CDG keeps focus on 3G

SAN DIEGO – Highlighted by the event’s name, this week’s 3G CDMA Americas Regional Conference took a step back from the hype surrounding so-called “4G” technologies and instead focused on the benefits carriers can still attain from current 3G technologies.
Not that the event’s organizers, the CDMA Development Group, is ignoring the rush by the wireless industry to the next evolution of technology, as evidence by the CDG’s decision to back the LTE standard following the muted reception to its own UMB offering and the more recent acceptance as a Market Representation Partner by the GSM-focused 3GPP standards body.
Speakers and CDG representatives at this year’s CDG event were confident that current 3G technologies could handle market demands for most data services and that moving forward 3G network would still be able to support data services from traditional wireless devices like handsets and smartphones. Several noted that carriers deploying 4G networks might focus those networks on more data-heavy devices like mobile data cards and upcoming consumer electronic devices, while they could direct their traditional device users towards current 3G networks.
Another topic that seemed to garner comments was the forecast life expectancy of current CDMA networks. Carriers in attendance, including nationwide operator Verizon Wireless, regional provider Leap Wireless International Inc. and rural carrier Nex-Tech Wireless offered varied opinions, but all noted life spans of at least 10 years. CDG representatives noted that they expected that to stretch to 20 years and beyond as international operators looked to deploy technologies that could take advantage of smaller spectrum channels and the continued refining of the CDMA standard to provide greater capacity.
One of those advancements is the recently approved CDMA2000 1x-Advanced standard that is expected to provide a theoretical 4-times improvement in voice capacity compared with traditional 1x networks. Companies attending the event showed interest in the advancement, though some expressed concerns about the eventual availability of equipment at reasonable prices.
Leap’s CTO Glenn Umetsu pleaded for other carriers to get behind the 1x-Advanced standard so economies of scale would drive down the cost of equipment and devices. Umetsu added that 1x-Advanced is a very appealing option for spectrally-constrained operators as well as those offering unlimited calling plans.
The move to 1x-Advnaced would also help carriers looking to migrate to LTE as the spectral efficiencies of 1x-Advnaced would allow carriers to free up the necessary spectrum assets to launch LTE services.
M2M SIG
Another topic highlighted at the event was the growing M2M space as the CDG announced the launch of its Machine-to-Machine Special Interest Group. The M2M SIG said it would initially target four vertical markets with its initiatives: Consumer electronics; telematics; healthcare; and energy.
In support of those verticals, the CDG said the M2M SIG would look to leverage the data capabilities of the CDMA standard to target those markets and work on a common set of standards for the testing and certification of devices across multiple networks.
“The embedded cellular M2M module market has fared reasonably well through the economic turbulence of the last 12 to 18 months,” said Sam Lucero, Director of ABI Research’s M2M Connectivity Practice. “Overall unit shipments in 2008 still showed positive growth at 4% and should be on track to grow by approximately 16% in 2009. Over the coming years, we expect the market to grow from about 25.7 million units shipped in 2008 to roughly 88.1 million units shipped in 2014.”