Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2001
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, Calif.

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 31, 2001 - The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today announced that the Americas are the largest market for CDMA technologies. In June, there were nearly 55 million CDMA subscribers in North and South America, representing more than 30 percent of the total wireless subscribers in the region. And, the Americas are the fastest growth region for CDMA technologies. Over the past year, the CDMA subscriber base in the Americas grew by 23 million, or 74 percent.

In North America, CDMA is by far the dominant technology with 33 percent market share. Latin America, with more than 17 million CDMA subscribers, is the fastest growing CDMA market, with the number of subscribers in the region almost doubling in the past year.

"The Americas are one of the key markets for CDMA technologies and represents tremendous potential for operators and manufacturers across the globe," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "CDMA is well suited to meet the growing demand for voice, as well as for the introduction of next-generation services today."

CDMA operators are also leading in the deployment of advanced services. Capitalizing on the inherent advantages of CDMA technologies, cdmaOne™ operators are introducing Internet-based services such as m-commerce, personal information management, enterprise solutions and e-mail. For example, 38 percent of Telesp's subscribers in Brazil have access to the advanced services, and Telefonica in Peru is introducing 2.5G technology based on IS-95B with speeds capable of 64kbps to support next-generation services.

CDMA2000 will be the first 3G technology deployed both in North and South America. In North America, Verizon, the largest wireless operator in the U.S. will launch their "Express Network" in 4Q of this year in key markets across the country. Sprint PCS, Alltel, Bell Mobility, Telus and others will follow with deployments early next year.

In South America, Telesp is launching CDMA2000 services in early November, and four others will follow next year. What is exciting is that there is significant interest from TDMA operators to migrate to CDMA2000 technology. CDMA2000 offers a sound solution for TDMA operators, who are currently evaluating their 3G migration paths, especially in South America. Since CDMA2000 can be deployed in the existing spectrum and without major modifications to TDMA core networks, these operators can economically offer 3G services now. In addition, CDMA2000 is the only 3G technology commercially available in 800MHz band today.