MELBOURNE, Australia-The Australian communications industry has applauded Telstra Corp.’s decision to build its second national mobile phone network using CDMA technology.
Industry groups, including the Australian Telecommunications Users Group and the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, have openly welcomed Telstra’s move, hailing it as progressive and positive.
Telstra believes CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology best meets its technology needs, particularly in rural and remote parts of the country. It has contracted Nortel Networks Australia to supply and build the network. Telstra previously has stated it plans to plow A$400 million (US$249.6 million) into the project.
The new digital network will be launched commercially in Australia’s five mainland capitals in mid-1999. Telstra will roll out CDMA throughout regional Australia during the second half of 1999.
According to Telstra group managing director of products and marketing, Lindsay Yelland, trials in rural areas will commence during the first half of the year. Although Yelland praised CDMA for combining “the benefits of digital operation with coverage similar to analog (Advanced Mobile Phone Services) for handheld customers,” it’s unclear how well the CDMA technology will perform compared with the existing analog-based AMPS network. The results of regional trials will be particularly important because of the pressure on Telstra to ensure CDMA achieves parallel coverage with AMPS.
In order to allow Telstra to complete its rollout of CDMA, the federal government has revised the timetable for the closure of AMPS in regional Australia. All metropolitan sites in the five major capital cities will close on 31 December, 1999, as planned. About one-third of base stations outside metropolitan areas also will close on that date. But about half of the remaining 270 analog sites will close on 30 June, 2000, with the rest by the end of December that year.
Telstra’s decision to go with CDMA is a blow for Ericsson Australia, which had heavily backed TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) digital technology. Ericsson executives have expressed disappointment at the decision.
Telstra, however, won’t be alone in developing CDMA. OzPhone Pty. Ltd., the Australian subsidiary of Leap Wireless International Inc. (recently spun off from U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc.), has unveiled plans to provide digital wireless services using CDMA. Another buyer at the recent PCS (Personal Communications Services) auctions, Hutchison Telephone, also has shown interest in adopting CDMA technology.
