ORLANDO, Fla., March 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- CTIA WIRELESS 2007 -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) today announced that 21 operators in 18 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean are deploying CDMA2000(r) 1xEV-DO Rev. A. Since the first commercial launch by Sprint-Nextel in the U.S. in October 2006, there are now five live Rev. A networks deployed by KDDI (Japan), Sprint-Nextel (U.S. and Puerto Rico), TNZ (New Zealand) and Verizon Wireless (U.S). Another 16 Rev. A networks in 14 additional countries are in various stages of deployment. To support these launches, more than 20 Rev. A devices are available now for commercial use, including PC cards, embedded PCexpress cards for PC notebooks, USB modems, broadband gateways, Wi-Fi routers and mobile handsets; many more product offerings will be introduced soon by more than a dozen vendors.
"There is tremendous momentum behind Rev. A. In the six months since the first deployment, the technology has expanded across developed as well as developing markets. In the next few months, Rev. A networks will be available to millions of people in diverse markets such as the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Tanzania, Mongolia and the Caribbean," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "These operators are on the leading edge of delivering a whole new mobile broadband experience to their customers that their competitors, using other wireless broadband technologies, can not match at this time."
Rev. A is the most advanced wireless broadband technology commercially available today, providing peak broadband data speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps in the forward link and 1.8 Mbps in the reverse link, lower network latencies, greater bi-directional symmetry, and advanced Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms. With these capabilities, operators can offer enhanced revenue generating services such as real-time broadband access to the Internet, email with large file transfers (in both directions), multimedia multicasting and delay sensitive services such as voice over IP (VoIP), Push-to-Multimedia (PTM), video conferencing, social multimedia networking, and rich 3D gaming with multiple players. IP-based Rev. A networks also provide operators with additional service flexibility and higher bandwidth efficiencies, which translate into greater control and substantial cost savings -- as much as 30% of an operator's total cost of ownership.
Rev. A already is making a big impact in the world marketplace, and with average data throughputs of 600-1400 kbps in the forward link and 350-500 kbps in the reverse link, it offers significantly higher speeds and a better user experience than other wireless broadband technologies. In real terms, Rev. A customers can now download a 1 MB e-mail attachment -- the equivalent of a small PowerPoint presentation or a large PDF file -- in less than 15 seconds and upload the same-sized file in less than 25 seconds.
For CDMA2000 1xEV-DO operators, deployment of Rev. A represents a simple upgrade to their existing networks and it preserves their previous investments since Rev. A networks use existing core network elements and support current 1xEV-DO Rel 0 applications and devices. Plus, the newer Rev. A devices are backwards compatible with CDMA2000 1X and cdmaOne(tm) systems. Rev. A is well suited for developed and emerging markets, due to its spectral efficiency and enhanced IP-based core network functionality that provides faster Internet access than DSL and enables operators to offer VoIP, multicasted television content, and a myriad of other next-generation mobile broadband services -- the quadruple play.
The following operators have or are planning to launch Rev. A commercially within next six months:
Operator Region Launch Status ------------------------------------------------------------------ Arobase Telecom S.A. Cote d'Ivoire To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ Bermuda Digital Communications Bermuda To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ Broadband Everywhere Philippines To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ CANTV Movilnet Venezuela To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ Centennial Puerto Rico To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ China Unicom Macau To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ EOCG - MIO Caribbean To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ KDDI Japan Commercial ------------------------------------------------------------------ Leap U.S. To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ LG Telecom South Korea To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ MTS First Wireless Limited Nigeria To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ MyCell Company Ltd. Tanzania To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ SkyTel Mongolia To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sprint Nextel U.S. Commercial ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sprint Nextel Puerto Rico Commercial ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sudatel Sudan To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ Telecom New Zealand New Zealand Commercial ------------------------------------------------------------------ Telefonica O2 Czech Republic Trial ------------------------------------------------------------------ Telesystems of Ukraine Ukraine To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ Telus Canada To be launched ------------------------------------------------------------------ Verizon Wireless U.S. Commercial ------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: This list is not all inclusive. There are other operators who intend to deploy Rev. A commercially, but have not made their plans public
About CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is the most widely deployed 3G technology, with 194 operators in 84 countries, including 57 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO systems, serving more than 325 million subscribers. Counting 2G cdmaOne(tm) subscribers, there are more than 375 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. Around 1,600 CDMA2000 devices from more than 90 suppliers have been introduced to the market, including more than 400 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 CDMA2000 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 CDMA2000 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 CDMA2000-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
Note to editors
cdmaOne is a registered trademark of the CDMA Development Group. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA).