Persistence and unflagging effort underline the "Never Give Up" ethos integral to success. Indeed, 2007 richly rewarded Huawei's perseverance and capabilities with its entry into the world's three largest CDMA markets: the United States, India and China.

Huawei's greatest breakthrough in the CDMA field was made last year in India. By mid 2007, Huawei had secured equipment contracts worth USD300 million with Reliance and TATA, two major Indian CDMA operators who both occupy places in the global top ten CDMA operators.

Leap Wireless (Leap) is the fifth largest CDMA operator in the United States. Leap's initial cooperation with Huawei began in 2006, and the company recently selected Huawei to deploy CDMA networks for Cricket Communications (Cricket) which is wholly owned subsidiaries of Leap. The new networks cover the Great Lakes region, which comprises one of the United States' key economic areas.

After a lengthy stagnancy in the CDMA market in China, Huawei was exclusively awarded China Unicom Tianjin's CDMA substitution project in late 2007. The project involves 1,600 TRXs, which make up over 40% of Tianjin's total CDMA network capacity.

Sweet harvest

As the cradle of CDMA technology, the United States is home to the largest number of CDMA subscribers. Two of the three largest operators in America utilize CDMA technologies, covering over 100 million subscribers. Among the 46 operators globally who have deployed or intend to implement CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Rev.A networks, eight are from the United States, including the transnational operators Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless. With CDMA data services contributing 20% of operators' revenue worldwide, the United States receives the largest proportion for CDMA data services, followed by Japan and South Korea.
The Great Lakes region covers Chicago and its neighboring areas, and describes the most important economic and industrial center in the United States, next to New York. With modern and developed cities, high population density, heavy traffic and typically tall buildings, the Great Lakes region remains a network coverage headache for telecom operators. Naturally, it was positioned as a focus for network deployment by Leap, who is licensed to provide mobile services in 35 states. Since its foundation, Leap has been striving for a competitive edge with high-quality network services and low service charges. Fully satisfied with Huawei's equipment and services in 2006, Leap selected Huawei to construct 1,300 base transceiver stations (BTSs) and deploy a new network in the Great Lakes region.

While the United States remains the largest CDMA market in the world, India is recognized to be the fastest growing one. According to CDMA Development Group (CDG) statistics, India's CDMA subscriber base increases by an average of nearly 2 million each month, with a total number of 60 million subscribers recorded in 2007. Coupled with a market scale lying next to the United States, India is viewed by CDMA equipment suppliers as one of the most attractive markets in the world.

Reliance is the second largest telecom operator in India and one of the most rapidly growing CDMA operators in the Asia-Pacific region. Its 36 million subscribers account for 25% of the total mobile communications market in India. Positioned as a domestic leader in terms of network coverage, overall call quality and customer service, Reliance was awarded "Operator Leadership" by CDG in 2007.

On December 29, 2006, Reliance signed a contract with Huawei for the commercial deployment of 60% of its CDMA network. In early May 2007, Reliance sought cooperation with Huawei once again, contracting the company to undertake a CDMA network expansion project that involves nearly 9,000 BTSs and will cover more than 40% of the nation's territory.

TATA is the second largest CDMA operator in India with a 38% domestic market share. In March 2007, TATA began implementing its goals for improving network quality, attracting CDMA subscribers and further increasing its market share. Launching its large-scale network adjustment project, TATA deployed Huawei's All-IP CDMA core network and wireless access equipment in a number of major cities including New Delhi and Calcutta.

China Unicom, the second largest CDMA operator in the world, boasts more than 40 million CDMA subscribers. By November 2007, China Unicom had attracted 4.277 million new subscribers, and this figure is still growing quickly. Offering huge market potential, China is expected to surpass South Korea and become the world's third largest CDMA market in the near future. In late 2007, Huawei was solely awarded China Unicom Tianjin's CDMA substitution project. With its network key performance index (KPI) commanding one of the top five positions among China Unicom's subsidiaries, the Tianjin branch represents a solid example of effective network operations. Huawei will construct a 1,600-TRX network for China Unicom Tianjin, equaling to more than 40% of the existing CDMA network capacity in Tianjin. China Telecom Tianjin also plans to replace the remaining equipment of the network with Huawei's in one or two years.

