The digital era has arrived.
Pick a technology. We’ve got your TDMA, your CDMA, upgraded TDMA and some GSM. We’ve got your 800 MHz, your 1.9 GHz. And we’ve set aside some plain old analog technology for you folks longing for the good old days.
For as long as I’ve been covering the wireless telecommunications industry, the single biggest issue has been the technology debate. Which was better, TDMA or CDMA? Did customers really want digital service, or was it a ploy by vendors to force cellular operators spend money upgrading their networks? Would people notice the difference? What would prompt a cellular user with a perfectly good analog handset to trade it in for an expensive digital model? Would there ever be capacity problems outside of Los Angeles, New York and Toronto? How many people have the kinds of conversations where eavesdropping on the analog network would be a concern?
Those digital cellular arguments never really got settled. Cellular carriers were forced to upgrade to digital equipment to compete with emerging PCS operators, which would tout their digital superiority.
In the past few weeks, RCR reporters have been calling on handsets using a number of technologies. In general, the results were clear calls.
Bear in mind, however, that several years ago I was on the receiving end of a MIRs phone call from another reporter driving around Denver as OneComm proudly demonstrated its new ESMR network. The call was clear. All was fine. And everyone agrees, MIRS was lousy. (Sometimes I suspect that when wireless carriers drive reporters around to demonstrate their technologies, the operators have COWS following a block behind to make sure each call is completed. And everyone knows the best place to make a call back to the office at a convention is from a vendor demonstration booth.)
But enough with the cynicism. A GSM call wavered a bit and got dropped, but was clear enough later. A CDMA call from Puerto Rico also was clear. An 8-bit vocoder CDMA call wasn’t good. We were told the reporter had a defective handset.
Analysts say customers will be forgiving of the problems they experience with the new technologies for a time, especially if they perceive the sound quality to be better than analog service. Personally, I’ve always been happy with analog quality.
But enough with the analysts, the lobbyists, the regulators, the vendors, the carriers and the press.
Finally, the technology is in the hands of the customer. And he will decide what is important.
