NEW DELHI, Nov. 21, 2001 - The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today reiterated its position regarding policy activities related to the deployment of limited mobility wireless networks in India. The CDG's recommendations were conveyed to the Telecom Engineering Center (TEC) via two letters dated September 25, 2001 and October 10, 2001. Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG, clarified the Group's recommendations stating, "The purpose of the letters was to provide input to the TEC on the policy discussion related to the network interface between wireless and core networks. The CDG recommends that any policy related to this issue should be technology neutral, and the operators should be able to deploy the network interface that best meets their customer needs."

CDMA (cdmaOne™ and CDMA2000) is a very versatile technology and can be deployed in a variety of ways. In conventional CDMA networks, a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) provides the capability of connecting phones on the network. Limited mobility and it's monitoring, as required under Indian regulations, is achieved by implementing appropriate software in the MSC. Implementations based on TIA/EIA?634 standard have been used to link the BSC to the MSC on cdmaOne networks. In Wireless Local Loop (WLL) deployments, it is also possible to use the ITU Standard V5.2 to link the BSC to a PSTN switch. cdmaOne WLL has been deployed in India using both TIA/EIA-634 and V5.2 interfaces. The evolution to 3G CDMA2000 enables many new applications and services. The Interoperability Specification (IOS) interface based on the 3GPP2 standards is used for the BSC to MSC interface on CDMA2000 networks. Current standards do not support V5.2 alignment with CDMA2000.

The CDG's mission is to promote rapid evolution and deployment of systems based on CDMA. To this end, CDG supports CDMA systems based on any network interface standards. It is the CDG's recommendation that the operators should have the flexibility to choose the best network interface based on their unique business model and the needs of their customers. This flexibility will ensure that solutions deployed are optimal for both Indian customers and Indian operators.

About CDMA2000:
The world first experienced 3G when SK Telecom and LG Telecom launched CDMA2000 in October 2000. Since then, other CDMA2000 networks have deployed and currently more than 2.5 million subscribers enjoy 3G services. Several more operators will come online with CDMA2000 within the next six months. CDMA2000 does more with less, offering cdmaOne, TDMA, GSM, analog and newly licensed 3G operators the capability to evolve their networks to 3G at very low cost using existing spectrum. Not only does CDMA2000 provide data rates up to 144 kbps today, but it also provides up to a 100% increase in voice capacity as compared to cdmaOne. With a wealth of multimedia services and applications available, CDMA2000 powers the solutions that make our lives easier, more productive and more fun. CDMA2000 is supported by all major manufacturers and is being deployed by operators worldwide.

***cdmaOne is a trademark of the CDG