Perry LaForge is the founder, executive director and chairman of the CDMA Development Group (CDG). The CDG is a trade association comprised of more than 120 of the world’s leading wireless operators and manufacturers. At the CDG, Perry is responsible for overseeing the expansion of CDMA technology throughout the world and for leading the evolution of the technology through the CDG’s subcommittees.
Q: What role does the CDMA Development Group play in the wireless industry?
A: The CDG and its members lead the rapid evolution, commercialization and deployment of 3G CDMA2000-based systems to meet the needs of the global market place. Our 130 members include CDMA service providers and manufacturers, application developers and content providers who work together to ensure interoperability among 3G and next-generation systems to expedite the availability of advanced wireless technology and solutions to enterprises and consumers.
Q: What position if any is the CDG taking on the development and deployment of so-called 4G technologies?
A: 4G is still an undefined term that will eventually be defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as part of the IMT.Advanced standardization process. We believe the commercialization and mass market adoption of wider-bandwidth OFDM-based technologies such as LTE, WiMAX and UMB will take some time. It may take several years–even a decade or more — for these technologies to amass scale. Carriers are currently evaluating business models for 4G systems. In many cases, these same operators have begun to just roll out advanced 3G systems like EV-DO Rev. A or HSPA. Existing networks will remain the core revenue generators for quite awhile. OFDM-based solutions (which include broadcast solutions) will co-exist and complement 3G CDMA solutions. We expect OFDM-based solutions will be built over time as demand grows and spectrum becomes available. As a result, 3G CDMA will continue to drive the demand for broadband services in the market. As we’ve learned in the past, bringing new wireless technology networks online is frequently neither a smooth nor speedy process, but it will happen. The CDG is working closely with its members to enable interoperability between their CDMA and OFDM-based networks, whichever one they choose.
Q: What advantages do you see for the technology being supported by the CDG?
A: We don’t have a preference when it comes to OFDM-based technologies. Some of our operators will do WiMAX, some LTE, others UMB. We want to make sure that CDMA operators are as prepared as possible to make their moves to 4G and interoperate those wider-bandwidth networks and services with their current CDMA networks. That being said, we believe CDG members will be the first to deploy 4G networks. CDMA operators have been the leaders in 3G and will be the leaders in 4G as well. They have already been working with 3G technology for several years and EV-DO Rev. A is now deployed in 37 countries, with most of those being emerging markets.
Q: What time frames do you see for the rollout of next-generation networks?
A: If you refer to LTE, UMB and Mobile WiMAX (802.16m) as next-generation networks, I think the industry is pretty much in agreement that we will see these wider-bandwidth OFDM-based technologies slowly roll out in the next few years. This rollout will be limited by technology maturity, spectrum availability and operator need. As a result, it will take a number of years for these technologies to reach scale. As mentioned before, new highly complex wireless technologies always take time. What’s important to recognize is that current 3G networks will continue to be in use for the foreseeable future – well beyond 2020.
Q: Is there a place for a variety of next-generation technologies, or do you think there is a need to consolidate around a single standard?
A: The CDG has always encouraged choice, innovation and competition. On the surface, consolidation around a single standard might seem like a logical way to go, but anytime you are trying to get hundreds of companies, governments and countries to agree on anything you are likely setting yourself up for delays, dissentions and failures. As in the past, a choice of technologies will allow operators to differentiate themselves and remain competitive. It is becoming very clear that a “One Technology Fits All” or a “One Network Fits All” strategy no longer suffices in today’s competitive markets. CDMA handset vendors have led the industry in the delivery of multimode, multiband devices, referred to as WorldMode devices. WorldMode devices have been commercialized with CDMA2000 1X (and EV-DO Rel. 0), GSM and GPRS as well as with CDMA, FLO, DVB-H and ISDB-T. Within the next two years, CDMA handset vendors will be among the first to offer WorldMode devices that include CDMA2000 1X and EV-DO (through Rev. B) as well as WCDMA and wider-bandwidth OFDMA mobile broadband technologies.
