It could have been an isolated path for TDMA operators going forward as they struggled for economies of scale in their businesses, but with a new agreement with the GSM Association, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium hopes to gain access to the worldwide equipment and wireless services market.
It started nearly two years ago. The UWCC, working with Europe’s standards body, announced an advanced third-generation data solution called EDGE, which is expected to provide users with data rates of up to 384 kilobits per second. The announcement represented a convergence with Global System for Mobile communications technology, whose third-generation migration specifications also include the EDGE standard.
Earlier this year, GSM and TDMA operators took convergence another step. The UWCC and the GSM North American Alliance announced plans to achieve interoperability between TDMA and GSM technology in North America and develop ways to allow a fully integrated set of features across the two technologies to create a global footprint.
Nine months later, the GSM Association signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the two groups to work together within a new GSM Global Roaming Forum to promote common mobile handsets and interoperable network platforms. The UWCC and the GSM Association, the global association representing GSM operators and manufacturers, will collaborate on membership and develop agreements on intellectual property rights.
It appears today most U.S. TDMA operators are seeing huge value in teaming with the GSM community to save on costs and serve global customers. TDMA technology is widely prevalent in North America and Latin America and scattered throughout the rest of the world. GSM technology has the world’s largest footprint and would give TDMA technology access to resistant countries like China, whose GSM subscribers are interested in roaming with North and South America.
“TDMA has a strong footprint in the Americas,” said Chris Pearson, director of marketing with the UWCC. “It makes sense to open to the world from a standpoint of subscribers as well as mergers and acquisitions that will change the global marketplace.”
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. is interested in GSM/TDMA interoperability through its recently announced strategic alliance with GSM operator British Telecommunications plc, which was designed to create seamless mobile communications services worldwide.
The two carriers expect to offer a new mobile global account service package, offering multinational customers global contracts and consolidated management information. AT&T Wireless and BT expect to test the service this year.
“We’ve made a firm commitment to do trials by the end of the year,” said Jim Barron, director of corporate communications with BT in the United States. “The challenge is to get the different networks to work together. We’ll offer the kinds of corporate services customers require, billing and global account management.”
In today’s handset market, TDMA operators are having a difficult time procuring the variety of handsets their GSM and Code Division Multiple Access counterparts can obtain. Global handset manufacturers tend to focus on the larger markets, say handset analysts. Global interoperability with GSM technology could spark more interest from handset players and drive innovation.
“Thus far, handset vendors’ lack of interest has kept TDMA a less innovative technology because everyone is focused on CDMA and GSM for the most part,” said Brian Prohm, analyst with Dataquest.
Greg Williams, UWCC chairman and vice president of wireless networks with SBC Communications Inc., said the UWCC and the GSM North American Alliance are within days of completing Phase 1 specifications for interworking handsets and network components that will facilitate interoperability.
Several prominent handset suppliers should offer commercial handsets late next year, said Williams. Ericsson Inc. was expected to have a commercial GSM/TDMA handset by the end of this year, but analysts say it looks like the phone’s introduction may not be until 2001.
Most of the specification work on roaming gateways within the networks is complete, with some vendors nearly ready to offer roaming products, said Williams. The two groups continue to work on aligning billing systems. All work now will be transferred to a roaming forum established between the UWCC and the GSM Association.
The question is: Will there be a time when one won’t distinguish between TDMA and GSM technology?
