Verizon Wireless successfully conducted over-the-air calls using CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A technology from Lucent Technologies Inc., and Lucent said its Rev. A infrastructure will be commercially available in 2006.
The trials are the first live tests of Rev. A technology-an enhancement to EV-DO technology-in the world, the companies said. Using Lucent’s commercial CDMA infrastructure, pre-commercial software and a test terminal provided by Qualcomm Inc., Verizon and Lucent demonstrated simultaneous video, voice and data services at speeds of up to 3.1 megabits per second on the forward link and 1.8 megabits per second on the reverse link.
Lucent and Verizon said they plan to conduct more extensive test trials in early 2006 to demonstrate Voice over Internet Protocol with simultaneous multimedia applications.
Current EV-DO technology deployments-dubbed Rev. 0-use 1x channels on the reverse link that are limited to speeds of about 150 kilobits per second, which is not fast enough to support VoIP services.
“CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A is a compelling technology for service providers and end users alike,” said Mike Iandolo, vice president and general manager of Mobility Access Solutions at Lucent. “It will enable service providers to offer new revenue-generating services. For end users, there will be many benefits as well, such as the creation of richer multimedia content through the simultaneous delivery of voice and high-speed data capabilities.”
Perry LaForge, executive director of The CDMA Development Group, said, “With Rev. A, CDMA2000 operators have a significant time-to-market advantage to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities that IP-based networks and integrated service delivery offer.”
In Japan, wireless operator KDDI Corp. announced that it plans to begin deploying CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A technology by the end of 2006.
In the United States, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. are the only operators that have announced plans to deploy CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Rev. A technology. Sprint Nextel has said it plans to deploy Rev. A beginning next year, and the technology eventually will be used to support the carrier’s next evolution of push-to-talk services.
