While voice transmissions over the cellular network have reached a certain degree of maturity in the marketplace, data transmissions continue to alternately attract and frustrate carriers, manufacturers and end users.
Cellular Digital Packet Data technology, which enables mobile users to transmit data digitally at rates up to 19.2 kilobits per second over the existing cellular infrastructure, has been deployed in 32 U.S. cities, as well as Mexico City, Seoul, South Korea and Toronto and Vancouver, Canada.
1995 has been the year that CDPD kept its promises, said Rand Baldwin, executive director of the CDPD Forum, noting that has not always been the case.
CDPD has been criticized by some for either not being deployed rapidly enough or not being deployed properly. AirTouch Communications Inc. announced in June it was shutting down its CDPD system in San Diego because there was not enough market demand for the service.
CDPD has received some bad press lately, Baldwin acknowledged, adding much of the negativity is based on false perceptions of the service. However, a real obstacle that CDPD needs to overcome is that it takes money to deploy the technology and because the service is not at a critical mass point, carriers have yet to see any return on their investment, Baldwin said.
Still, Baldwin maintains the outlook for CDPD is good. “All I’m looking for is, `Is it continuing at an accelerated pace?’*” Baldwin stated, answering that deployment is building momentum and by the end of 1996, the service will have achieved critical mass.
While CDPD may be a bit slow at achieving marketing success, the technology is improving with the successful testing of specification 1.1 by AT&T Network Systems Inc., Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile and PCSI Inc. in Atlantic City, N.J.
Specification 1.1 is significant in CDPD’s evolution because it will be the underlying specification for all future CDPD enhancements, Baldwin said. Specification 1.0 is expected to remain in use until about mid 1996, Baldwin stated. Carriers switching to the 1.1 specification today are replacing 1.0 modems for clients at no cost to the client, he added.
Improvements in the cellular data field also are being made on the circuit-switched side. Air Communications Inc. this spring announced plans to target mobile computer users with its AirTrue wireless protocol. AirTrue is a circuit-switched transmission that reportedly addresses transceiver noise and distortion, two common problems with sending data over the cellular network.
AirTrue technology integrates radio frequency and modem technologies into a handheld product that works well for sending data and exceptionally well for fax transmissions, according to its developers.
