Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[Data_Rox]

TD-CDMA geared up for growth
South China Morning Post
January 3, 2006
Georgina Lee

In the ubiquitous, always-on broadband market envisioned by telecommunications carriers, their users can seamlessly access the internet via their mobile phone, laptop computer or personal digital assistant.

IPWireless, a California-based mobile broadband equipment maker, expects those connections to grow and open up business opportunities.

Chris Gilbert, president and chief executive at IPWireless, said his company offered an advanced, standards-based broadband wireless technology that significantly improved the way people connected.

IPWireless is a proponent of a third-generation wireless technology known as TD-CDMA, for Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access. It is a data-centric platform related to the Wideband CDMA standard used by many of the world's 3G cellular network operators.

This technology operates in a non line-of-sight environment, allowing fast wireless data access - indoor, outdoor and in vehicles in motion. IPWireless' current product line is optimised for data rate speeds of up to 16 megabits per second, carrying internet protocol traffic and other mobile or fixed data applications.

IPWireless equipment is installed in 20 countries at present, with major operators such as T-Mobile, Orange and Sprint Nextel. A growing number of aggressive new carriers, such as IPMobile in Japan and Woosh Wireless in New Zealand, have also adopted TD-CDMA.

While TD-CDMA is known primarily as a packet-data technology, Woosh Wireless has moved to voice-over-IP services. "We can now offer a complete bundle of services that only the incumbent could offer before," said Woosh Wireless chief executive Bob Smith. TD-CDMA has allowed Woosh to set voice tariffs 50 per cent lower than those of rival Telecom New Zealand.

Strategic partnerships with some of the largest players have helped broaden the adoption of TD-CDMA.