ORLANDO, Fla.-Code Division Multiple Access-based service was a promise a year ago, but it has begun to deliver in a big way today, speakers at the 1997 CDMA North American Regional Congress said last week.
As 1997 draws to a close, the CDMA Development Group, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., estimated there are nearly 8 million subscribers worldwide. At the start of the year, CDMA customers numbered 5 million, said Perry LaForge, executive director of the group, which hosted the conference.
An adequate supply of handsets has been an issue for CDMA carriers, said Richard Lynch, chief technical officer for Bell Atlantic Mobile. But the situation began to change during the past two months. BAM now is selling three different
CDMA phones and has another three undergoing tests.
“Right now, the supply-demand curve is not in our favor,” Lynch said. “About 14 new [handset] manufacturers are coming in next year. We have projections about how prices will ramp down, but we won’t share them with you.”
In anticipation of this influx, the CDMA Development Group and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association announced at the meeting they expect to launch early next year a joint cdmaOne handset certification program. Worldwide in scope, the performance evaluation will be conducted on cellular, personal communications services and wireless local loop subscriber products.
International CDMA growth promises greater potential than in North America, particularly in the Asian countries of China, Korea, India and Japan. Wireless local loop services are viewed by some carriers as their entry into a full line of services that include mobile wireless-a role reversal of the model in North America, said Scott Erickson, vice president of product marketing for Lucent Technologies Inc.
Subscriber growth has been substantial in North America, where the CDG estimates 1.5 million users after 18 months of commercial service. The breakout for Canada probably won’t be available until February, pending inclusion of that information in financial reports by the three CDMA carriers in that country, LaForge noted.
Subscriber figures were compiled based on voluntary disclosure by carriers, LaForge said. In a few cases where carriers weren’t forthcoming, the group derived estimates based on information from equipment vendors, he said.
Wade Oosterman, vice president of sales and marketing for Clearnet Communications Inc., which launched commercial service in several major Canadian markets six weeks ago, would not disclose subscriber numbers. He said the company’s biggest complaint from dealers is that they are running out of CDMA handsets.
