LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.-Chief executives of Mobikom of Malaysia and Pacific Link Communication Ltd. of Hong Kong last Wednesday signed the first Time Division Multiple Access roaming agreement for Asian cellular carriers.
“This is a very significant milestone for the worldwide advancement of TDMA,” said Domingo Chen, chief operating officer of Pacific Link, which says it was the first cellular service in Asia to become “100 percent TDMA.”
In 1995, Pacific Link became the first cellular carrier in Asia to begin roaming in North America, Chen said.
Mobikom already has in place Advanced Mobile Phone Service-Digital AMPS roaming agreements with carriers in 13 other countries, said Zamani bin Zakariah, chief executive officer of the Malaysian cellular provider. “But this is the first to provide automatic roaming with a Universal Wireless Communications consortium country, and allows roaming into the United States,” Zakariah said.
Officials of the two Asian carriers signed their roaming agreement at the “Global Summit” of UWC, an organization based in Redmond, Wash., whose members are carriers and vendors dedicated to promoting advanced TDMA technologies and business models.
While speaking of seamless roaming for cellular customers, Chen of Pacific Link also spoke of another type of hand-over, that of Hong Kong to China. “Come see us in Hong Kong,” he said. “The 1997 hand-over to China is no problem for the Hong Kong people.”
