12 Million Sign Up for CDMA in Q4 Last Year

The CDMA Development Group (CDG) has reported that a record-breaking 12 million users signed up for CDMA services in the fourth quarter of 2002, bringing the total number of CDMA subscribers to nearly 147 million, including 33 million 3G CDMA2000 users.

"CDMA continues to advance rapidly and this strong performance is indicative of the technology's leading position in the emerging markets for wireless voice and data communications, especially in key areas such as Asia and the Americas," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG.

"The CDG expects to see this expansion continue, driven by tremendous demand for wireless services in India, China and Latin America, additional deployments of CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO and growing consumer interest in 3G."

With 89 million users, the Americas are the biggest market for CDMA. It continues to dominate North America with 62 million subscribers representing 44% of all users in the United States and Canada. The Caribbean and Latin America is one of the fastest-growing regions for CDMA; in the past year the subscriber base grew by 7 million to reach 27 million. There are 30 CDMA operators in the region and seven more are scheduled to launch next year.

The expansion of CDMA in China contributed to significant gains in the Asia-Pacific region; more than 13 million CDMA subscribers were added in 2002. Asia has the highest proportion of 3G subscribers, driven mainly by the phenomenal success of CDMA2000 services in Korea and Japan.

There are 35 CDMA2000 1X and four CDMA2000 1xEV-DO commercial networks in Asia, North and South America, Australia and Europe. CDMA2000 subscribers grew by more than 5 million in December 2002, adding an average of nearly 3 million users per month during the fourth quarter. 22% of CDMA subscribers are using CDMA2000 and in some markets such as Korea, more than 50% of cellular subscribers are 3G."

Posted to the site on 18th March 2003