Sprint PCS last week announced its first voice call over 1XRTT technology, a third-generation solution for Code Division Multiple Access technology operators.
The call is the first phase of a test between Sprint PCS, Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. to evaluate 1X technology as part of Sprint PCS’ line of wireless services. Other phases of testing will identify new applications for consumers, the technology’s impact on battery life and validate delivery schedules for commercial 1X products.
Sprint PCS said it plans to complete tests by the end of this year and commercially deploy the technology by mid-2001. Prior to that, the company hopes to seed the market with 1X-capable handsets that are backward compatible to its current generation of CDMA technology. Qualcomm will soon ship 1X chipset samples for handsets.
1X technology doubles the voice capacity of existing CDMA networks and adds data rates of up to 144 kilobits per second. Even if Sprint PCS doesn’t identify a huge data market for the technology, the voice capacity is reason enough to deploy the technology.
“We’ll target the capacity hot spots first,” said Oliver Valente, vice president of technology and advanced systems development. “One of the primary benefits is that the technology will double our voice capacity. Even if it did nothing but that, we could sell the technology.”
Valente said Sprint PCS will be evaluating the impact 1X technology will have on the carrier’s Wireless Web offering and on Internet connections to corporate local area networks, e-mail systems and intranets. Valente said the technology can impact the battery life of handsets since the technical algorithms associated with 1X technology allow for better power management
Sprint PCS also expects to announce 3G trials with its other vendors, Nortel Networks, Lucent Technologies Inc. and Motorola Inc. Samsung today does not supply equipment to Sprint PCS, but will aggressively bid to provide 1X equipment alongside Sprint PCS’ existing vendors.
Nortel Networks also announced it completed a series of 1X test wireless calls. Nortel said it completed voice calls in Ottawa, Canada, using Samsung terminals, demonstrating in-building, pedestrian and vehicular calls for representatives of Bell Mobility and Sprint PCS on a trial network installed with Bell Mobility. Nortel said it also demonstrated wireless packet data sessions in its Ottawa lab.
