COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) and International 450 Association (IA450) (www.450world.org) today announced that CDMA450 is rapidly expanding across all regions, by fulfilling the demand for affordable 3G services in emerging, developed, and highly competitive markets. Today, there are 103 operators in 60 countries that have deployed or are planning to deploy CDMA450 services; 67 operators in 36 countries are already offering commercial services to more than 12 million people across the world, and 36 networks are being trialed or deployed in 24 more countries. CDMA450 is a 3G solution that combines next-generation CDMA2000(r) wireless communications services with affordable network coverage using the 450 MHz frequency band.
"The CDG is pleased to report CDMA450's continued expansion," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "The technology has proven that it can competitively satisfy the demand for affordable voice and broadband data services in low revenue markets that have traditionally been cost prohibitive for other technologies to address."
"CDMA450 offers numerous benefits, including RF propagation characteristics that optimize the delivery of 3G services to densely-populated urban areas where in-building coverage is important, as well as sparsely populated rural areas where extended coverage is essential," commented Vadim Belyavskiy, chairman of the IA450. "We are pleased with the rapid adoption of the technology. CDMA450 has become a global contender in the race towards connecting most of the four billion people that don't have access to wireless communications."
Most all CDMA450 operators offer telephony and high-speed data services using CDMA2000 1X technology and up to 40 of them have selected CDMA2000 1xEV-DO to provide their customers with wireless broadband data services. With the introduction of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A this year, CDMA450 operators will be able to provide high-performance, delay sensitive and uplink intensive services, such as carrier-grade VoIP, push-to-talk, video telephony, rich multimedia messaging, multicasting and next-generation broadband to their customers.
Large markets such as Argentina, China, Indonesia, Mexico and Russia have allocated the 450 MHz frequency band to provide universal telephone and Internet access to their citizens. The strong demand for CDMA450 voice, multimedia and broadband data services is expected to continue. CDMA450 has proven to be flexible enough to deliver fully mobile or fixed wireless local loop (WLL) services to expansive geographic areas, such as in Tibet, and to small communities (pueblos) located remotely within the Andean mountains of Peru.
CDMA450 infrastructure equipment is currently supplied by leading manufacturers, including Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, Nortel, UTStarcom and ZTE. The industry also offers a large selection of affordable devices and services. Around 100 CDMA450 devices, including mobile handsets, fixed wireless terminals, fixed wireless phones, PC cards, USB thumbdrives, Wi-Fi routers, point of sale terminals, and ruggedized first responder devices are supplied by more than a dozen vendors including AnyData, Axesstel, Curitel/Pantech, Huawei, Kyocera, LG, Ubiquam and ZTE. CDMA450 devices offer the full set of 3G features; including cameras, MP3 music players, video recorders, GPS position location, push-to-talk, Bluetooth connectivity and R-UIM cards.
To strengthen the value of CDMA450, the CDMA2000 industry is working to expand the portfolio of CDMA450 devices, reduce their cost, and enable inter-standard global roaming. The CDG and IA450, jointly with operators and device manufacturers, have created a set of common requirements for entry-level CDMA450 devices to enable operators to aggregate purchases at volume discounts. To expand roaming, the industry has developed multi-mode and multi-band CDMA450/GSM900/1800 devices and is developing CDMA450/2100 MHz devices. To address the ultra-low cost market, many of these devices will incorporate a single chipset solution to further reduce their cost by as much as 50 percent.
Countries deploying CDMA2000 in the 450 MHz frequency band are enabling the personal lifestyle and business productivity advantages of 3G, especially in lower frequency bands where landline services are not easily available and voice usage is moderately high. A list of these countries is presented below.
