CDMA450: An ideal technology for expanding telecommunications services all around the region

CDMA450 is an ideal technology for expanding the advanced telecommunications services based on IMT-2000 in the region. CDMA450 technology can be used to offer voice and high-speed data services in a fixed, restricted mobility or full mobility environment covering rural as well as urban and suburban areas.

CDMA450 combines the 3G technology of CDMA2000 with the low frequency 450 MHz band. CDMA2000 offers some of the industry’s highest network efficiencies and performance to deliver advanced wireless services.  It is the most spectrally efficient 3G technology for circuit-switched voice (168 voice users in 5 MHz) and supports broadband data rates of up to 3.1 Mbps with EVDO Rev. A. CDMA’s efficiency enables toll-quality voice, “always-on” broadband data and multimedia services. The 450-470 MHz band is low frequency with great propagation and very good in-building penetration, allowing the provision of advanced wireless services over large areas with a minimal number of base stations and significantly reduced network investments, maintenance and operation costs.

Both regional and worldwide regulatory authorities have recognized the value of the 450 MHz band and are supporting its use for 3G IMT technologies.  The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) identified the 450-470 MHz band for IMT during the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference.  CITEL had previously recommended the use of this band and the 410-430 MHz band for digital services in rural areas.

Currently, there are 84 CDMA450 operators in 50 countries, including throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. There are commercial networks in Argentina, Ecuador, México, Peru and Surinam, while CDMA450 networks are being deployed or being analyzed for deployment in Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Panamá and Venezuela. Large operators including Telefónica and Telmex have deployed CDMA450 networks in the region as well as small operators such as Valtron (Peru), Etapa (Ecuador) and CoTeCal (Argentina).

In order to continue deployments of CDMA450, it is necessary to receive the agreement of three main participants: government, operators and vendors.

The government must make the necessary decisions to allow the use of the 450-470 MHz, as well as 410-430 MHz and 470-490 MHz bands, by 3G IMT technologies. This is a difficult task because lower frequencies are typically allocated to other services using analog technologies, especially in big cities. Nevertheless, it is important to progressively “clean” these frequency bands for next-generation digital technologies to more efficiently and productively use that spectrum.  Upon making spectrum available, the government should consider using the Universal Services Funds to finance rural telecommunication projects, which requires support to take advantage of the CDMA450 technology and boost its social objectives.  Furthermore, connecting schools, hospitals, police stations and other public entities while concurrently building tele-centers in rural and underserved areas using CDMA450 will serve many purposes.  It will help expand telecommunication services and improve education, health, security and other public services as well as help to educate people on how to use telephones and PCs with Internet access to positively impact the local society and economy.

The operators, on the other hand, have to be receptive to offering services outside large and medium-sized cities, covering rural areas as well as remote and low density zones. CDMA450 is an ideal technology for all landscapes and geographies.

Finally, it is very important that the vendors support these projects, offering network equipment and devices at affordable prices as well as financing and supporting the operators (especially the small ones) in the design, deployment and optimization of the network. Only then can operators take complete advantage of CDMA450’s technology benefits.

CDMA450 offers exceptional voice quality and 3G high-speed data transmission as well as superior capacity and coverage.  By operating in low frequency bands and taking advantage of signal propagation, CDMA450 can efficiently and economically use spectrum to enable voice and broadband data services throughout every country in the region.

Celedonio von Wuthenau
Regional Director for Latin America
CDMA Development Group, Inc.