CDMA Community Expresses Concern over Anatel's Decision to Deny Use of 1.9 GHz Band on a Secondary Basis for Mobile Services.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 2003

In a letter to Luiz Guilherme Schymura de Oliveira, president of Anatel, the CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) reaffirmed its disagreement of Anatel's recent decision to deny Vesper's request to offer full mobility services in the 1.9 GHz spectrum band on a secondary basis.

The CDG contends that the decision is not beneficial to Brazilian consumers and the Brazilian economy, is legally inconsistent and is not defensible from a technical perspective.

"The CDG believes that only flexible policies that permit operators to determine how to use their resources, including spectrum, can best assure high-quality communications for all consumers," said Perry LaForge, executive director for the CDG. "The decision to not allow flexible use of 1.9 MHz spectrum limits consumer choices for affordable voice services, prevents the immediate access to next generation data services, negatively impacts companies currently offering or planning to offer advanced wireless services, and will adversely impact future investments in Brazil."

LaForge continued, "I can't see how this decision will benefit the people of Brazil -- it has so many negative implications."

The CDG maintains that the decision is in conflict with the regulatory framework previously endorsed by Anatel and laws passed by Brazil's Congress, which recognize that secondary use of frequencies is broadly supported for optimizing the use of the radio spectrum. Furthermore, the decision is in direct violation of Resolution 314, enacted in September 2002, which allows use of the 1.9 GHz spectrum band to provide mobile services on a secondary basis. While Resolution 314 clearly outlines approved services in the 1.9 GHz band, Anatel's April 9 decision precludes the offering of SMP for potential users located in the service area but restricts SMP in 1.9 GHz only for roaming purposes. This action changes the original intent of Resolution 314 by creating a regulatory distinction between the use of SMP for roaming and non-roaming purposes.

The CDG also points out that there is no technical justification for prohibiting Vesper from providing mobile services (SMP) on a secondary basis in spectrum for which it has already been granted a primary allocation to provide fixed services (STFC). In addition, Anatel has previously authorized other operators to provide both SMP and STFC in the same frequencies on a primary and secondary basis. Furthermore, the 1.9 GHz bands Vesper seeks permission to use for the SMP services are not adjacent to bands allocated by Anatel for IMT-2000 (3G) and will not interfere with any services that may be introduced in the future in these frequencies.

"The CDG finds the decision unfortunate. We will continue to support flexible use of the radio spectrum and deployment of advanced wireless services and technology choice in Brazil," continued LaForge.

The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of cdmaOne(TM) and CDMA2000(R). The 110 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless operators and equipment manufacturers. CDMA is the fastest growing technology worldwide, with more than 147 million subscribers, and according to market analysts, will continue to expand faster than other standards. CDMA2000 dominates the IMT-2000 (3G) market today and will continue to lead throughout this decade. There are 46 CDMA2000 networks on six continents with nearly 39 million subscribers adding more than three million users per month. In Latin America, CDMA is deployed by 30 operators in 15 countries and 27 million subscribers. Brazil is the largest CDMA market in the region with 13 million subscribers and more than U.S.$9 billion in investments from operators and infrastructure providers. CDMA operators such as Vivo and Vesper offer the most advanced services in Brazil today with CDMA2000 1X and CDMA2000 1x-EV-DO. For more information about the CDG, contact Valerie Christopherson of the CDG News Bureau at [phone], ext. 14, e-mail [e-mail], or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.

Note to Editors: cdmaOne is a trademark of the CDG. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA)