The CDMA Development Group (CDG) announced that CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) deployments continue to grow throughout the world, particularly in emerging markets where operators seek to bring mobile broadband to areas with low Internet penetration.
Operators are deploying and upgrading to Rev. A to take advantage of the full spectrum of service creation, subscriber growth and revenue generation that the technology promises in developed and underserved markets alike. Rev. A's range of service capabilities, from VoIP to streaming video, has led to surges in subscribership and higher ARPU across the board.
"The CDG is pleased to see operator demand for Rev. A increasing around the globe, particularly in emerging markets where basic Internet penetration is still very low," said James Person, chief operating officer for the CDG.
Person adds, besides contributing to increased productivity for businesses and an improved lifestyle for consumers in first-world markets, Rev. A is making huge strides in bridging the digital divide in traditionally underserved regions. Furthermore, the evolution path to multicarrier Rev. B gives operators the flexibility to meet incremental market demand for broadband data services.
Rev. A advanced broadband services are commercially available from 27 operators in 19 countries, up from three at the beginning of 2007. In less than a year, more than half a billion people (based on POP coverage) had access to high-speed Rev. A broadband connectivity and services, marking one of the fastest roll-outs of any network technology. This rapid growth will continue as 31 operators in another 19 countries deploy Rev. A, 80% of those being emerging markets.
In the North and South American continents, there are currently 12 commercial Rev. A networks in 5 countries, with another 13 network deployments in progress.
Rev. A broadband network deployments are expected to drive Internet penetration in emerging markets in much the same way as CDMA2000 1X increased telephony penetration. This has been proven many times over in markets across the globe, such as Algeria, Angola, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Peru, Vietnam, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen. High-speed wide-area broadband connectivity has proven to be a successful business and consumer service in highly competitive developed markets as well.
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