Code Division Multiple Access technology is gaining some momentum in Europe.
Lucent Technologies Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. announced they will cooperate with Hungarian Nordic Mobile Telephone operator Westel Radiotelephone Ltd. to trial CDMA 450 technology this fall in Budapest, Hungary. Lucent also announced a cooperation agreement with Sweden’s Radio Design AB to support the introduction of third-generation CDMA mobile networks into the NMT 450 market.
Lucent and Qualcomm committed to the CDMA 450 market last year. NMT MOU members voted in October to accept two digital mobile-phone standards-CDMA and Global System for Mobile communications technology.
Eastern Europe is the only region where NMT 450 usage is growing, and Westel has previously indicated to RCR that it is interested in CDMA technology as a way to differentiate itself from the three GSM providers it already competes with in Hungary. Westel also operates a GSM 900 network in Hungary.
“We chose Lucent because we truly believe in the success of the CDMA 450 idea, and Lucent is a strong supporter of this system,” said Dr. Istvan Galfi, technical director with Westel. “CDMA is a very competitive technology in our 2G TDMA (GSM) environment and provides a very efficient exploitation of the 450 MHz spectrum, high data rates, and it is future proof, fully 3G compatible.”
The first phase of Westel’s trial will provide coverage throughout Budapest with up to 100 handsets active on the system. The second phase will include pre-commercial market testing of subscriber features and services that include packet data and mobile Internet, said Lucent.
Westel will use Lucent’s equipment and non-commercial, prototype handsets from Qualcomm. Qualcomm acquired the software and design assets of U.K. NMT 450 handset maker Tellit Communications Ltd., which built the prototype handsets. It will focus on developing Qualcomm-designed CDMA 450 handsets.
Lucent and Radio Design said they will explore ways to migrate existing analog 450 networks to 3G CDMA 450 networks. Radio Design has extensive expertise in NMT systems and intelligent antenna systems.
If NMT 450 operators choose CDMA, they will likely offer by 2001 a 1XRTT CDMA system capable of roaming with GSM networks. 1XRTT technology is an ITU-accepted 3G technology that adds higher data speeds and extra capacity to existing CDMA networks.
L.M. Ericsson and Nokia Oy, the primary vendors of NMT 450 infrastructure, support GSM technology for this band. ETSI also has agreed to publish a GSM standard for the NMT 450 market.
While GSM technology is the mandated standard for today’s mobile-phone networks in Europe, NMT 450 operators are in a unique position to introduce the technology there because they don’t fall under the auspices of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. And the European Union doesn’t control Eastern Europe, where many operators are studying CDMA technology. The NMT MOU historically has created its own analog standards.
However, some NMT 450 operators never received permission from their telecommunications ministries to migrate to digital technology. They will have to convince the regulatory bodies to allow them to offer digital service and hope the ministries don’t mandate a certain technology.
Backers of CDMA technology hope the EU’s pending mandate to ETSI asking it to standardize all technologies the International Telecommunication Union has accepted for the 3G market-which includes a Interim Standard 95-based technology-may keep regulatory bodies from mandating a certain technology for the NMT 450 market.
The U.S. Department of Commerce, which successfully pushed the EU to require ETSI to standardize the ITU-accepted standards, also has been paying attention to the NMT 450 market in Europe. U.S. Commerce Undersecretary for International Trade David Aaron last fall told the NMT MOU it would be interested in working with the MOU “toward a satisfactory resolution of standards and licensing issues.”
