New Low-cost Cdma Handsets Support High-speed Internet Services

[KumaarShah 143]

New low-cost CDMA handsets support high-speed internet services The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An upcoming open market handset (OMH) system offering faster wireless data transfer and greater interoperability may benefit CDMA network users with 3G internet services.

"CDMA handsets sold in Indonesia offer only basic functions for calls and short messages. With OMH, we can expect low-end handsets enhanced with 3G capability to access data," CDMA-operator Bakrie Telecom vice president for corporate communications Nadia Diposandjoya said.

The OMH system, which complies with the international CDMA2000 system, will support the removable-user identity module (R-UIM), which is 3G capable.

All operator- and subscriber-specific settings can be accessed on the new R-UIM rather than on both the R-UIM and the handset, thus allowing handsets to be opened to all CDMA operators.

James Person, the Chief Operating Officer of CDMA Development Group (CDG), said the ability to change service operator without changing handset would open the market to a wider variety of handsets, lead to bigger profit margins for manufacturers and potentially lower handset sales prices.

"As a result, the operators will pay less for each phone and could potentially bring a greater variety of handsets to the market at a faster pace and at a lower cost to the consumer," he said.

Venkat S. Narayanaiah, director for business development of Paris-based telecommunications giant Alcatel Lucent, said during his trip to Indonesia last week that the company was working on ultra low cost 3G handsets that would be sold for as little as US$20, or one-sixth of the price of those sold in 2004.

The move is welcomed by CDMA operators.

"Cheaper prices will lower the barrier for clients to use the service. Customers will also have more handsets to choose from, from entry-level handsets to the those with camera," Nadia said.

Last month, CDG claimed to have successfully completed trials in conjunction with Esia and Mobile-8 using the OMH-enabled R-UIM smart cards and prototype OMHs made by Huawei and ZTE, including the WAP browser, BREW, voice features and CDMA2000 1X packet data features.

OMHs will hit the market late this year or early 2009.

CDMA was first introduced by Telkom under brand name TelkomFlexi in 2003. Five other network operators have since offered the service.

They are PT Indosat Tbk (under service name StarOne), PT Smart Telecom (Smart), PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk (Fren and Hepi), PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk (Esia, Wifone and Wimode), and PT Sampoerna Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Ceria).

At the end of 2007, there were 14.4 million CDMA users in Indonesia.

However, the alternative GSM network system holds market share with 91.4 million users. The majority of Indonesians use their mobile phones for voice services only.

Source: http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailbusine....L03&irec=2

Edited July 2, 2008 by KumaarShah