Kyocera bridges mobile standards divide

13 Aug 2003 12:05

The cellphone manufacturer has developed a handset that can run both GSM and Qualcomm's 1x standard

Mobile phone maker Kyocera on Tuesday unveiled its first handset to use Qualcomm's GSM1x technology, which bridges two cellphone standards that are not interoperable.

The handset, based on Kyocera's KZ850 model, will "immediately" become part of Chinese carrier China Unicom's ongoing GSM1x trial, Qualcomm said.

Kazuhiro Iwabuchi, Kyocera's general manager of mobile communications, promised that more handhelds will use the technology, but he did not provide additional details in a statement released on Tuesday.

Qualcomm created GSM1x so that cellphone carriers using the world's most popular standard, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), could also install Qualcomm's cellphone technology in their networks. GSM and Qualcomm's "1x" cell phone standards are usually incompatible.

Short for CDMA20001xrtt, 1x is built on the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) standard and promises to double voice calling capacity and create a wireless Internet with download speeds of 40kbps to 60kbps (kilobits per second). GSM carriers that build new wireless networks are usually limited to equipment that uses the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) standards.

So far, adoption of GSM1x has been very slow, which industry insiders attribute to the technology's immaturity and its high costs. Just one other handset maker, Samsung, has announced plans for a GSM1x-compatible phone. Only one of the world's top cell phone infrastructure equipment providers, Nortel Networks, has said it will make GSM1x products.

China Unicom is the only carrier conducting a GSM1x trial to date. However, Qualcomm chief executive Irwin Jacobs said earlier this year that European carrier Vodafone is also interested in using the technology because it operates a GSM network in Europe and is part-owner of US CDMA carrier Verizon Wireless.

Story URL: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,39115679,00.htm