Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

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CDMA - Ready To Lead
By Rajendra Chaudhary
Mumbai, Nov 14, 2005

http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=69148&cat_id=912

With the world going mobile, there is a constant growth of expectations from wireless technology. Third generation (3G) services like such as wireless email, web, picture taking and sending, video and audio streaming and TV broadcasting and other features have lead to a rapid growth in usage and subscription base for going wireless.

According to the CDMA Development Group (CDG), CDMA2000 subscription is above 20 million worldwide, while the 1xIEV-DO has 18 million. The WCDMA subscription base has reached 35 million and the overall subscription base for CDMA technologies is pegged at 286 million users worldwide.

These phenomenal numbers are evidence that the CDMA universe has grown tremendously over the past few years. This, combined with the rising number of technology providers, equipment manufacturers and application developers who serve CDMA based operators speaks well for a technology that was first heard of only 17 years ago.



Ever since its inception, CDMA technology has introduced a number of innovations that significantly enhance the performance and capabilities of wireless networks including superior network capacity; IP based wireless data and security.

Thought leaders of the CDMA community gathered at an event organized by CDG to discuss the advancements of the CDMA2000 and the technology's evolution path.

Perry LaForge, Executive Director, CDG, moderated the event and in his keynote discussed the rapid growth of CDMA2000 in the recent years. " CDMA2000 is the most successful wireless technology in the history of wireless services in regards to growth and impact on the market. Looking at the first five years of deployment, you can see it is expanding faster than any other technology, including GSM and WCDMA, and it has a broader reach, serving both developed and developing regions. CDMA2000 is by far the most successful 3G technology, leading the industry in transition to data and now broadband wireless services. This is a tremendous achievement for the industry," he said.

The latest figures suggest that CDMA2000 controls 85% of the 3G market and adds 15 million new users per quarter, which is three times as many as WCDMA. CDMA2000 is available in 61 countries across six continents. In Asia, CDMA2000 commands 12% market share with 92 million subscribers.

Speaking to CXOtoday, LaForge said, "The ability of CDMA2000 to allow operators to migrate to 3G and advanced broadband wireless technologies is a primary reason behind its success. It has given them a definite edge over their competitors in delivering the next generation services in wireless communications."

"CDMA2000 continues to evolve with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A and Rev B and other future enhancements which will allow operators to introduce VoIP, multi.megabit per second speeds, multimedia and broadcast capabilities in coming years," he added.

Irwin Jacobs, Chairman of the board, QUALCOMM emphasized on the competitive advantage which the CDMA technologies offer and discussed the opportunities the APAC region in particular, that India presents to the developers and the operators. He also touched upon the evolution the CDMA technology and the roll of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A and Rev B, the next generation of CDMA2000 standards which build on the Rev 0 capabilities which offer VoIP and significantly higher data rates and reduce costs.

In an exclusive to CXOtoday, Jacobs said, "Our main objective is to associate ourselves with technologies like CDMA and incorporate it in chips and software to provide developers with tools to design products for the future. However, we also need to bear in mind that when we introduce a new technology, we keep it compatible with older devices, so that the ROI and user investment is kept intact."

The Asia Pacific region remains the largest region for the CDMA technologies and the base is expanding at 30% per year. The second quarter of '05 saw 6.7 million new CDMA users added to the existing subscribers base bringing the total to 116.2 million.