CHICAGO, United States-One of the first commercial deployments of Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) technology could be in Mexico next year based on presentations and interviews at the PCIA GlobalXchange event in late September. Mexico’s largest wireless carrier, Telcel, plans to roll out commercial EDGE service in the country’s three largest cities in 2001.
Carlos Guzman, U.S.-based Strategis Group analyst, said Telcel has a 75-percent market share in Mexico City, launched Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) service in September and will begin EDGE service next year.
U.S. operator AT&T Wireless Services plans to begin commercial EDGE service in some markets in the first half of 2001, with full service following in 2002 and 2003.
According to Richard Downes, director of the Latin American and Caribbean region for the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC), Movilnet in Venezuela and Canada’s Rogers AT&T also have committed to EDGE rollouts.
Considering no European operators have announced EDGE plans-most are opting instead to upgrade directly to Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks from General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology-the North and South American commitments from operators are essential for the UWCC and TDMA carriers. The larger the number of EDGE adopters, the better economies of scale, roaming and interoperability issues will be for TDMA carriers.
Latin America was the fastest-growing TDMA market in the second quarter of 2000 based on figures released by the
UWCC. Fifteen of the 20 operators in the region’s largest market, Brazil, have TDMA networks.
“In the Western Hemisphere, TDMA leads, so there will be big economies of scale,” said Chris Pearson, executive vice president of the UWCC, citing future announcements from manufacturers regarding EDGE technology, although he could not discuss specifics.
UWCC officials also predict several European operators will implement EDGE equipment.
“Prior to the auctions, nobody was going to say they didn’t need new spectrum,” said Sheila Mickool, UWCC president, noting the fact that EDGE technology can be deployed without huge amounts of additional new frequencies.
However, some European market watchers have a different view. Risto Perttunen, director of McKinsey & Co. based in Helsinki, Finland, noted that because of the huge costs of third-generation (3G) licenses in Europe and the pressure operators face to quickly build out 3G networks, EDGE will not be heavily deployed in Europe.
“We do not already know anyone who has started to discuss EDGE,” Perttunen said.
“Everyone with a 3G license is going from GPRS to UMTS,” said Paul Bishop, market development director of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. “For those that don’t win licenses, EDGE is an option” to offer 3G-like services without additional spectrum.
“It’s the only place for them (carriers without 3G licenses) to go next,” added Bishop.
AT&T executives said they expect EDGE handsets to be available in the second half of 2001 from Ericsson and Nokia and possibly Motorola and Panasonic, with dual-mode EDGE and UMTS handsets following in 2002.
