COSTA MESA, Calif., Dec. 15, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) congratulates BellSouth on the commercial deployment of CDMA2000(r) networks in Argentina and Peru -this month. The company now offers CDMA2000 services in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
"We applaud BellSouth's leadership in commercializing advanced wireless technologies and bringing growth and innovation to emerging markets in Latin America," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "CDMA2000 provides BellSouth with high capacity to grow voice services and has allowed them to introduce broadband data access rapidly and cost-effectively."
"Latin America represents a tremendous opportunity for telecommunications and, with new advanced technologies, wireless offers an economical and efficient solution to expand services to the mass market," said Paulino Barros, newly appointed president, BellSouth Latin America. "We will continue to evolve our networks to bring services that improve the lives of our customers."
BellSouth is a leading telecommunication provider in Latin America with operations in 10 countries covering of 174 million people. BellSouth relies on wireless technologies to grow market share through affordable voice and data services.
CDMA2000 leads in delivering advanced wireless communication to Latin America. There are 27 commercial CDMA2000 networks and 2 more are scheduled to be deployed in the next six months. More than 280 CDMA2000 handsets are available in 800 and 1900 MHz bands today.
CDMA2000 dominates 3G today, with more than 64.5 million subscribers, or 96 percent of the global 3G market. There are 82 commercial CDMA2000 networks today across six continents and 11 will be deployed within in the next six months. More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
About the CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The more than 100 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters. The subscriber numbers in this release are estimates provided by third parties on a quarterly basis and have not been independently verified by CDG. For more information about the CDG, contact Valerie Christopherson of the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030, ext. 14, e-mail vchristopherson@bockpr.com, or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
Note to editors: cdmaOne is a trademark of the CDG. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA).