more on Qualcomm in Iraq (and a San Diego congressman)

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Nicolas Bougues <nbougues () axialys net>
Organization: Axialys Interactive http://www.axialys.net
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 12:32:18 +0100
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Qualcomm in Iraq (and a San Diego congressman)

Dave,

A few more updates on the GSM/CDMA topic. First off, I believe it's a
little bit too early to get into this kind of subjects. I mean, how
many iraqi people care about it right now ?

Then, a few precisions. GSM was "Groupe Spécial Mobiles" until about
1993. It then turned into "Global System for Mobiles". And has since
then been a european norm (managed by ETSI). The Top 6 GSM network
providers are (in alphabetical order) : Alcatel, Ericsson, Lucent,
Motorola, Nokia, Nortel, Siemens. They are far from being 100%
european, let alone french...

Finally, and more importantly, yes, there are good reasons for CDMA in
Iraq. Or anywhere else. Basically, CDMA is, simply put, technically
superior. It has a better spectral efficiency, allows for higher data
rates, etc. 3G networks will be based on CDMA technology, even in GSM
countries.

But as of now, CDMA is a very fragmented market. It's far from
universal, international roaming is limited, and Qualcomm patents and
chipsets put a hold on lots of handset side features (who knows of a
CDMA bluetooth phone ??).

There are arguments on both sides. I live in a GSM country (France),
and I'd say that interoperability and features are more important than
pure technical superiority. Particularly because GSM infrastructure
providers now provide "WCDMA-ready" (3G) equipment.

Unfortunatly, Mr Issa doesn't seem to be interested in that kind of
debate. The only thing that seems to matter to him is that Qualcomm
gets the deal, for what I'd call more personal reasons.

PS: yes, the P800 is a great toy. It doesn't have T9, though.

--
Nicolas Bougues


------ End of Forwarded Message

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