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Wireless suppliers will drive down the price, size and weight of CDMA phones to close the gap with the rival TDMA and GSM technologies at this week's Wireless '99, where a growing selection of data-capable digital phones and trimode handsets - including the first CDMA trimodes - will also be displayed.
The show will also buzz with talk about AT&T Wireless's new phone plan, which offers wireless service and residential long distance on a single bill at the same per minute rates.
New products scheduled to be displayed at the show include less-than-5-ounce CDMA phones from LG Infocomm, Qualcomm and Samsung. All are expected to retail for as little as $99 compared to $199+ for current CDMA models of similar weights, including Qualcomm's Q phone and Motorola's 800MHz CDMA StarTac.
Five-ounce TDMA phones are already available at prices down to 1 cent in select markets, and under-5-ounce GSM phones start at $69 in some markets, suppliers said.
CDMA suppliers Samsung and Nokia will show the industry's first CDMA trimode phones, which operate in digital mode in 1.9GHz and 800MHz networks and in 800MHz analog networks. They will be marketed to 800MHz CDMA carriers and 1.9GHz CDMA carriers that want their customers to maintain digital features when they roam.
Audiovox will join the small fraternity of suppliers with TDMA trimode phones, and Nokia will broaden its selection of TDMA trimodes, all targeted to the many TDMA carriers that own properties in the cellular and PCS bands.
The CDMA product developments lend credence to forecasts by some analysts, including the Strategis Group, that CDMA handset sales will exceed TDMA sales in 1999 for the first time as churn and replacement sales account for a greater share of unit handset sales (see charts beginning on page 29).
Meanwhile, network infrastructure suppliers and content providers will do their part to drive push-data services, information-on-demand services, and connectivity with corporate LANs into the mainstream.
Content provider SignalSoft, for example, will team with PCS carrier PrimeCo and network supplier Lucent to demonstrate an interactive information service that will display the names and locations of nearby restaurants, ATM machines, and other destinations requested through a phone's onscreen menu.
For their part, more CDMA handset makers will incorporate 14.4-Kpbs circuit-switched and packet data...