CDMA Spend Tops US$ Billion in Two Months
The CDMA Development Group (CDG) says that within the past two months, worldwide operator investments in CDMA2000 networks, that have been publicized, approached US$1 billion. The CDG also reported that according to several analysts, by the end of 2006 operators worldwide will have invested up to US$13 billion in CDMA2000 networks.
"Based on the infrastructure investment numbers alone, CDMA2000 has proved to be capable of generating billions of dollars in ROI," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "With its two-to-three year lead against competing technologies to deliver next-generation services, these investments in CDMA2000 are pushing the envelope towards optimizing wireless telecommunications technology around the world."
In the last two months, several operators have announced their plans to continue to invest in their CDMA2000 networks.
On June 14, Russia's SkyLink announced it would invest more than US$100 million to construct its federal CDMA450 network. On June 27, Verizon Wireless selected Lucent to deploy CDMA2000 EV-DO Revision A (Rev A) technology into its nationwide network. On July 7, India's Tata Teleservices committed more than US$226 million to expand its nationwide network into the rural areas of India. On July 18, SK Telecom in Korea announced it would invest more than US$200 million to enhance its CDMA2000 network. Also on July 18, Ukrainian Telesystems announced it would invest US$180 million to deploy CDMA2000 1xEV-DO broadband services to enable consumers and enterprises in several Ukrainian cities, including Kiev, Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk. On July 19, Verizon Wireless issued a supply agreement to Nortel for its new EV-DO Rev A broadband network. On August 8, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) invested US$120 million to establish a nationwide fixed wireless phone network in almost every village in India by next year.
According to Mr. Greg Young, chief officer of network, technology and value-added services, Tata Teleservices Limited, "Tata Teleservices is continuing to roll-out CDMA2000 coverage into the rural areas of India. We have commenced deploying new low-cost CDMA2000 base stations that use an innovative design from ZTE to reduce the capital and operating costs for serving rural markets. This CDMA2000 outdoor base station design is particularly well suited to the rural markets of India because it delivers improved coverage and performance while reducing establishment and operational costs. It is the ideal wireless solution for providing affordable voice and wireless data services to small and sparsely populated rural communities."
Posted to the site on 11th August 2006
