MOSCOW—Russian carriers operating CDMA technology based on the IS-95 standard called on the Communications Ministry to stop restricting the standard and even asked for new spectrum for further development.
IS-95 has faced big problems in Russia since it was first introduced in the country. It was initially restricted in mobility and then ordered to abandon the 470 MHz to 872 MHz band altogether by 2010.
However, CDMA carriers continue to fight for a place and reported a record 2.5-fold subscriber growth in 2001. Although their total subscriber figure is only 204,000, or 2.6 percent of the market, the Russian CDMA Association commented that “in conditions of tough restrictions on the part of Russian communication authorities, such a result of 17 regional carriers cannot be ignored.”
It urged the ministry to change its negative viewpoint of the technology, as “it is cheap, multifunctional, has real prospects for domestic production” and can facilitate the implementation of the government-approved Electronic Russia program that envisages an accelerated development of Internet and other computerized communication means in the country.
“By taking discriminative measures against the CDMA (IS-95) standard, the ministry is losing a real chance to create an infrastructure that would promote an early implementation of the program,” the association said, adding “It would be appropriate to use the situation with CDMA introduction in the country more efficiently.”
The association said that, besides the Electronic Russia program, CDMA technology could be used for providing mass access to the Internet via second- and third-generation (3G) technologies for multimedia and other universal telecommunication services.
The association added that to achieve the aims it would be necessary “to expand the capabilities of CDMA networks, to consider the possibility of using frequencies in the 800/1900 MHz band and to provide an additional frequency spectrum of 2 x 1.25 megahertz, including that released by AMPS/D-AMPS carriers.”
AMPS/D-AMPS carriers also have to abandon their spectrum by 2010, however in contrast to CDMA operators, they have already reached a compromise with the ministry and will switch to GSM 1800 MHz technology.
The association stressed that its proposals do not demand any budget subsidies, and their implementation can begin this year.
So far there has been no response from the ministry, which at the end of last year gave a go-ahead to a different CDMA technology based on the International Mobile Telecommunications Multi-Carrier (IMT-MC) 3G standard and operating in the 450 MHz band.
NMT 450 carrier Moscow Cellular Communications (MCC) is allowed to build a commercial network, which it plans to do in the coming two years. The St. Petersburg-based Delta Telecom also received the necessary license and plans to launch a trial network in February. The NMT 450 carrier in the Urals, Uralvestcom, is also eyeing the new technology.
