Industry Body Applauds GSM850 Launch

The USA based GSM group, 3G Americas has said that the launch announcement for the first GSM 850 network in the world by Cable & Wireless Panama with the support of its vendor partner Ericsson has opened a new era in the global diffusion of the GSM wireless interface. GSM continues as the fastest growing technology throughout Latin America, recording 59% year-over-year growth as of June 2002 and now the commercial deployment of GSM 850 will further stimulate regional growth. Forecasts indicate that GSM will become the leading technology in the Latin America region by 2007, followed by TDMA technology.

"GSM has now arrived in the most popular frequency band of 850 MHz for mobile services in the Americas," stated Dr. Richard Downes, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean for 3G Americas, "and with over 100 million TDMA subscribers in the Americas, this is excellent news for the market."

3G Americas applauds the first commercial announcement of GSM at the 850 MHz spectrum band. This announcement provides further evidence of the tremendous commitment of wireless carriers and manufacturers for making the 850 MHz spectrum band a core band for the GSM technology. Other TDMA operators in the region and industry analysts now have undeniable proof that terminals, infrastructure, engineering expertise, and applications are available for GSM 850, as previously reported by 3G Americas.

"The multiple GSM 850 terminals available today or soon to enter the market offer a broad variety of styles, applications and price points, incorporating the latest technical improvements," commented Chris Pearson, Executive Vice President of 3G Americas. Pearson added, "GSM 850 users in the Americas will benefit from the same high levels of service, global interoperability, and diverse applications available to the GSM community worldwide."

Additional operators planning to implement GSM 850 systems include Cingular Wireless, Dobson Wireless, and Telecom Italia for its TDMA properties in Brazil"

Posted to the site on 12th November 2002