During a ceremony at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce, in Shanghai, China, CDMA equipment suppliers successfully demonstrated CDMA 1X data calls paving the road for the eventual commercial deployment of CDMA 1X technology in China.
"The CDG congratulates member companies in China on reaching this milestone," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "The successful demonstrations further position CDMA as the leading technology in delivering advanced wireless communications."
Using Lucent network equipment, the demonstrations showed advanced wireless services transmitted at speeds of up to 153 kilobits per second (kbps), approximately 10 times faster than what is available today.
Before an audience which included business and government leaders such as Samuel W. Bodman, U.S. deputy secretary of commerce; Madam Yan Junqi vice mayor of Shanghai; Wang Jianzhou, president of China Unicom; and Jason Chi, chairman and president of Lucent Technologies China, Lucent's technical team demonstrated high speed Internet access, video streaming, real-time stock quotes, and location-based services using handheld PDAs and laptop computers.
"Lucent is honored to be working with leading carriers, like China Unicom, on supporting the development of its CDMA network," said Chi. "CDMA is the backbone technology delivering advanced wireless services to market today, and we look forward to seeing the continued deployment of commercial services around the globe."
Currently more than 1.3 million CDMA 1X subscribers are already experiencing such advanced services as wireless Web browsing, mobile e-mail, and video streaming. In addition to data rates of up to 153 kbps, CDMA 1X doubles voice capacity over previous generation CDMA equipment.
The ceremony was also an opportunity to update the progress China Unicom is making toward the construction of its nationwide CDMA network.
Jianzhou, informed the audience that his company is on track to deploy a 15.1 million subscriber capacity network in more than 300 Chinese cities by the end of this year, just months after signing the initial equipment contracts in May 2001.
The CDMA Development Group is a nonprofit trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of cdmaOne(TM) and CDMA2000. The 110 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless operators and equipment manufacturers.
The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters.