WASHINGTON-Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who late last month led the charge for the military to deploy CDMA technology in post-war Iraq, on Wednesday seemed to step back from his CDMA-only position when he urged the Semiconductor Industry Association to ask the U.S. Agency for International Development to release a neutral request for proposals.
“At this time, I am requesting that USAID and the Department of Defense rethink their decision and allow both CDMA and GSM vendors to bid on this substantial contract and, after reviewing all of the proposals available to them, choose the one that serves the best interests of American taxpayers and the Iraqi people,” wrote Issa in a letter to SIA President George Scalise.
Issa was responding to a letter from Scalise, but SIA is not making its correspondence public so it is impossible to tell whether the SIA letter supported or opposed Issa’s CDMA-only position. SIA has both CDMA and GSM members.
The wireless world was up in arms late last month after RCR Wireless News first reported that Issa was circulating a letter telling the Defense Department and USAID to use CDMA technology when rebuilding Iraq’s wireless network. Issa also introduced legislation with several co-sponsors requiring the use of CDMA technology. The GSM Association was quick to point out that most of the Arab world uses GSM technology and that a GSM network was built in Afghanistan.
