View: Frequency crash course

Yesterday, French downhill and super-G skier Regine Cavagnoud was critically injured in a freak skiing accident. She crashed into a German coach who had crossed into her path while preparing the course on the Pitztal glacier in Austria for other skiers. What in the heck does this have to do with wireless, you ask. According to reports, the French and German officials were operating on two separate frequencies and were not aware of the others’ activities. Although it wasn’t cellular, the different radio frequency issue draws attention to a concern we need to address within our own industry. Especially today as Cingular announces its intent to follow the EDGE route. With GSM contingents promising world phone usage, it forces carriers with CDMA paths to consider how they will achieve a subscriber-simple world phone solution. At the heart of the issue is the tragic consequence when information needing to be wirelessly transmitted is attempted when everyone is operating on different frequencies and technologies.