Embracing a world of standards

The GSM Association formed more than ten years ago to promote GSM technology, taking responsibility for everything from development to evolution of the standard. Since then, the telecommunications landscape has changed drastically, with wireless communications now a global phenomenon.

Q&A with GSM Association Chairman James Healy Healy's term as chairman runs through 2001 Currently serves as president of GSM operator Cook Inlet VoiceStream PCS Previously held a VP spot at McCaw Cellular's Wireless Data Division The GSM Association evolves

The convergence of voice and data demands that the industry continuously re-evaluate technology and market strategies. Recognizing the challenges all mobile operators now face to ensure that their networks are up to speed and interoperable, the GSM Association has taken steps to freshen up its mission beyond simply GSM. The association not only has started the Global Roaming Forum to appeal to a more integrated group of operators but also has knocked around the idea of changing its name to reflect its own evolution.

Prior to the kick-off of the GSM Association's annual conference in Cannes, France, this week, Chairman James Healy, also president of Cook Inlet Voice-Stream PCS, spoke about the association's current plans as well as challenges and possible changes that lie ahead.

What distinguishes the GSM Association from other organizations?
This association is unique because it is made up of operators from all over the world, including all of the GSM operators. GSM gets categorized as a European technology. It may have started there, but it has moved so far beyond that. In fact, three of the four previous [association] chairmen have carried U.S. passports. I believe it is for the collective benefit of all operators to make sure [global wireless] works. Currently, there are over 500 members, and the association continues to grow its base.

How do you foresee the association evolving?
The GSM Association is evolving to pick up representation of multiple technologies. There are few major wireless operators that are not part of the GSM Association. We want to move rapidly to embrace them because they need to be able to deal with multiple technologies. The GSM Association has the responsibility and role to represent all GSM operators around the world. It is not about creating barriers or making things difficult. We are moving forward to make systems work better and become roaming capable. We need to make sure terminals work so that global communication is possible.

Before the year is out, the GSM Association will more broadly embrace leadership of major operators. The association wants to become a more integrated group of operators, especially with the Global Roaming Forum. There may even be a name change at some point.

What progress has been made since the association established the Global Roaming Forum last year to address roaming between different standards? There has been progress on the iDEN [integrated digital enhanced network] side. Plus we keep moving forward with our goal to have terminals that can move through multiple standards. In the last two months, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium and the GSM Association have worked toward ensuring vendors also will be involved in this.

GPRS and roaming will become widely deployed and available in certain parts of the globe. There are systems that are roaming in Hong Kong and Singapore, but it will be another year before it is extensive.

What are the challenges the GSM Association faces in 2001?
The straightforward launch of GPRS and everything associated with roaming. We have people working with these issues. But we need to make sure it works from market to market. Another challenge will be evolving to wideband-CDMA.

GSM is successful because it is a high-volume, low-cost technology from an operational standpoint. — James Healy GSM Association

Why do you believe W-CDMA will make the most sense in terms of next generation technology?
GSM is successful because it is a high-volume, low-cost technology from an operational standpoint. The fact is that the radio portion of GSM is TDMA, and tomorrow it will be CDMA. I believe W-CDMA will account for about 85% of the market, considering that today about 70% of phones are based on GSM technology. Also, AT&T Wireless decided to go forward with GSM, further helping [the GSM Association] see a clear path forward for W-CDMA. Cingular also is likely to go GSM because the U.S. is not big enough to carry any one standard by itself, considering the way the world is moving.

The fact that South America decided to convert to GSM and Brazil's decision in 2000 to go with GSM also were big accomplishments. Japan also gets credit for moving forward with W-CDMA. All of these factors have led us to the recognition that the plan is for W-CDMA. We will see a decent level of W-CDMA in Japan this year.

Spectrum is extremely valuable, and carriers are looking for a system that is the most efficient. cdma2000 was designed to optimize the transition from CDMA to W-CDMA, which has evolved to be an open standard that is not controlled by a single company. The system makes better use of spectrum.

Do you believe it will be necessary to have a multitude of wireless technologies?
Although it is anticipated that 85% of the world will be covered by W-CDMA, there is an advantage of having alternative technologies. I would hate to see 100% of one technology. The benefit of multiple solutions is that each standard pushes others to be cost competitive. From an evolutionary standpoint, it is better to have multiple standards.

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The GSM Association evolves
September 1987	GSM MoU Group is formed with 13 operators
September 1996	GSM MoU Infocenter is established
August 1997	GSM MoU Association and UMTS Forum agree to cooperate on the planning, development and evolution of the GSM platform to3G
November 1998	GSM MoU Association changes its name to the GSM Association
May 1999	NorthAmerica nets 600,000 GSM subscribers
November1999	The first GPRS call is made over alive GSM network
May 2000	James Healy becomes the new chairman of the GSM Association
June 2000	Global Roaming Forum is formed to represent the interoperability and roaming interests of GSM, iDEN, CDMA and TDMA mobile operators and suppliers Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency releases spectrum in the1800 MHz band, paving the way for the GSM to enter Brazil
October 2000	61 new members join the association, putting total membership at about 500
January 2001	GSM Association and Universal Wireless Communications Consortium agree to include TDMA interoperability with GSM as a core component of the Global Roaming Forum
Source: GSM Association

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