The European Telecommunications Standards Institute cast a preliminary vote last week in Madrid, Spain, in favor of a Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access third-generation technology proposal backed by Nokia Corp. and L.M. Ericsson.
The W-CDMA proposal allows for migration from Global System for Mobile communications networks and is gaining support from European operators.
ETSI has said it is determined to approve a single proposal by the end of January. The European Community will then submit the proposal to the International Telecommunications Union, a part of the United Nations that has placed itself in charge of setting worldwide standards for future wireless networks. ETSI’s Special Mobile Group-2 has been studying five radio access concepts. In early November, W-CDMA and TD-CDMA appeared to be the leading contenders.
According to published reports, the Nokia/Ericsson proposal won 58.5 percent in the test ballot, while the wideband Time Division Multiple Access-CDMA proposal that uses CDMA signal spreading techniques to enhance TDMA capacity received 41.5 percent. This standard is backed by industry heavyweights Motorola Inc. and Northern Telecom Inc. as well as Siemens AG, Sony Corp., Alcatel, Bosch and Italtel of Italy.
However, 19 organizations representing 167 votes abstained from voting and about 400 voters were not present, said a Merrill Lynch report. TD-CDMA backers believe the vote is insignificant since a 70-percent majority vote is required for adoption. ETSI may not reach a consensus on either proposal.
But in the last month, two key European operators, Telecom Italia Mobile and German operator Mannesmann Mobilfunk, changed sides and cast their support for a W-CDMA solution, said Merrill Lynch. The firm now believes that other European carriers also may switch and that absent voters may vote with the majority.
Italy’s TIM recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest cellular operator, to develop a third-generation system based on the development of GSM and W-CDMA technology. DoCoMo chose W-CDMA technology earlier this year for its third-generation network and is working with Nokia, Ericsson and other manufacturers to operate a test system by next year.
