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ITU FAVORS FAMILY OF STANDARDSCommonality and compatibility were the watchwords for wireless technologies as industry representatives convened a 2-week ITU meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil. Secretary General Yoshiko Utsami launched the meeting by reconfirming the desire to achieve compatibility among the next generation of wireless technologies.

This is good news for at least one U.S.-based carrier.

"The involvement of the secretary general in these technical deliberations is a clear signal of the importance ... he and the ITU place on the global compatibility of the next generations of wireless phones," said Frank Urbany, BellSouth International vice president. "As representatives of companies that manufacture or use the various systems ... work toward compatibility among their systems, it is clear that momentum is building for the 'family of standards' approach advocated by the U.S. government and by BellSouth."

BellSouth's concern for a "family of standards" is well founded. With cellular and PCS operations in the United States and Latin America, it uses TDMA and CDMA as well as GSM technologies.

The secretary general's opening statement echoed similar sentiments as the recent Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD). In February, manufacturers and many large system operators from the United States and Europe agreed to support multiple modes of a CDMA standard including a form of W-CDMA technology, a form of cdma2000 technology and a TDD mode as well as a TDMA standard. The three CDMA-based modes will vary with regard to such parameters as chip rate, synchronization structure and pilot structure to accommodate all operators' business needs.

"The TABD 'umbrella standard with multimodes' approach is the embodiment of U.S. 3G wireless policy," said Don Warkentin, North American GSM Alliance chairman and Aerial Communications president & CEO. "It allows all American wireless technologies access to telecommunications markets worldwide and preserves the ability of wireless operators to select the technology that works best for their networks and customers."

The TABD approach will make multimode phones the norm, allowing global roaming, while also permitting carriers to continue to choose a technology.

The U.S. GSM Alliance supports industry efforts to maximize commonality between modes and between CDMA and TDMA standards. It is encouraging the ITU to continue its efforts to develop commonality in the RF front end for all IMT-2000 technologies.

The alliance also asked the U.S. government, the European Commission and the ITU to endorse this multiple-technology approach to 3G.

At the meeting in Brazil, it was expected that Robert Jones, ITU Radiocommunications bureau director, would encourage standardization work that leaves out the IPR debate. If endorsed by participants, technical work will proceed with technical options open. The compliance with ITU patent policy will be evaluated at the end of the process when the completed standard is ready for formal approval later this year.

Issues on the docket for the ITU meeting included approving the key characteristics for the radio interface and providing a plan for adding spectrum to the IMT-2000 worldwide allocation. It was expected that the ITU would set up a Joint Group on IMT-2000 for all aspects of mobile system network specifications.