Japanese contract catapults CDMA

A pair of Japanese cellular operators picked code division multiple access equipment from Motorola's Cellular Infrastructure Group last week to help alleviate dire capacity shortages in their wireless networks.

DDI and IDO granted contracts to Motorola for about 30 new digital switches and at least 1500 CDMA base stations, as well as upgrades for 30 analog switches. Together, the two companies' networks will create a nationwide CDMA footprint in Japan.

Motorola put the value of the base stations at between $500,000 and $1 million each and said new switches cost at least $6 million each. While the company would not release the exact terms of the contracts, it did confirm that the Japanese operators plan to invest $3 billion in network upgrades.

The deal represents a major coup for CDMA, a technology that was born and nurtured in the U.S. and has not yet achieved the widespread acceptance that more established digital platforms enjoy.

"Now we have nationwide CDMA networks in the number one and number two wireless markets in the world," said Ira Brodsky, president of Datacomm Research. "This suggests that CDMA could catch up with GSM.

The Japanese wireless market is one of the largest and fastest growing in the world, yet the country is not expected to allocate new spectrum to accommodate the expansion until 2000. CDMA technology can be deployed within the country's existing analog cellular band.

DDI and IDO evaluated equipment from all CDMA supporters and chose Motorola because of methods it has developed to boost capacity higher than traditional CDMA claims, said Jack Scanlon, president and general manager of Motorola's cellular networks and space sector.

"CDMA by itself is not enough. Providing a 10 times [increase] wouldn't be sufficient for the operators' growth needs," Scanlon said. "You're talking about networks today that support 2 million subscribers, and capacity potential of 20 million. You have to have significantly higher capacity than today's CDMA will provide.

To achieve that, Motorola will deploy a six-sector antenna design that can provide 16 to 18 times the capacity of AMPS networks, Scanlon said. The Japanese systems will also use Motorola's 8 kb/s enhanced full-rate vocoder, which provides toll-quality voice without sacrificing valuable spectrum, he said.

"The EVRC gives you the best of both worlds," Scanlon said. "That's fundamental for Japan."