CDMA450 Operators
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Country Operator Network
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1 Angola Angola Telecom 1X (Commercial)
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2 Argentina CoTeCal 1X (Commercial)
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3 Argentina Cotel 1X (Commercial)
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4 Armenia Armentel 1X (Commercial)
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5 Austria Green Network 1X (To Launch)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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6 Azerbaijan Aztrank LLC 1X (Commercial)
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7 Bangladesh National TeleCom Ltd. (NTC) 1X (To Launch)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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8 Bangladesh PeopleTel 1X (To Launch)
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9 Belarus BelCel JV 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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10 Benin Bell Benin Communications 1X (To Launch)
(BBCOM)
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11 Cambodia Cambodia Shinawatra Co. Ltd 1X (Commercial)
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12 Cameroon Camtel (CTPhone) 1X (Commercial)
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13 China China Telecom (Tibet) 1X (Commercial)
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14 Czech Rep. Telefonica O2 Czech Republic EV-DO (Commercial)
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15 Denmark Nordisk Mobiltelefon Denmark 1X (To Launch)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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16 Estonia Televorgu AS 1X (Planned)
EV-DO (Planned)
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17 Ethiopia Ethiopia Telecommunications 1X (Commercial)
Corp. (ETC)
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18 Georgia Iberiatel 1X (Commercial)
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19 Indonesia PT Sampoerna Telekomunikasi 1X (Commercial)
Indonesia EV-DO (Planned)
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20 Ireland Nordisk Mobiltelefon Ireland 1X (Planned)
EV-DO (Planned)
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21 Kazakhstan Kaznurtel 1X (To Launch)
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22 Kenya Telecom Kenya Ltd. 1X (Commercial)
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23 Kyrgyzstan SapatCom/WinLine 1X (Commercial)
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24 Kyrgyzstan Global Telecom 1X (To Launch)
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25 Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz Telecom 1X (To Launch)
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26 Laos Lao Telecommunications 1X (Commercial)
Corporation (LTC) EV-DO (Planned)
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27 Latvia Telecom Baltja (Triatel) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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28 Madagascar Telecom Malagasy SA (Telma) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Planned)
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29 Malaysia Malaysia Telecom 1X (Planned)
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30 Mali Soltema 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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31 Mauritania Mauritel 1X (Commercial)
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32 Mexico Telmex 1X (To Launch)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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33 Moldova Interdnestrcom 1X (Commercial)
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34 Moldova Moldtelecom (AMPLUS) 1X (Commercial)
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35 Mongolia G-Mobile 1X (To Launch)
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36 Mozambique Telcomunicacoes de 1X (Commercial)
Mozambique (TDM)
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37 Namibia Telecom Namibia 1X (To Launch)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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38 Nigeria Globalcom 1X (Planned)
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39 Nigeria Nigerian Telecommunications 1X (Planned)
Ltd. (NiTel)
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40 Norway Nordisk Mobiltelefon Norway 1X (To Launch)
(ICE) EV-DO (Commercial)
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41 Oman Oman Telecommunications 1X (To Launch)
Company EV-DO (To Launch)
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42 Pakistan DVCOM 1X (To Launch)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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43 Pakistan Great Bear International 1X (Commercial)
Services (Diallog) EV-DO (To Launch)
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44 Pakistan PTCL (Etisalat) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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45 Pakistan Telecard 1X (Planned)
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46 Pakistan Worldcall 1X (Planned)
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47 Peru Valtron 1X (Commercial)
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48 Philippines Innove 1X (Planned)
EV-DO (Planned)
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49 Philippines Textron (Broadband 1X (Planned)
Everywhere) EV-DO (Planned)
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50 Poland Nordisk Mobiltelefon Poland 1X (Planned)
EV-DO (Planned)
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51 Portugal Radiomovil (ZAPP) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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52 Romania Telemobil (ZAPP) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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53 Russia Apex (Sky Link) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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54 Russia Baykalwestcom (Wellcom) 1X (Commercial)
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55 Russia Cellular Communications of 1X (Commercial)
Alanya (Sky Link)
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56 Russia Cellular Communications of 1X (Commercial)
Bashkortostan (BCC), EV-DO (Commercial)
(Sote-Vidio)
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57 Russia Cellular Communications of 1X (Commercial)
Udmurtia (Sky Link)
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58 Russia Chernozem Cellular 1X (Commercial)
Communications (Sky Link)
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59 Russia Cotel-Nizhniy Novgorod 1X (Commercial)