All-IP

Huawei's success can be attributed to its accumulated expertise in the All-IP field. Compared with traditional networking modes, Huawei's All-IP networking offers greater flexibility and its softswitches and IP BTSs can save more than 60% in transmission costs. All-IP networking can help operators provide diversified mobile broadband services such as the transmission of emails with large attachments, online video camera, mobile TV, and video on demand (VOD).

After All-IP network cutover, Leap's existing network KPI was significantly improved. After network migration, the covered areas have changed from "problematic areas" to "outstanding performance areas", and the drop call rate (DCR) has decreased from 1% to 0.5%. Moreover, the All-IP networking saves at least 50% in construction costs and OPEX. Leap's CTO, Glenn Umetsu, praised Huawei's capabilities: "Our strategic partnership with Huawei allows us to further enhance our focus on delivering the highest quality networks and consumer services while maintaining our leadership position on cost, especially as we bring Cricket services to new markets."

Reliance has adopted Huawei's new-generation CDMA2000 All-IP BTSs and BSCs based on the universal carrier-class IP broadband platform and these adopt a modular design supporting IP interfaces. To cover 1,000 square kilometers, the number of required BTSs is halved, and the IP transmission mode reuses existing IP network resources and saves between 40% and 80% in mobile access network transmission expenses.

Fast response

Huawei's rapid response capability has played a key role in making numerous breakthroughs and has won broad recognition from operators.

Leap's CDMA network previously supported 56K signaling, which falls below the international standard of 64K. For this reason, Huawei had to pass an array of stringent testing criteria when it first entered the network. Huawei's response speed was amazing - only 7 days were used to finish the whole process that covered protocol analysis, problem relocation, development, testing, commissioning, and online interconnection. According to John Saboe, Leap's engineering vice president, "It would take other vendors a month to solve such network problems." Reliance's Logistics Director offers further testimony: "Huawei is outstanding in terms of delivery and, compared with other vendors, has delivered greater equipment quantities in a very short time. Under Huawei's effective coordination, it took Reliance just 4 months to complete the work that would take other operators several years. Huawei provides professional guidance for long-term network evolution, enhancing Reliance's future confidence."

Localized solutions

To successfully expand its international market position, an enterprise must possess strong localization capabilities. During its cooperation with operators, Huawei put into play its design expertise to establish CDMA solutions that fully satisfy customer requirements.

In the first-phase project with Leap, Huawei's BTSs were deployed in Reno, Nevada. Situated near the desert, its outdoor summer temperatures can exceed 40 degrees Celsius for a long time, which melts many vendors' BTS connectors. Conversely, Huawei's outdoor BTSs remain resilient to the extreme conditions, thanks to their unique heat exchange technology.

In a further example of localized solutions, India's geography also required condition-specific BTSs given the nation's complex landform, monsoons, high temperatures, tendency for power failures and instability, and fire and theft risks. Widely deployed in Reliance's network, Huawei's BTS 3606AC-R is designed to handle high temperatures and power failures in India. The product includes built-in batteries that enable 4 hours of uninterrupted power supply, and its heat exchange technology has led to savings of 60% in power consumption.

Equipment rooms in some Indian regions are small and simple, and road conditions are poor for transportation. For these areas, Huawei supplied its BTS3606AC which supports 4 TRX and 6 sectors and promotes minimal labor and rapid installation. To date, the BTS3606C has been widely deployed in dense urban areas, such as Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Costs associated with site leasing, installation, and operation and maintenance (O&M) have all been greatly reduced.

India, North America and China are three major markets in the global CDMA industry. CDG statistics indicate that there are 421 million worldwide CDMA subscribers, which has increased by more than 100 million per year since 2005. The Asia-Pacific and North America continue to boast the widest CDMA technology application and largest subscriber quantities, with 49% of all CDMA subscribers residing in the Asia-Pacific region and 32% in North America.

Huawei's 2007 successes have paved the way for its subsequent development and achievements in the CDMA field. Huawei's continuous investment and innovation will no doubt contribute to the global CDMA development.

Source:Communications Weekly