CDMA World Congress Attendees Celebrate Fifth Anniversary Of Commercial Service for CDMA

HONG KONG, June 13, 2000 -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) today announced the winners of the Second Annual CDMA Industry Achievement Awards during the CDMA World Congress being held this week at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre. The ceremony was co-hosted by Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG and Craig Farrill, past president of the CDG and CTO for Vodafone AirTouch.

"The last year has been great for the CDMA community. CDMA more than doubled in subscriber numbers, enabled wireless Internet and information services and has turned the concept of 3G into reality," said LaForge. "The CDG's global success is clearly a reflection of the continued dedication and collaboration of our member companies, all of which deserve recognition. We look forward to the year ahead, as the success story of CDMA has only started."

The CDMA Industry Achievement Award winners include:

• Industry Leadership Award: Dr. Irwin Jacobs, QUALCOMM
  This award is given to the individual who has provided the most dynamic leadership in CDMA industry activities including contributions to standards development and the growth and evolution of CDMA.
  
  Dr. Irwin Jacobs, CEO and President of QUALCOMM, has provided strong leadership in strategically directing the role of CDMA in the global telecommunications market. Under Dr. Jacobs' leadership, CDMA is credited for being the 3G technology of choice for global wireless communications, which benefits the entire CDMA community.
  
  
• International Leadership: DDI/IDO, Shinsegi, Hutchison, GTE TSI
  This award is given to the company(ies) that have contributed significantly to the expansion of CDMA worldwide.
  
  Marking a significant milestone for CDMA, the collaborative work of DDI/IDO, Shinsegi, Hutchison and GTE TSI led to the expansion of international roaming between Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and North America.
  
  

• Service Innovation: Bell Mobility, SK Telecom
  This award is given to the operator(s) that have leveraged the capabilities of cdmaOne to introduce innovative and industry leading services to the market.
  
  Bell Mobility introduced "Digital Data on the Go" allowing its subscribers to wirelessly check and reply to e-mail, log on to the corporate network, browse the Internet, send and receive faxes and update contacts and schedule.
  
  Currently offering data services at 64kbps, SK Telecom is also positioned to be the first operator in the world with CDMA2000 services available late this year. The company has demonstrated leadership in customer satisfaction with more advanced CDMA data service offerings than any other operator to date.

• Subscriber Product Innovation: Samsung
  This award is given to the company(ies) that demonstrates forward thinking in terms of services supported and terminal design. Resulting products take advantage of the inherent benefits and latest technological developments of cdmaOne, offering consumers state of the art handsets in terms of both features and packaging.
  
  Samsung has shipped several million CDMA phones with advanced capabilities and features including full wireless Internet and information access. Samsung has been consistently first to market with new capabilities and form factors for CDMA handsets.

• Infrastructure Product Innovation: US West, Nortel Networks, Ericsson, Alcatel
  This award is given to the company(ies) that have introduced network elements that allow operators flexible and cost effective solutions for urban, suburban and rural implementations incorporating today's advanced cdmaOne features with an easy evolution path to future enhancements for CDMA2000.
  
  Denver based US West, along with infrastructure vendor partners, Alcatel, Ericsson, and Nortel Networks, successfully deployed the "PCS Access Network." This network incorporates the first multi-vendor integrated wireless/wireline architecture in utilizing the CDG Interoperability Specification (IOS) and SS7 over IP signaling.
  
  
• Innovative Solutions: China Unicom, Gemplus
  This award is given to the company(ies) that have brought new ideas and different approaches to network deployment in their respective disciplines. Resulting solutions provide value added, cost effective implementations for operators supporting the advancement of cdmaOne and CDMA2000 into the market.
  
  Together, China Unicom and Gemplus facilitated development of the CDMA SIM card, which represents a major step in the development of worldwide roaming. CDMA SIMs enable mobile users to personalize their handsets and access service regardless of the operator's digital technology of choice.
  
  

• Third Generation Pioneer: QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies
  This award is given to the company(ies) that have contributed most significantly to ensuring the smooth migration path to third generation for cdmaOne through contributions to standards, harmonization efforts and product or service planning.
  
  Instrumental in the overall development of CDMA technology's evolution from 2G to 3G, QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies is recognized for its work to make available a chip set capable of supporting CDMA2000 ready terminal equipment, thereby enabling cdmaOne operators a timely migration to 3G capabilities.

• Five-year Anniversary Recognition: Motorola and Hutchison Telecom - Hong Kong
  This one-time award is given to two of the companies that were instrumental in getting CDMA off the ground and in the hands of subscribers.
  
  The initial launch of a commercial CDMA system occurred in late September 1995 when Hutchison introduced service in Hong Kong on a Motorola CDMA system. Since then, both Motorola and Hutchison have continued their efforts, significantly increasing CDMA awareness in Hong Kong and worldwide.