time as handsets (phones) will merge into PDA type tv enabled all in one devices with many connection options so you would some merging of standards but there will always be local solutions. But in saying that would someone want all that in a handheld device like tv perhaps all that is need is to be able to do voice calls.

This is interesting... We keep talking about GSM evolution path as being GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA. But we don't look at the "long tail":

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bbman

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#53592 25-Nov-2006 10:26

Yeah the new Samsung World phone is due before Xmas, their are 2 new PDAs on the market with dual GPRS/HSDPA and 1xRTT / EVDO which will come out next year as well, they will be the way to go and with Telecom having the o2 partnership the roaming issue will be a thing of the past.

Also heard of some new world handset concepts being looked at for 07'

Just need to get 850mhz capable hsdpa on the same handset as CDMA/EVDO for Telstra as already mentioned

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