In what is expected to be the first W-CDMA launch in North America, AT&T Wireless has announced agreements with Nortel Networks Ltd. and L.M. Ericsson to supply equipment for the launch. Although the companies did not disclose the dollar amounts, a source puts the deals at hundreds of millions.
Services will be available by the end of 2004, according to Ritch Blasi, spokesman for AT&T Wireless.
The announcements also signal what some analysts see as a new burst of infrastructure spending after what has been a long lull.
“There is finally some positive momentum in the U.S. for wireless infrastructure spending after some soft years,” remarked Michael Gillin, president of Invisible Planet, noting the AT&T Wireless with Nortel and Ericsson deals and spending trends by other carriers. “It is a very positive sign for the vendors, operators and the industry as a whole.”
These deals fulfill an earlier agreement between AT&T Wireless and NTT DoCoMo Inc. to work together to launch four U.S. markets using W-CDMA technology by the end of 2004. The four markets, according to an RCR Wireless News source, include San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas and San Diego.
Nortel will supply up to 1,200 base stations and the core networks in two of the four markets, which extends GSM/GPRS supplies by Nortel in AT&T core networks since 2000.
Blasi said each cell-site upgrade in the UMTS deal will cost $60,000, although he would not disclose the number of sites. The carrier, however, will complete the upgrade of its EDGE network by the end of 2003, which will be compatible with the W-CDMA networks, according to Blasi.
“These agreements position us to meet our DoCoMo commitments on time and on budget,” said Eric Updyke, vice president, 3G program management for AT&T Wireless. “Our deployment of W-CDMA service will complement our nationwide deployment, further differentiating AT&T Wireless as the industry leader in bringing a new generation of multimedia services to customers.”
Lucent Technologies Inc. signed a $1 billion contract with Sprint PCS for its cdma2000 1x EV-DV networks yesterday. T-Mobile also dipped into its pocket for a $500 million contract with Ericsson last week.
