Nokia Corp.’s splash into the CDMA handset market was tempered last week after the world’s largest cell phone manufacturer admitted some of its phones already on the street will not work with high-speed networks expected to roll out later this year.
Nokia said the handsets, including the 2100, 5100 and 6100 series, were manufactured to IS-95a specifications, but did not take into account a synching channel allowing the handset to register itself with cdma2000 1x networks.
A software patch for the handsets is being tested and should be available shortly, with the carriers implementing the fix into their networks within a month, according to Nokia.
“We have come up with a software solution that would not affect carriers or customers,” said Megan Mathews, spokeswoman for Nokia. “The upgrade can be accomplished in a short time frame and at the same time a carrier upgrades its base stations to 1x.”
Mathews pointed out the problem is only with legacy handset models that do not feature 1x functionality and that the fix would not delay carriers rolling out their 1x networks.
The country’s two largest CDMA carriers, Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS, will be affected most by the news since both are planning to roll out next generation services by the end of the year.
“We want to give our customers phones that work,” said Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless.
Verizon Wireless began selling Nokia’s 5185 handset, one of the models affected by the glitch, last year, but did not say how many of the popular handsets were in circulation. The carrier said it would evaluate the situation and consider what kind of impact the problem will have on its decision to sell Nokia handsets in the future.
“We want to work with Nokia on the problem, but we have to know they have a plan to fix it,” Raney said. “They have been willing to work with us on the problem.”
Sprint PCS spokesman Dan Wilinsky noted the “glitch” would have little impact on the carrier since it does not currently sell any of the handsets in question. Wilinsky did say that Sprint PCS would institute any fix Nokia recommends for the problem into its network, but would not confirm if the carrier would carry any Nokia phones in the future.
Nokia currently holds roughly 10 percent of the CDMA handset market, but controls more than 35 percent of the total wireless handset market.
