Telmex deploys CDMA450 network

Updated:2007/3/6 09:37

Mexican fixed line giant Telmex has deployed a CDMA450 network provided by US mobile technology firm Qualcomm, the CDMA Development Group (CDG) said in a statement.

The network will be used to deliver services to 7,225 rural communities. Apart from voice, the network allows SMS, fax, email and broadband internet access over the 450Mhz spectrum band.

Telmex has been planning to use WiMax throughout Latin America to deploy wireless last mile solutions. In fact, the company currently holds a license in Mexico in the 3.5Mhz band that could be used for a WiMax deployment.

However, the company chose to deploy CDMA450 rather than WiMax in this case because the CDMA450 network is able to achieve widespread national coverage with a smaller infrastructure investment and lower costs, Qualcomm VP for business development in Latin America and the Caribbean Flavio Mansi told BNamericas.

"A WiMax network would have needed 20 times the amount of base stations," Mansi said.

The network is already available commercially and will focus first on voice and data. The CDMA450 allows for an eventual EVDO upgrade for faster data as well, which will depend on how its commercial deployment evolves, Mansi added.

On the customer side, the network allows for a wide variety of handset and modem access methods. However, at the outset the main services on offer will be fixed wireless solutions and modems for data applications.

According to Mansi, deploying the network is easy. The challenge for Telmex will now be in educating people in its use and marketing it to the right segments.

The Telmex deployment is the largest of its kind for a CDMA450 network in Latin America, CDG''s COO James Person told BNamericas, who along with Mansi sees the development as a monumental boost for the technology, setting a precedent for expanded use in other countries, both in Latin America and globally.

Source: cellular-news