COSTA MESA, Calif., May 19, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today acknowledged TRAI's recommendations which represent a major step towards rectifying imbalances in spectrum allocation and accelerating the introduction of IMT-2000 (3G) services in India. The CDMA industry supports the TRAI proposal to allocate additional 800 MHz spectrum to CDMA operators. The CDG also urges TRAI and the government of India to continue to promote policies that embrace the concepts of technology and service neutrality and spectrum flexibility to ensure the long-term growth of mobile services in India.
"The CDMA industry commends TRAI for their effort to balance the needs of all operators and technologies and to encourage operators to deploy more spectrally efficient technologies," said Perry LaForge, executive director, CDG. "CDMA has played an important role in the recent expansion of wireless penetration and in stimulating innovation in India, and we urge the Indian government to continue to bring balance and fairness to allocation so that CDMA operators have an equal opportunity to contribute in the future."
Since the liberalization of the telecommunication market in 2003, which allowed CDMA and other technologies to enter the mobile market, wireless services have grown nearly 5-fold to reach over 50 million users and wireless has significantly contributed to the increase in teledensity in India. During that time, the CDMA base has grown from 1 million to over 15 million and now CDMA technologies serve almost 1 in 4 wireless users in India. However, the limited amount of 800 MHz spectrum allocated to CDMA operators is insufficient to support future growth. CDG welcomes TRAI's recommendation on the proposed revision of the current subscriber based spectrum allocation criteria for both CDMA and GSM, so that additional spectrum allocations are technology neutral. This would help in removing the existing disparity, and create much needed level playing conditions between CDMA and GSM. The proposed additional spectrum at 800 MHz will potentially raise spectrum allocation for CDMA operators from a maximum of 2 x 5 MHz today to between 2 x 6.24 and 2 x 2.75 MHz, but this does not include all the CDMA operators and is significantly less than what GSM operators have, which is 2 x 10 MHz of spectrum today and up to 2 x 15 MHz in the future, and below international CDMA allocation averages. Additional spectrum should be made available to CDMA operators in appropriate bands to eliminate this imbalance. The CDG remains disappointed that to date no allocation can be made in the 1900 MHz band in India due to current use by Defense, and they urge continued discussions to address this.
In response to widely publicized statements by GSM proponents that with the additional 800 MHz allocation CDMA operators will have a time-to-market advantage in introducing 3G services (CDMA2000(r) 1xEV-DO), the CDG clarified that in the recommendations both CDMA and GSM operators have equal opportunity to deploy IMT-2000 technologies in their existing bands as well as in the 2.1 GHz band in the near future. TRAI followed the ITU recommendations which allow any IMT-2000 technology to be deployed in any band allocated by the government of India, including 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.1 GHz. WCDMA is standardized for the 1800 MHz band and soon the standard for WCDMA in 900 MHz will be also available. Therefore, in addition to the 2.1 GHz spectrum that they will receive, GSM operators in India can continue to use their existing spectrum to deploy IMT-2000 technologies such as EDGE as has already been done. Or they can follow the example of GSM operators in the United States and migrate to WCDMA in band.
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. For more information about the CDG, contact the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030 or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org