Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[IceRich]

Cingular to Upgrade Data Network
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/01/technology/01wireless.html?pagewanted=print&position=
By MATT RICHTEL Dec 1, 2004

Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone service provider, announced plans yesterday to upgrade its high-speed data network, allowing faster downloads than are now available on many home broadband connections.

The upgrade will start at the end of 2005, and the network will be in place nationwide by 2006, Cingular said.

The move will allow Cingular to keep pace with Verizon Wireless, the second-largest wireless phone company, which has the fastest data network, industry analysts say.

Cingular did not say how much it would cost to upgrade its network.

Industry executives said it could cost around $1 billion, though that figure did not include other enhancements to the underlying network that may cost the company significantly more.

The company announced that it had selected Ericsson, Lucent Technologies and Siemens to provide technology to upgrade the network.

In October, Cingular Wireless closed its acquisition of AT&T Wireless, creating the nation's largest wireless company with 47 million subscribers. Cingular said the acquisition gave it the additional radio spectrum necessary to deploy the high-speed network.

There is already vibrant competition among wireless companies to offer the fastest data service, which allows people to send and receive information over cellphones and with properly equipped laptop computers.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, says its service allows customers to receive information at 300 to 500 kilobytes per second, though rates for sending information are significantly lower.

That service is available in around 15 cities and a handful of airports, said Roger Entner, an industry analyst with the Yankee Group, a market research firm.

High-speed access delivered to residences over telephone lines can be three times as fast, but in reality, the service is often slower than 200 kilobytes per second, depending on a number of factors.

The new Cingular service will offer service at 400 to 700 kilobytes per second, a Cingular spokesman, Clay Owen, said.

He said the Cingular service would eventually be faster than what Verizon would offer.

"This leapfrogs anything Verizon is putting out," he argued.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/01/technology/01wireless.html?pagewanted=print&position=
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Sorry folks, sounds like WCDMA is chasing CDMA2000, and loosing, both in time to market, and speed. Regardless, QCOM makes money.