The Operators Harmonization Group, an assembly of mobile phone operators from around the world, said they agreed last month in Tokyo to a baseline proposal to harmonize ITU CDMA-based third-generation technology proposals.
The proposal needs further refinement, a process that should be completed in the next 30 days, said the group. Carriers and manufacturers involved with the OHG have agreed not to elaborate on details of the proposal to the press until the high-level agreement is accepted by all OHG members.
Sources familiar with the harmonization efforts, however, indicate the proposal is a take-all or leave-all package, meaning members will have to agree on all the proposed technical parameters.
Some key technical parameters at issue are chip rate, pilot structure and synchronization. These three parameters have been the barriers to harmonizing two major Code Division Multiple Access-based 3G technology proposals-W-CDMA technology and cdma2000 technology-within the International Telecommunication Union’s 3G standards process. The ITU wants carrier input to reach a family of standards that is as harmonized as possible. This family will include CDMA-based as well as Time Division Multiple Access-based technology.
Carriers already have agreed on a general framework for CDMA-based technology that includes a family of 3G CDMA modes and systems, a structure similar to that agreed to by telecommunications executives in February’s TransAtlantic Business Dialogue meeting in Washington, D.C. This allows carriers to select which mode of operation to deploy based on market needs. But the framework does not address the three key technical parameters.
Sources say the proposal calls for carriers operating in the direct sequence mode-primarily European operators gaining new spectrum for 3G services-to adopt a 3.84 Megachips-per-second chip rate, while carriers operating in the multicarrier mode will adopt the 3.68 Mcps chip rate. Pilot structure will resemble that proposed by the cdma2000 camp, while carriers and manufacturers have yet to fully work out the details of synchronization method, which more resembles that of the W-CDMA proposal, say sources.
The chip rate has been the strongest area of contention between Global System for Mobile communications operators that want to migrate to W-CDMA technology with the fastest chip rate possible, and cdmaOne advocates that must adopt a chip rate of 3.68 Mcps to remain backward compatible and keep their investment in today’s networks. CdmaOne advocates say the difference between the two chip rates is too minimal to have an impact on network capacity or spectrum efficiency, and one chip rate would bring economies of scale. W-CDMA technology backers say they want the fastest technology possible.
It’s unclear if carriers will reach a consensus. Many U.S. cdmaOne carriers like Sprint PCS and Bell Atlantic Mobile are standing steadfast for one chip rate-3.68 Mcps. European and U.S. GSM operators are unwilling to move the chip rate below 3.84 Mcps.
AirTouch Communications Inc., a cdmaOne operator in the United States, said it prefers a single chip rate for all three modes of the CDMA specification, but will accept the two chip rates if they are within 5 percent of each other. AirTouch contends efficient economies of scale can be achieved by this dual-chip strategy. AirTouch plans to merge with U.K. operator Vodafone Group plc later this year, becoming the world’s largest mobile phone operator.
In a speech last week at the American Enterprise Institute luncheon in Washington, AirTouch Chairman Sam Ginn said the meeting in Tokyo resulted in a harmonized proposal that would allow customers to use their phones around the world.
Ginn voiced concerns that L.M. Ericsson may be moving away from the 3.84 Mcps chip rate in light of a press release the company issued two weeks ago indicating it supported the three modes of CDMA technology with a chip rate of 4.096/3.84 Mcps for the direct-spread mode and a multicarrier cdma2000 mode with a 3.68 Mcps rate.
John Giere, vice president of external and public affairs with Ericsson, indicated his company stood behind the 3.86 Mcps and 3.68 Mcps rates, but the European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s W-CDMA proposal still sits at the 4.096 Mcps rate, a faster rate chosen last year but proven by many studies to have interference problems.
RCR reporter Heather Forsgren Weaver contributed to this article.
