CDMA2000 1xEV-DO REV. A BREAKS NEW GROUND WITH DEVICE AVAILABILITY

Rev. A is the First Wireless Technology to Begin Selling Devices Before the Network Technology is Commercially Deployed Anywhere in the World

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COSTA MESA, Calif., Oct. 3, 2006 — The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) is pleased to report that there are eight CDMA2000^® 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) mobile broadband devices that are available on the market today, with three of these devices already being sold at retail locations. For the first time in wireless history, devices for a new technology (Rev. A) are being sold prior to the commercial deployment of the technology anywhere in the world. Usually, it is the other way around since manufacturing “commercially ready,” small form factor devices is more challenging than integrating the new technology into base stations and channel cards. Until the introduction of Rev. A, the timeline for all new technology network deployments have been driven by the commercially availability of its devices. The evolutionary and seamless upgrade to Rev. A demonstrates the maturity and responsiveness of the CDMA2000 industry, as well as the power of retaining forward and backward compatibility.

The publicly announced CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A devices include:

The Sierra Wireless AirCard 595, Novatel Wireless Merlin S720 and Pantech PX500 PC modem cards are already available online and at selected retail locations. These PC wireless broadband modem devices will provide ubiquitous wide area network (WAN) connectivity and increase average download speeds to 450-850 kbps with bursts up to 3.1 Mbps and average upload speeds to 300-400 kbps with bursts up to 1.8 Mbps, six times faster than currently available upload rates. The Rev. A handsets from Toshiba will be available later this year and capable of supporting several advanced features such as BroadCast MultiCast Services (BCMCS), video telephony, high-resolution 3D graphics, and EZ FeliCa mobile commerce services, etc.

Perry LaForge , executive director of the CDG, said, “The CDMA community continues to lead the industry with the availability of symmetric, low latency, and high-speed mobile broadband devices. This is a clear indication that the CDMA2000 industry is ahead in providing its subscribers with new and enhanced services with the best performance possible, which will create new revenue opportunities for operators and greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.”

Similar to the way 1xEV-DO Release 0, the precursor to Rev. A, devices rolled out quickly, the CDG is expecting more of Rev. A devices to be made commercially available soon. More PC cards, USB thumb cards and PC notebooks with Rev. A embedded are expected to become commercially available within the next few months, which is well ahead of schedule. Sony recently announced their plans to embed Rev. A WAN broadband connectivity into their ultraportable VAIO notebooks next year in partnership with Sprint.

EV-DO Rev. A has been enhanced to support delay sensitive and real-time applications using fast call setup, short transmission time intervals, variable packet length transmissions, fast and efficient management of IP packet headers through compression (RoHC), fast hybrid automatic repeat requests (HARQ), incremental redundancy feedback in the uplink, fast and efficient link layer control messaging, quality of service (QoS), antenna diversity, and rapid base station switching (handoffs) controlled by the mobile device. These tightly related technological breakthroughs enable Rev. A to deliver the highest performance and lowest cost for most any kind of mobile application.

More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG web site at www.cdg.org.

About CDMA
CDMA2000 is the most widely deployed 3G technology, with 169 operators in 75 countries, including 49 CDMA2000 1x-EV-DO systems, serving more than 275 million subscribers.  Counting 2G cdmaOne™ subscribers, there are more than 335 million CDMA users worldwide.  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. Nearly 1,250 CDMA2000 devices from more than 80 suppliers have been introduced to the market, including more than 280 1xEV-DO devices.  More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.

About CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA2000 technologies. The more than 130 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 CDMA2000 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 CDMA2000-related matters. 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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Note to editors
cdmaOne is a registered trademark of the CDMA Development Group. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.