Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[Mindy]

GSM outpacing CDMA in US
by Ben Charny

http://networks.silicon.com/mobile/talkback.htm?PROCESS=show&ID=20023473&AT=10006367-3902466...

Name: Raymond

Country: Austin

Occupation: Engineer

Comments: I work in the wireless industry and what I see is:
1) GSM growing all around the world, EVEN in the US (Cingular, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc) and in Latin American and Caribean countries where CDMA or TDMA arrived first.

2) GSM 3G (aka W-CDMA or UMTS in Europe) is already being deployed in several countries (UK, Italy, Spain, etc.). It has a similar radio interface to CDMA, but the network structure and services are more related to GSM.

The reasons for GSM success are mainly economical: GSM was the first standardised digital cell phone system (early 1990s) and has now plenty of equipment and handset providers. Economies of scale have made its cost go down in the recent years, so it has become a standard de facto worldwide (almost 1.1 BILLION subscribers)