COMMERCIAL CDMA COMETH PrimeCo launch marks technology's PCS debut >BY JASON MEYERS, Wireless Networks Editor

PrimeCo Personal Communications' turn-up of code division multiple access systems in 15 cities last week is significant not because it is the end of something, but because it is the beginning.

CDMA's commercialization in the 1.9 GHz personal communication services frequency range raises the bar for wireless competition nationwide by introducing a rival provider with a rival technology, which means more customer choice. It also has the potential to quell doubts about the technology's capacity and quality claims.

"You can only go so far in suggesting that these carriers and vendors have been making promises without proof," said Ira Brodsky, president of Datacomm Research, Wilmette, Ill. "They're really putting themselves on the line here. This launch repudiates a lot of the charges against CDMA." For PrimeCo in particular, the achievement is significant if for no other reason than because the carrier has met its goals and answered its critics.

"Our competitors said it couldn't be done," said Ben Scott, chief executive officer of PrimeCo. "Clearly, the competition underestimated the strength and determination of the PrimeCo people." Those characteristics went a long way in helping the company launch the bulk of its markets 16 months after licensing, Scott said.

"That's unprecedented given the learning curve," said Gerry Butters, president of the North American region for Lucent Technologies, which provided infrastructure for PrimeCo's networks in nine cities. "If there's a human interest side to this, it's in the talent involved in the buildout."

The completed portion of the network consists of 11 mobile switching centers and 1200 base stations. The carrier expects to have 3000 base stations deployed nationwide by the end of 1998, Scott said.

The company did face snags in getting to market, most notably in facility siting, network optimization and clearing incumbent microwave users out of its spectrum, said Keith Kaczmarek, vice president of engineering and operations at PrimeCo.

"There were 284-plus links we had to clear, and each one had to be a custom deal," Kaczmarek said. "It was one of the top three or four challenges we had."

PrimeCo estimated that its networks provide 10-to-1 capacity advantages over analog systems. Beyond that, the CDMA camp maintained that its candidate has the most potential for carrying wireless beyond voice to deliver data and other services. "You get a great platform for enhanced services," said Scott. "There's a potential for broadband services in the future."

"Code division means more headroom in the airwaves for continued service growth," said Lucent's Butters.

What's more, the capacity and in-building capabilities of CDMA networks could allow operators to offer landline replacement services and go after the large potential revenues in that realm.

"The real battle that's going to come up is over who's going to get that $90 billion," said Jack Scanlon, executive vice president and general manager of Motorola's Cellular Infrastructure Group. Motorola provided equipment for six of PrimeCo's cities as well as for Austin, Texas, which is slated to be turned up in a few weeks.

In a late-breaking development, GTE Mobilnet launched CDMA service on its 800 MHz cellular system in Austin on Friday.

With CDMA commercially available, the long-running debate over capabilities moves to a new level. Mark Lowenstein, vice president of wireless research at The Yankee Group, praised PrimeCo's ability to launch CDMA networks ahead of any full-blown cellular rollouts of the technology and said that the test begins now. "This is certainly D-Day for CDMA," he said.