Telecommunications Industry Association Approves UWCC Proposal To Update 136HS.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 1998--The Telecommunications Industry Association Ad-Hoc on IMT-2000 coordination (TR45.3.AHIC) has approved the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) proposal to update 136HS portion of the UWC-136 Third Generation proposal to 8PSK modulation.

The modulation change is to simplify UWC-136 by allowing for the same higher level modulation on the enhanced 30 kHz carrier known as 136+ and the 200 kHz high-speed carrier known as 136HS.

The agreement for the change is a result of harmonization efforts developed with ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). The UWC-136 community originally harmonized with the ETSI EDGE program based on a modulation technique known as QAM. In the course of work ETSI opened the discussion on alternative modulation techniques. After months of work with UWC-136 supporters, ETSI agreed to change ETSI EDGE to 8PSK.

ETSI's ability to reconsider a previous decision regarding its work in support for Global TDMA harmonization is considered a significant step in global harmonization. This decision by ETSI to use the modulation technique previously selected by the TDMA-136 community simplifies the UWC-136 RTT proposal and allows for a more readily achievable global 200 kHz carrier common to both TDMA and GSM networks.

UWCC is actively supporting the update of the UWC-136 RTT (Radio Transmission Technology) to include the newly harmonized position on Global TDMA convergence.

Gregory G. Williams, vice president-wireless systems with SBC Communications, Inc. and chairman of the UWCC stated, "This is an important milestone for the UWC-136 3G proposal as it increases the UWC-136 capabilities in addition to providing the platform for future data services for our customers. Additionally, this moves the future of global roaming forward to the RF level between TDMA-136 and GSM based networks."

Leo Nikkari, vice president-strategy and programs for the UWCC added, "This is a significant step to achieving global TDMA convergence. The decisions of TIA and ETSI regarding 3G simplifies UWC-136 in that 8PSK is the modulation technique selected for both TDMA 136+ and TDMA 136 HS."

UWCC Highlights Benefits Of TDMA/WIN At Conference

In Bangalore, India

The UWCC held a successful conference in Bangalore, India, in September with over 100 people in attendance. Chris Pearson, director of marketing at the UWCC stated, "India offers a huge opportunity for TDMA when you consider much of the population is in need of basic telephone service. The positive economic impact of providing universal telephone service to homes and businesses throughout India is enormous."

The UWCC conference highlighted the many benefits of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and the Wireless Intelligent Network (WIN) technologies. Distinguished speakers from AT&T Wireless, BellSouth Cellular, Ericsson, Hughes Network Systems and Industar Digital PCS spoke about the many capabilities and benefits of TDMA and WIN services. Detailed presentations were given at the conference on international roaming, TDMA convergence, wireless local loop and the progress of the UWC-136 Third Generation proposal to meet 100 percent of the IMT-2000 requirements.

"We held this conference to bring TDMA and WIN success stories to the marketplace so that operators, regulators and investors could hear from successful carriers and vendors of TDMA and WIN," stated Chris Pearson, director of marketing at the UWCC. "Deploying TDMA and WIN solutions in India in 1998 will give our technology a foothold for future expansion of TDMA services throughout India."

DSP Communications Supplies IS-136A Chipsets to Philips

Consumer Communications

DSPC's baseband chipset implemented in Philips'

IS-136A Aeon(tm) Phone

DSP Communications, Inc. and Philips Consumer Communications (PCC) announced that DSPC is supplying baseband chipsets for PCC's IS-136A Aeon(tm) phone.

DSPC has already begun shipping IS-136A baseband processor chipsets for incorporation in PCC's TDMA Aeon(tm) subscriber units which are now being released into the market. "We are proud to join efforts with PCC who we believe will quickly attain worldwide prominence in IS-136 markets," said Gabriel Hilevitz, vice president of marketing and sales for DSPC. "We believe the Aeon(tm) offers an exceptionally sleek, competitive solution and will immediately help satisfy the growing demand for TDMA handsets."

PCC's Aeon(tm) handset offers a 7-line high resolution, animated, full graphic LCD. With support for seven languages, including English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Malaysian, Hebrew and Chinese, the Aeon(tm) is well adapted for markets worldwide. Feature packed, the handset supports 100-number phonebook, short message service (SMS), 10 speed dial keys, voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and many other features which will likely attract customers.

"We believe DSPC's commitment to meeting an evolving set of IS-136 requirements, while reducing size, cost and power of the baseband chipset will enable PCC to offer competitive performance," said Keith Schmidt, marketing director of PCC.

DSPC's proven expertise in offering competitive solutions for worldwide standards has allowed the company to deliver three generations of TDMA/AMPS, now referred to as IS-136A, to its customers. Since the early 1990's, DSPC has continued to support and develop products for the TDMA IS-136 standard providing exceptionally high integration, low power consumption and voice quality to DSPC customers. In the coming months, the company plans to release its next generation offering higher integration and improved performance.

Ericsson Supplies D-AMPS IS-136 Digital Mobile Phone Networks To

Six More Regions In Russia

Vostok Mobile together with Russian partners, has decided to launch D-AMPS IS-136 networks in six regions of Russia. The networks, to be supplied by Ericsson, will be in operation in Bashkortostan, Bryansk, Novgorod, Kostroma, Yaroslavl and Ivanovo by early 1999.

The deployment in Eastern Europe of digital mobile phone services based on the D-AMPS IS-136 standard is set to grow significantly, following this decision.

