Editor’s Note: No other debate has ignited the wireless telecommunications industry like the one that rages between TDMA and CDMA technology. For several years, the greatest argument against CDMA technology was that it was not commercially available. That changed in 1996 as both cellular and PCS operators deployed CDMA-based digital service. As such, RCR salutes CDMA’s biggest backer, Dr. Irwin Jacobs.
Qualcomm Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs recalls the time when he demonstrated the technical capabilities of Code Division Multiple Access technology during a CTIA open forum in Chicago in June of 1989.
“I half expected someone to find a fatal flaw, but no one did,” he said.
Seven-and-a-half years later and still no one has found that fatal flaw, although many continue to try. Opponents “are having more difficulty saying it won’t work,” said a chuckling Jacobs.
Jacobs and CDMA have come a long way since the technology received a chilling reception from the industry when it was first introduced in 1989. The Telecommunications Industry Association in cooperation with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association had already chosen Time Division Multiple Access as the industry standard for digital cellular service, and several companies had invested large amounts of money in TDMA technology. Industry leaders said CDMA had virtually no chance of replacing the industry chosen standard.
This year, AirTouch Communications Inc., Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile, 360
