Don't discount CDMA and EV-DO

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CDMA and EV-DO: Not Dead Yet

HSPA+ and LTE may enjoy all the attention, but the role of CDMA2000 and EV-DO in mobile broadband should not be overlooked

 

[Ockie]

Neotel runs CDMA dont they? I say kill it DEAD!!!!

 

[InTheCube]

Neotel have made CDMA appear to be worse than 33.6k dialup. I would't go anywhere near it. Everything they touch turns to shìt.

 

[ic]

Neotel runs CDMA dont they? I say kill it DEAD!!!!

For a very long time before NeoGhost went live with its CDMA2000 network, I posted that CDMA2000 simply is not sexy compared to what was then HSDPA [or perhaps even as far back as Vanilla-3G], I would be very surprised if NeoGhost ever admits that I was correct, and they have been a bunch of dumbasses - they will probably carry on marketing their CDMA2000 network as if it is better than Telkodemonopolies' 384kbits/s ADSL.

 

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CDMA remains the mainstay of mobile broadband in a number of markets, notably the United States (Verizon and Sprint), and various countries in the Far East. It has grown dramatically in developing countries, including across Africa, since it represents a lower cost entry point.

In other respects, the roadmap for CDMA to LTE is essentially similar to that of UMTS (the other 3G standard), as it obviously has to be. In the US, for example, Verizon (ironically part of the Vodafone Group) and Sprint compete directly with AT&T, who runs UMTS. The general consensus is that Verizon has the best performing network, which is based on Rev A (the same as Neotel has deployed here). That's why you often see calls for Apple to release a CDMA iPhone in the US, something you never hear anywhere else. Rev B, which has been deployed in a few markets, but is not yet widespread, gives performance similar to HSPA+.

CDMA's biggest growth is currently in China, where China Telecom adopted the standard, and aims to add about 300 million subscribers. In China, there is three-way competition between three standards: CDMA, UMTS and TD-SCDMA (essentially a China-only standard).

As for the "sexy" comment, most platforms are produced in both UMTS and CDMA variants; in the US, some phones start out as CDMA only, typically locked to either Verizon or Sprint. It's all a matter of perspective.

 

[SUPERMAN89]

I think unless they start with something 14.4MB/s unlike their 3.6MB/s it would slowly fade away

 

[ic]

As for the "sexy" comment, most platforms are produced in both UMTS and CDMA variants; in the US, some phones start out as CDMA only, typically locked to either Verizon or Sprint. It's all a matter of perspective.

There is another reason why I believe that NeoGhost's CDMA2000 is totally un-sexy from a South African consumer's POV, and that is that there is only one CDMA2000 network in South Africa.

Which means that all the wireless CDMA2000 brick-like devices that NeoGhost pimps onto consumers that have not sufficiently researched their options, cannot be used on any other network in South Africa.

Compare that to ADSL in South Africa, sure the network is still monopolised by Telkodemonopolies, but there are loads of competing ISPs to choose from, furthermore one can purchase numerous ADSL||ADSL2+ routers from a myriad of different competing companies, and that means that ADSL[2+] routers are quite inexpensive.

A similar situation exists with HSPA devices [modems & routers], although the pricing [devices and data] is still far too high IMO, the devices can be used on several competing networks [Vodacom, MTN, Telkodemonopolies, and now CellC as well].

What can one do with a CDMA2000 device obtained from NeoGhost once one has had enough of NeoGhost?

In that sense NeoGhost is as bad as iBurst in South Africa - a failure to compete directly with other network operators since the technology that NeoGhost chose to use is incompatible and allows NeoGhost to create its own little monopoly, which I'm sure is just what NeoGhost wanted from the start.

Honestly I don't care what happens in North America - they always do non-standard things and try to convince the rest of the world to follow.

 

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Honestly I don't care what happens in North America - they always do non-standard things and try to convince the rest of the world to follow.

I think you'll find they see it the other way round. It's the rest of the world that's non-standard if you are an American. Seriously, though, in the telecoms world, the guys who spend the most effort trying to convince the rest of the world to follow their standards are the Europeans. Given that CDMA2000 and UMTS are basically quite similar standards, both based on CDMA (invented in the US), it's amazing how defensive they get about the version standardised in Europe.