The networks supplied by Ericsson will give users the very latest digital wireless services including data and fax transmission, short message services (wireless paging) and PrePaid services. These six regions together cover an area of 350 thousand square kilometres, with a combined population of approximately 10.5 million people. The regions both have manufacturing as well as oil and chemical industries.

"The Ericsson D-AMPS IS-136 networks will be based on the latest generation of mobile switching centers (MSC 150/300), together with radio base stations from the RBS 884 family. The networks will initially support 11 thousand subscribers," said Eric Franke, vice president Ericsson Corporatia AO. "Ericsson and Vostok Mobile have entered into a strategic partnership that will bring modern wireless communication services based on the D-AMPS IS-136 standard to these six regions of Russia. Network rollout will be rapid, with commercial service launch at the start of 1999. And we are already looking beyond the first frame agreement to continued growth of these networks in 1999 and through the millennium," Eric Franke continued.

Wireless services based on the D-AMPS IS-136 standard have been in service in Russia since 1997, when the D-AMPS/AMPS network operating in Moscow and the surrounding areas' region has been converted to IS-136 technology.

Today there are almost 250,000 D-AMPS/AMPS subscribers in Russia. Neighboring countries have also adopted the D-AMPS standard to provide seamless roaming for users.

Telecom Personal Of Argentina Expands TDMA-136 Network

Ericsson is to supply wireless network infrastructure equipment worth up to USD 77 million to Telecom Personal (TP) in Argentina, to expand a D-AMPS/AMPS wireless communications network serving the north of the country. By the end of 1998, the capacity of the network is expected to have been increased by 50% to 750,000 subscribers.

Currently, the Ericsson-supplied network has around 490,000 subscribers. In recent months, it has been readied for the introduction of new digital wireless services such as Short Messaging Services (SMS), and for PrePaid Services -- which are expected to trigger strong subscriber growth.

TP and Ericsson have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding covering pilot trials of CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) for services such as wireless e-mail. CDPD is an Internet-compatible wireless data service that can be added on to an existing D-AMPS IS-136 network, without requiring additional frequency spectrum. Wireless data transmission is expected to grow rapidly and this sophisticated CDPD data capability will position TP well to offer these services.

TP is one of three operators that together form the Personal Communication National Network, which operates mobile phone services across Argentina in the 800MHz 'A' Band. The territory covered by TP is approximately 1.3 million square kilometers, with 15 million inhabitants.

The other operators are Miniphone (serving the Buenos Aires metropolitan area) and Telefonica Comunicaciones Personales (TCP), serving the south of the country.

All three networks are based on the D-AMPS IS-136 and AMPS wireless standards that have become the predominant platform for wireless phone services across Latin America and North America. Services currently cover every town in Argentina with more than 500 inhabitants, and there are approximately 1,350,000 subscribers in the three networks.

Roaming agreements between the three operators mean that subscribers can continue to use their phones as they travel throughout Argentina. Telecom Personal also has roaming agreements with D-AMPS operators in all the neighboring countries.

Telcel Of Mexico To Construct Nationwide TDMA-136 Network

Ericsson signed a frame agreement, valued at USD 300 million, with Telcel to build Mexico's first 1900MHz wireless communications network and expand their 800MHz network.

Telcel, Mexico's largest wireless network operator, will construct a nationwide dual-band/dual-mode (800MHz/1900MHz, analog/digital) network employing their new 1900MHz licenses recently won in each of the nine Mexican regions.

Telcel will significantly boost network capacity by integrating the 1900MHz and 800MHz channels in a common infrastructure. This is being done in preparation for the rapid subscriber growth expected when Calling Party Pays legislation is implemented towards the end of the year. This sophisticated technique allows calls in progress to be handed off seamlessly between the 800MHz and 1900MHz wireless channels in the same network. Users will not be aware of the change in frequency.

Jan Wareby, vice president and general manager of Ericsson said, "This latest expansion project makes Telcel one of the first operators in the world to take full advantage of the dual-band/dual-mode capabilities of the D-AMPS IS-136 standard. It is a sophisticated platform that allows operators to treat spectrum as a shared network resource, with a common set of services across both frequency bands."

Telcel's wireless network has been in operation since 1989 and has an existing subscriber base of 1.6 million. Over 50% of the subscribers use the prepaid service which has been one of the key contributors to their rapid subscriber growth.

Telcel has experienced subscriber growth at a rate of 50% over the last 8 months and expects this growth rate to continue over the next few years. This order is a strategic move. D-AMPS is flexible and feature rich technology that enables operators to tailor service offerings for their customers.

Neighboring countries have also adopted the D-AMPS standard, providing seamless roaming for users throughout North and South America. Ericsson offers Over-the-Air Activation for D-AMPS IS-136 networks

Ericsson has signed an agreement with Logica Aldiscon for the resale of their Telepath Short Message Service Center (SMSC) and Over-the-Air Activation (OAA) System for D-AMPS IS-136 networks worldwide.

OAA capability provides operators with some important advantages as it enables quick activation of mobile service and significantly reduces administrative costs related to new subscriber activation.

In addition, mobile phones may be updated remotely to incorporate new service information without the customer needing to go to a service location.

The Telepath System also provides operators with the capability of introducing additional messaging services such as email and paging.

There are over 80 million subscribers using D-AMPS/AMPS networks worldwide. D-AMPS was the first technology to be commercially available as a dual-band (800/1900 MHz) and dual-mode (analog/digital) technology.