If UMTS is the dream, CDMA2000 1x EV-DO is the reality, claims a report by Dallas-based Alexander Resources. It is not just a reality, but a better, cheaper and more effective reality than UMTS.
In its study titled CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Opportunities, Challenges and Competitive Strategies, the research firm claims EV-DO requires less clear spectrum to deploy, delivers higher average and peak throughput and is less expensive than UMTS.
“Critics say `3G wireless is too expensive, doesn’t work, and even if it did work there is no need for it,”‘ said Alexander Resources. “The latest 3G solution, CDMA2000 1x EV-DO, provides solid evidence to the contrary. Unfortunately, few people are aware of it.”
The research identifies three superior strengths of DO. One, it frees carriers from what it describes as “the false dilemma” of making subscribers pay for data at the equivalent voice resources consumed.
“Using dedicated bandwidth, carriers can develop mobile data as an independent business,” said the report.
The second reason is 1x carriers will see DO as competitive insurance. “Because EV-DO can hand off to CDMA2000 1x, it can be deployed by carriers where needed to meet customer needs and competitive requirements-avoiding W-CDMA’s large-scale deployment requirements,” said the report.
The third strength, according to the research, is that the next evolutionary step known as EV-DV may not generate great demand as it may be “relegated to carriers with insufficient spectrum.”
Sprint PCS has maintained it will not deploy DO but it would rather migrate to EV-DV, which combines both voice and data. Vendors that offer both technologies have been wary about endorsing the findings of the research.
Both Lucent Technologies Inc. and L.M. Ericsson said it depends on the carrier’s decision.
“We should compare apples to apples,” remarked John Marinho, vice president of mobility offer management at Lucent, adding both are based on spread spectrum and are at different stages of evolution.
“Ericsson supports both technologies and believes both W-CDMA and EV-DO are successful in bringing 3G services to the end users,” commented Ericsson spokesman Rob Elston.
“It has to do with economy of scale,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDMA Development Group, which advocates CDMA technology. He said the advantage DO is enjoying derives partly from the delay in deploying UMTS. UMTS’ promise has pushed back consistently from 2001 to about late 2004 and 2005.
In the United States, Verizon has launched DO in the San Diego and Washington D.C. markets, but the focus has been on the enterprise market. In Asia, the focus is on the consumer space.
Verizon is selling speed and leaves it to the various businesses to determine what applications to play up. In Asia, especially Korea, applications such as video clips, ring tones and other simple downloads have improved to streaming services for both video and music and gaming.
LaForge said SK Telecom’s revenue has jumped from 8 percent to 15 percent within a year, representing about $1 billion in revenue. KDDI plans to launch its DO services later this month on a nationwide basis.
“Ultimately, Asia and North America will have a balance between enterprise and consumer,” predicted LaForge.
