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The future of CDMA

Marko2

Nov 4, 2003, 9:14 AM
Does anyone know the future of CDMA and GSM technology? My ATT rep tells me that CDMA will be obsolete and GSM will be the wave of the future. Since I have a choice to get a Treo 600 CDMA from Sprint or a GSM version from ATT and 2 other carriers, which version should I be looking into? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
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twester

Nov 4, 2003, 12:20 PM
cdma will be around for a long time. cdma is used in japan and Asia. where as gsm is used in Europe. Plus Sprint and verizon both use cdma it is not going anywhere.
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Llenshoz

Nov 9, 2003, 4:24 PM
I disagree. while PCS is still popular in China and parts of Japan due to the relative ease it was to roll the systems out, GSM is becoming more and more prevalent. NTT DoCoMo, one of the big movers in Japan for example, is looking(if I remember correctly, I am doped up on flu medicine) to drop their PCS coverage and go strictly 3G. And China may keep their exisiting CDMA because it works for them, but IMHO GSM just seems to be a bigger juggernaut to me...
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Rich Brome

Nov 4, 2003, 3:36 PM
Both CDMA and GSM are alive and well - neither is going away any time soon, and neither is going to "replace" the other.

In fact, you could say that CDMA has more life in it than GSM. That's because the "3G" path for CDMA is 100% backward-compatible. CDMA 1xEV-DV can be added to an existing CDMA network and meshes seamlessly, using most of the same equipment and standards - it's a true "upgrade".

With GSM, however, the path to true "3G" isn't an upgrade - it's a replacement - UMTS (WCDMA). (Don't be confused by the name - WCDMA is very different from regular CDMA.) UMTS is pretty much a forklift upgrade, meaning it requires a whole new network, new equipment, separate spectrum, etc. It can be overlaid - so GSM can (and will) co-exist w...
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Marko2

Nov 6, 2003, 9:13 AM
Wow! Thanks for the reply. Taking your response and applying it to my needs I can see that either choice would be a good one. It looks like whoever has the better plan wins. Being in the Chicago area, both GSM and CDMA have good coverage and GSM seems to be expanding quickly I am told. There has to be a reason that AT&T and others are expanding with GSM within the existing network. Any clues?
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twester

Nov 6, 2003, 10:17 AM
because AT&T and Cingular are switching from TDMA now. TDMA is the one that has no future
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Marko2

Nov 6, 2003, 10:53 AM
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
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Rich Brome

Nov 6, 2003, 12:53 PM
Yes. As twester pointed out, TDMA is a dead-end technology, so AT&T and Cingular are both in the middle of switching from TDMA to GSM.

The issue is that TDMA doesn't have any kind of "3G" upgrade path. So while GSM isn't really a huge upgrade over TDMA, it is necessary because it provides a foundation for "3G" upgrades like EDGE and UMTS (WCDMA).

The "switch" from TDMA to GSM isn't an overnight thing. Cingular and AT&T have already deployed GSM in most major areas, but it's an overlay - meaning almost all of the old TDMA is still active.

Over the next 1-2 years, AT&T and Cingular will be fleshing out their GSM coverage, until it matches and surpasses TDMA coverage and quality. Sometime during that period, they will stop selling TDMA...
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Pac10Ball

Nov 7, 2003, 10:34 PM
The reason AT&T is switching to GSM from TDMA and not to CDMA is because you can convert TDMA to GSM more easily and cheaply. CDMA is still superior with data speeds averaging 60-70kps on 1xRTT and 500-700kps on EVDO. GSM avg 30-60kps. CDMA has a higher call capacity too. when selecting, dont pick by plan, but by what works best. minutes are useless if your phone doesn't have reception or keep dropping calls.
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pentode

Nov 7, 2003, 11:20 PM
GSM uses TDMA for its physical layer so the evolution to GSM for a carrier using TDMA is a natural one.

However, the next GSM step is to WCDMA, also known as UTMS. This is a CDMA technology. AT&T Wireless says this is their step after GSM/GPRS. However, this technology is incompatible with any existing GSM/GPRS or TDMA phones or cells. So it will be a major transition and a bloody mess.

For existing CDMA carriers such as Varian and Sprint, there are two paths - CDMA2000 or WCDMA. The advantage of CDMA2000 is that it is backwards compatible with existing CDMA networks, so the transition is virtually painless.

The US is approaching a major fork in the road - WCDMA or CDMA2000. But for now, I'd focus on carrier with the best ...
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