Sierra Wireless and Lucent to Deliver 3G CDMA2000 Mobile Solutions

📅 November 1, 2001 - Sierra Wireless (sierrawireless.com) and Lucent Technologies (lucent.com) announced yesterday an agreement to create next-generation subscriber products for business customers that require high-speed mobile data connections. Solutions such as wireless modem devices, based on the third-generation CDMA2000 1x-EV-DO (1x Evolution-Data Only) standard, are expected to be commercially available in mid 2002.

This high-speed 3G technology will provide data transmission speeds of up to2.4 Megabits per second - up to 165 times faster than what is currentlyavailable on wireless voice and data networks - enabling enterprise users toopen and send e-mail with large attachments and rapidly access the Internet,corporate Intranets and other applications from any location.
The alliance is an important step in Lucent's strategy to accelerate theintroduction of 3G high-speed data solutions for mobile operator customersand also underscores its leadership and focus on spread-spectrumtechnologies like CDMA2000 and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.
Under terms of the agreement, Sierra Wireless will develop 3G CDMA20001xEV-DO data subscriber products, while Lucent will contribute research anddevelopment funding, technical and marketing support.
"Sierra Wireless is pleased to announce our plans for CDMA2000 1xEV-DOproducts," said Mark McMillan, vice president of marketing, Sierra Wireless."Our CDMA2000 1X PC cards and our embedded modules enter commercialavailability in the current quarter, and we expect strong demand for theseproducts. 1xEV-DO services will complement 1X services with 3G bandwidth forpower users and this agreement with Lucent allows us to accelerate thedevelopment of 1xEV-DO products."
In March 2001, Lucent and Sierra Wireless jointly demonstrated theirforthcoming 3G CDMA2000 1X solutions. Now entering commercial availability,the Sierra Wireless 1X AirCard 550 series and 1X Embedded Modules willprovide seamless wireless Internet connectivity to CDMA networks at speedsof up to 153.6 kilobits per second.
Dual-band wireless modems will operate in both the 850MHz and 1900MHz bands,allowing worldwide wireless access via CDMA networks. They will supportCDMA2000 1X and cdmaOne for maximum flexibility, and are capable of handlinghigh-quality, reliable voice and data communications. "CDMA-based operatorsnow have a tremendous range of wireless data service options," said AndrewSeybold, editor-in-chief of the Forbes/Andrew Seybold Wireless Outlook."CDMA 1X services, being offered this year, put these operators at theforefront in offering high-speed wireless solutions to business customers.Add the potential for high-bandwidth 1xEV-DO services in high-traffic areas,and you have some truly exciting opportunities. With this development,Sierra Wireless and Lucent continue to demonstrate their leadership in theCDMA market."
CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is an international 3G standard approved by theInternational Telecommunications Union and can be deployed using existingspectrum, enabling existing CDMA mobile operators to move more traffic atsuperior performance levels by optimizing voice and data spectrumseparately, serving both applications from the same network. Optimized forpacket data services and based on Internet Protocol , it is compatible withexisting CDMA networks, CDMA2000 1X, as well as other technologies beingdeveloped.