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CDMA2000 ACHIEVES MAJOR MILESTONE; CELEBRATES A QUARTER BILLION 3G SUBSCRIBERS WORLDWIDE

1xEV-DO Spreads Rapidly Across Global Markets

Espanol | Portugues

COSTA MESA, Calif., May 22, 2006 — The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) announced today that the number of CDMA2000® 3G subscribers worldwide surpassed 250 million in the 1Q 2006. CDMA2000 operators added more than 25 million new users in the first three months of the year, driven by strong growth in the Americas and Asia. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO gained a record six million new subscribers to reach 30 million users.

“CDMA2000 is the fastest-growing technology among global wireless standards, and it leads in technology and service innovation, introducing new services and devices to the market faster than any other technology,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “We see the CDMA2000 momentum continuing to grow across all markets, with acceleration brought on by market events such as the migration to mobile broadband, the growing introduction of all-IP and multimedia devices, and continued rapid expansion into frequencies such as 450 and 2100 MHz.”

In the first five years of commercial introduction, CDMA2000 grew much faster than GSM and WCDMA. In the past seven months alone, CDMA2000 networks added more subscribers than WCDMA gained in the four years since it was first introduced. A number of factors have contributed to CDMA2000 success. Solid performance, ease of migration, backwards compatibility and availability of a broad range of devices are just a few.

CDMA 2000 Global Growth Indicators

  • With 250 million users, CDMA2000 continues to hold a dominate share of the 3G market.
  • In North America, CDMA2000 has captured 42% of the market and in Asia and Latin America, it has a 13% of share.
  • Asia remains the largest market for CDMA2000 technologies, and with the accelerated growth in India and gains in Japan and Korea, it continues to lead.

1xEV-DO Contributes To CDMA2000 Growth

  • More than 12% of CDMA2000 subscribers use 1xEV-DO globally.
  • In Korea, 1xEV-DO accounts for 44% of SK Telecom’s base.
  • Verizon Wireless in the U.S. recently reported that 6.2 million, or 12% of its retail base, use 1xEV-DO devices.
  • 1xEV-DO is expanding in Latin America with 11 1xEV-DO commercial networks and a subscriber base growing at 40% per quarter.
  • Analysts expect that 1xEV-DO will reach 60 million subscribers worldwide and the percent of CDMA2000 users who access broadband will increase to 20% this year.

LaForge commented, “CDMA2000 leads in the 3G and broadband market today, and with next-generation technologies coming to market over the next two years, it will continue to lead in the future.”

There were 318 million cdmaOne™ and CDMA2000 subscribers globally at the end of March 2006. Asia Pacific has 136 million users, North America has reached 112 million subscribers and Latin America and the Caribbean base grew 40% last year to reach 64 million users.

Analysts predict that the number of 3G CDMA users will continue to grow rapidly and CDMA will capture greater market share. By 2008, CDMA technologies are expected to have over 1.2 billion users and capture 40% market share.

CDMA and CDMA2000 statistics are available at www.cdg.org.

About CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is the most widely deployed 3G technology, with 152 CDMA2000 operators in 68 countries, and 36 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO systems. CDMA2000 has become the technology of choice for cdmaOne™, TDMA, analog and Greenfield operators, and is deployed in the 450, 800, 1700, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands. More than 1,100 CDMA2000 devices are available on the market, including 244 1xEV-DO devices.  More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.

About the CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The more than 110 member companies of the CDG include many of the world’s largest wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters. The subscriber numbers in this release are estimates provided by third parties on a quarterly basis and have not been independently verified by CDG. For more information about the CDG, contact the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030 or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.

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***cdmaOne is a trademark of the CDG
***CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA)
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