COSTA MESA, Calif., July 28, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today announced that CDMA is rapidly expanding in Latin America, as evidenced by subscriber growth and number of deployments of CDMA2000(r) in the region.
Latin America is one of the fastest growing markets for wireless services, and CDMA has been capturing a greater share of this market. There are 36 CDMA operators in 19 key countries servicing 28 million subscribers. Many of these CDMA operators have launched or are deploying 3G CDMA2000 networks; there are 19 commercial CDMA2000 networks today and five more will be operational by the end of 2003.
"CDMA has a strong position in Latin America, with a subscriber base expanding at 30 percent per year and CDMA2000 networks being deployed throughout the region," said Perry LaForge, executive director for the CDG. "Capitalizing on the spectral efficiency and high-speed data capabilities of CDMA2000, operators in the region are growing their share of the wireless market, providing affordable voice services and delivering broadband access to the Internet."
CDMA2000 offers a direct and economical migration path to 3G for operators in Latin America, the vast majority of which operate TDMA or CDMA networks in the 800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands. CDMA2000 is widely deployed in these frequencies around the world, making infrastructure and handsets readily available and offering economies of scale. In addition, since CDMA2000 is based on the ANSI-41 core network, it provides for substantial cost savings for operators migrating to 3G and service transparency for end users.
CDMA2000 not only works in the same bands as existing wireless systems, it uses spectrum more efficiently offering the most capacity to meet the growing demand for voice and data services in the region. CDMA2000 doubles the capacity of cdmaOne(tm) networks and increases 4 times the capacity of TDMA networks. Since CDMA2000 requires only 1.25 MHz of spectrum, operators can deploy data without allocating a significant portion of their spectrum today and migrate their networks as the demand for these services evolves.
With data speeds averaging 50-90 kbps and peak speeds of up to 144 kbps in commercial networks, CDMA2000 allows operators to differentiate through value-added services, such as high-speed Internet access, audio/video streaming, Web browsing, and multimedia messaging. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology, which has already been deployed by two operators in Latin America, delivers broadband access to the Internet at average speeds of 300-600 kbps, and peak speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps.
There are more than 240 CDMA2000 devices available for the Latin America market today. Since CDMA2000 handsets are backward compatible with cdmaOne and AMPS, operators are able to leverage their existing networks while transitioning to 3G.
LaForge stated, "CDMA2000's technological advantages and commercial successes in delivering advanced services offer Latin American operators a great platform on which to compete today and in the future."
The CDG is hosting the 2003 CDMA Latin America Regional Conference in Rio de Janeiro, August 13-14. For the second year, the conference will focus on the benefits of CDMA2000 in providing innovative, revenue-generating services and applications. Wireless operators Brasil Telecom, BSI, Korea Telecom Freetel, SK Telecom (Korea), SmartCom (Chile), Sprint (U.S.), Telefonica (Peru), Verizon Wireless (U.S.), Vesper and Vivo (Brazil) will share their knowledge and experiences in deploying CDMA2000 with an audience of regional carriers, equipment vendors, content providers, application developers, media and analysts at the one and a half day event. Operators, regulators and press may attend at no charge. For more information on the CDMA Latin American Regional Conference, please visit the CDG's Web site located at http://www.cdg.org.
The CDMA Development Group is a nonprofit trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The 110 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless operators 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 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).