First Australian CDMA International Congress Convenes In Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia, April  5, 1999- At the First Australian CDMA International Congress, the CDMA Development Group (CDG) announced the achievements of cdmaOne in Australia as well as the technology's advantages for the region.

With AAPT, Hutchison Telecom Australia, OzPhone Pty Limited and Telstra currently deploying cdmaOne networks, Australian wireless subscribers are set to reap the value-added benefits the technology offers including the clearest voice quality, longest battery life, and exceptional reliability.

"The First Australian CDMA International Congress provides the Australian telecommunications market with a venue to learn from global wireless experts about what Australia can expect from cdmaOne technology as networks are deployed," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG.

"cdmaOne has led the industry in providing the highest quality services available, and will soon deliver its advantages to Australia."

Among the many benefits that cdmaOne offers the Australian region are:

• CDMA is the Third Generation Wireless Standard: cdmaOne is the only digital technology that cost effectively offers operators a simple, easy migration path to third generation systems from existing networks. The evolution path of cdmaOne is defined and standards are already developed to quickly bring to market the advanced features and services allowed by the high speed transmission rates and increased capacity associated with 3G.
• Data Capabilities: Characteristics of cdmaOne technology such as capacity advantages, reliability, security and soft handoff make it a perfect match for wireless data on a wide range of devices. As wireless telephony and mobile computing continue to merge, wireless data services are a market reality. cdmaOne operators are positioned through their technology choice to offer Internet access to news, weather, and stock quotes; e-mail; high-speed data transmission, short messaging service, and fax capabilities. Enhancing today's data capabilities is the 1XRTT standard, recently announced by the CDG and the first phase implementation of cdma2000. Near completion in the TIA standards process, this next evolutionary step for cdmaOne operators will provide data rates up to 300 kbps, significant capacity increases as well as extended battery life for handsets.
  
  
• Wireless Local Loop (WLL): There are already 43 WLL systems in 22 countries using cdmaOne technology. Combining economic and technological benefits, cdmaOne offers fixed wireless access with near landline voice quality, unmatched capacity advantages and extensive data capabilities. Advanced technical features such as variable rate vocoders; robust error correction; frequency, space and time diversity; and multipath immunity are unique to cdmaOne. These characteristics, along with the defined evolution path, make cdmaOne the best choice for fixed wireless telephone systems.
  
• International Roaming: cdmaOne deployment is rapidly advancing around the world, and international roaming agreements are emerging as networks are coming on-line and the number of subscribers continues to escalate. In a roaming environment, operators gain from the security aspect of CDMA technology that minimizes the risk of cloning fraud so prevalent with AMPS technology, while subscribers enjoy the advanced features of their CDMA digital phone