(Sky Link)
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60 Russia Delta Telecom (Sky Link) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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61 Russia Kaliningrad Mobile Systems 1X (Commercial)
(Sky Link)
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62 Russia Kaluga Cellular 1X (Commercial)
Communications (Sky Link)
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63 Russia Khabarovsk Cellular Phone 1X (Commercial)
(Sky Link)
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64 Russia Krasnodar Cellular 1X (Commercial)
Communications (Sky Link)
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65 Russia Kuzbass Cellular 1X (Commercial)
Communications (KCC), EV-DO (To Launch)
(Sky Net)
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66 Russia Moscow Cellular 1X (Commercial)
Communications (Sky Link) EV-DO (Commercial)
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67 Russia Novosibirsk Cellular 1X (Commercial)
Communications (Sky Link)
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68 Russia Omsk Cellular Communications 1X (Commercial)
(Sky Link)
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69 Russia Ryazan Cellular 1X (Commercial)
Communications (Sky Link) EV-DO (To Launch)
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70 Russia Regional Technical Center 1X (Commercial)
(I-Tell) EV-DO (To Launch)
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71 Russia Rostov Cellular Telephone 1X (Commercial)
(Sky Link)
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72 Russia Sarastov Cellular 1X (To Launch)
Communications (Sky Link)
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73 Russia SiberTelecom (Wellcom) 1X (Commercial)
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74 Russia Tele-Nord JSC (Sky Link) 1X (Commercial)
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75 Russia Tomsktelecom (Wellcom) 1X (To Launch)
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76 Russia Tver Cellular Communications 1X (Commercial)
(Sky Link) EV-DO (To Launch)
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77 Russia Ulyanovsk Cellular 1X (To Launch)
Communications (Sky Link)
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78 Russia Uralsvyazinform (U-Tel) 1X (Commercial)
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79 Russia UralWestcom (Sky Link) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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80 Russia Vlad Telecom (Sky Link) 1X (Commercial)
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81 Russia Volga Telecom (StriZh) 1X (Commercial)
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82 Russia Yeniseytelecom (Wellcom) 1X (Commercial)
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83 Saudi Arabia Saudi Telecom Company 1X (Commercial)
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84 Sierra Leone Datatel 1X (To Launch)
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85 Sri Lanka Dialog Broadband Network 1X (To Launch)
(DBN)
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86 Sri Lanka Tritel Services (Pvt) Ltd. 1X (To Launch)
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87 Sudan Mobitel Sudan 1X (Commercial)
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88 Sweden Nordisk Mobiltelefon Sweden 1X (To Launch)
EV-DO (To Launch)
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89 Tajikistan SkyTel 1X (Commercial)
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90 Tajikistan M. Teko 1X (Commercial)
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91 Tanzania Benson Informatics Ltd. (BIL) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Planned)
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92 Tanzania Tanzania Telecommunications 1X (To Launch)
Company Ltd. (TTCL) EV-DO (To Launch)
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93 Thailand TOT 1X (Commercial)
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94 Togo Togo Telecom 1X (To Launch)
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95 Tunisia Tunis Telecom 1X (To Launch)
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96 Turkmenistan MCT 1X (Planned)
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97 Uganda Uganda Telecom Ltd. (UTL) 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Planned)
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98 Ukraine Ukrainian Mobile EV-DO (Planned)
Communications (UMC)
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99 Uzbekistan Uzbek Telecom Mobile 1X (Commercial)
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100 Venezuela CVG 1X (To Launch)
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101 Vietnam EVN Telecom 1X (Commercial)
EV-DO (Commercial)
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102 Zambia Zambia Telecommunications 1X (Commercial)
Company Ltd. (ZAMTEL) EV-DO (To Launch)
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103 Zimbabwe TelOne 1X (Planned)
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More information on CDMA450 is available on the IA450 website at www.450world.org and CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
About CDMA
CDMA2000 is the most widely deployed 3G technology, with 189 operators in 81 countries, including 53 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO systems, serving more than 300 million subscribers. Counting 2G cdmaOne(tm) subscribers, there are more than 350 million CDMA users worldwide. CDMA2000 has become the technology of choice for cdmaOne, TDMA, analog and greenfield operators, and is deployed in the 450, 800, 1700, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands. Nearly 1,500 CDMA2000 devices from more than 90 suppliers have been introduced to the market, including more than 390 1xEV-DO devices. More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
About CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The more than 130 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.
The CDG logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2911
About IA450
The International 450 Association promotes the use of CDMA2000 in the 450 MHz band (CDMA450), and supports industry standards to advance the deployment of the technology. IA450 brings together industrial members and operators from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and Europe. The IA450 provides guidance and leader ship to operator s interested in deploying CDMA450 technology through the extension of the results and benefits of actual member experiences and real life results and successes, to all global players. More information about the International 450 Association can be found on the IA450 web site at www.450world.org.
Note to editors
CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.