Verizon Wireless is considering either using wideband-CDMA technology as its third-generation network standard or adding the technology to its CDMA-based network. Company spokespeople assert the move is not new-or news-but it is nonetheless representative of the murky realm of 3G wireless issues and carriers’ hopes of appeasing many while committing to few.
“We’re talking about the future here,” said Nancy Stark, a Verizon spokeswoman. “It is not news, and it’s not a change.”
While it might not be a change, it is surprising that Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless operator, is considering using W-CDMA. Wideband-CDMA technology is a rival standard to cdma2000, which is the technology that Verizon’s network is based on and the technology that Verizon has committed billions of dollars to for future upgrades.
While both W-CDMA and cdma2000 are based on Code Division Multiple Access technology, W-CDMA is different in that it is the 3G evolution of GSM networks-which do not interoperate with CDMA networks.
Verizon has committed billions of dollars to cdma2000 1xRTT network upgrades, which is the first step in the cdma2000 3G migration path. And now, Verizon says it is considering W-CDMA.
“W-CDMA is a likely option,” Verizon’s Stark said.
Stark said Verizon today is focused on deploying 1xRTT, which the company has said it will install in selected markets by the end of the year. But the company is also considering using W-CDMA technology.
“They’re both options,” Stark said. “It’s quite possible that both of those technologies could exist in our network.”
Many industry observers see Verizon’s statements as an attempt to appease a major stakeholder and a major worldwide wireless force-Vodafone Group plc. Vodafone owns a 45-percent stake in Verizon and is a GSM network operator. Vodafone’s customers cannot roam on Verizon’s network, but if Verizon uses W-CDMA technology-like Vodafone is expected to do-the two could create a worldwide wireless footprint in addition to saving costs through economies of scale.
But it’s not that simple.
Verizon has already committed to 1xRTT, and by most accounts, the company made a good decision.
“We think that W-CDMA may be in trouble,” said Ira Brodsky, president of Datacomm Research Co. “It would be more likely in a few years that Vodafone will be implementing cdma2000.”
This, Brodsky said, is because cdma2000 technology is already operating, while W-CDMA technology still has a variety of major kinks that need to be worked out-a process some say could take years.
For example, Korea already has a cdma2000 1xRTT network up and running, and it is apparently operating with few, if any, major glitches. On the other hand, carriers trying to build W-CDMA networks are having a difficult time-British Telecommunications plc’s W-CDMA trial in the Isle of Man was postponed, and NTT DoCoMo’s W-CDMA rollout was pushed back to October.
So why is Verizon talking about W-CDMA?
“I think what’s really going on here is that they’re trying to placate Vodafone,” Brodsky said. “They’re walking a tightrope here.”
“It’s really a political issue, not a technology issue,” said Jane Zweig, chief executive officer of The Shosteck Group. “It doesn’t cost them (Verizon) anything to consider using W-CDMA technology.
On the other hand, the majority of carriers around the world are committing to W-CDMA 3G deployments and using that technology would facilitate international roaming.
The situation has even sparked a semantics debate. Verizon is rolling out 1xRTT technology this year, just like Sprint PCS. Sprint calls the upgrade a move to 3G, while Verizon considers it merely an enhancement. It could be that Verizon is saving its 3G flower for W-CDMA and Vodafone. At the heart of the problem lies the definition of 3G, which can mean different things to different carriers.
As Verizon discusses W-CDMA, other carriers are also weighing their 3G options, and the resulting statements seem slightly contradictory and a little dizzying. Nextel Communications Inc. has remained coy about its network upgrades, and other carriers have been even less forthcoming.
But the real question provoked by Verizon’s W-CDMA statements is exactly how the company would use the technology.
Verizon’s spokeswoman declined to speculate on how Verizon would implement the W-CDMA protocol, pointing out that it is too far in the future to consider. Industry observers say there are a variety of things that could happen.
First, Verizon could switch out its CDMA network with a W-CDMA network-a move that would be very expensive.
“You’d be talking about throwing away billions of dollars in investments and the logistical problem of migrating those subscribers” from a CDMA network to a W-CDMA network, Brodsky said. “They would basically tear down one network and build up another one. I think that’s very unlikely.”
Another option would be for Verizon to build a W-CDMA network in tandem with its cdma2000 upgrades. In the cdma2000 migration, 1xRTT is followed by 1xEV and 1xEV-DO. If Verizon built a separate W-CDMA network, Vodafone customers could roam in the United States without interrupting Verizon’s core network services.
“I think it might make some sense for them to do both in the future,” Brodsky said. However, he said, the expense would be astronomical because Verizon would need to build out a W-CDMA network as well as obtain extra spectrum.
Additional possibilities involve other companies coming to the rescue, including handset manufacturers selling phones to work on both networks or infrastructure companies creating technology to make the networks interoperable. Qualcomm Inc. recently announced a line of multimode chips that the company said will support both cdma2000 and W-CDMA, as well as GSM and GPRS on one chip. Qualcomm said the chips will enable true global roaming among the technologies, and will support the migration of GSM and TDMA networks to CDMA.
“I think that what they (Verizon) are thinking is that this could all play out in two to three years in the marketplace,” Brodsky said.
Verizon’s statements about W-CDMA apparently have little effect on its technology partners. Qualcomm said it receives the same royalty rate regardless of the technology standard, while Lucent Technologies Inc., which is supporting Verizon’s 1xRTT rollout, said that there have been no changes to the contract between the two.
“We are beginning to roll out our 1xRTT equipment,” said Ichiro Kawasaki, a Lucent media relations manager. “The cdma2000 1x deployment is real.”
The Verizon situation has left many in the industry wondering what exactly is going on with the company’s 3G plans. However, the company’s statements may not be as abrupt and contradictory as some believe.
“I don’t think it’s as big a deal as people make it out to be,” said Adam Guy, a senior analyst with The Strategies Group. “It’s tempting to look at these technologies as competitors, but they’re both just enablers of mobile communications, so they may work better together.”
And the simple fact is that modern technology is always a little craggy in the beginning.
“New technologies always take longer, always cost more and rarely deliver what’s promised,” Zweig said.
