A few years back RCR Wireless News ran a story that said AT&T Corp. was exploring-just studying the possibility, mind you-of implementing a CDMA overlay onto its TDMA network, and we incurred the wrath of AT&T CEO John Zeglis.
My, how times have changed.
Today carriers are downright flirtatious with technologies they previously may not have glanced at. And carriers are becoming increasingly coy about their migration paths to third-generation services.
I think AT&T itself started this new dance step when it announced it would deploy a GSM overlay onto its TDMA network late last year. (Trust me, the carrier still explored the possibility of a CDMA overlay. It would have been stupid to not study other protocols when you are getting ready to spend millions and millions on new technology.)
Once AT&T said it was going two-stepping with GSM technology, Cingular was quick to copy the move, commenting how smart it would be for Cingular also to deploy a GSM overlay onto its TDMA network. Notice the carrier never said it planned to overlay GSM, just that it could be a smart move.
Not wanting to be a wallflower, Nextel Communications Inc. earlier this spring joined the CDMA Development Group and hinted heavily that it could install a CDMA network overlay onto its iDEN network. Later, Nextel backed off from its “CDMA is a sure thing” stance.
Now Verizon is making similar moves. While the 1xRTT supporter has been bragging about its superior cdmaOne technology today, the carrier said it likely will move to wideband CDMA technology down the road, say sometime after 2004.
Cynics say the carriers are just testing vendors to see if they can get better pricing, or in Verizon’s case, that it is making statements to pacify minority-interest shareholder Vodafone Group plc, which plans to use W-CDMA technology. Others are sure carriers are enamored with the new technologies and plan to move to them.
What carriers are really saying is not much.
Likely. Could. Would. No one really wants to be pinned down to just one date at this dance. Who deploys what and when depends on a myriad of factors, including things like finances, technology breakthroughs and that prickly issue, handset availability.
Still, I imagine vendors wish carriers would take heed of the phrase, “Dance with the one that brought you.”
