(June 3, 1999) - Nokia today announced its support for a framework which would bring a harmonized, global standard for Third Generation communications technology.
The proposals, put forward to the International Telecommunications Union TG8/1 meeting in Beijing, China, would provide a single wideband CDMA standard, harmonizing both WCDMA and cdma2000 systems. The new specifications will enable a smooth and compatible evolutionary path to wideband services gloabally.
According to the framework, a unified global Wideband CDMA third generation standard would consist of three modes; Direct Spread (DS), Multi Carrier (MC), and Time Division Duplex (TDD). Both DS and TDD modes would be based on the WCDMA standard being developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Nokia is actively involved in the 3GPP, one of the most extensive task forces of its kind, producing technical specifications for third generation. The multicarrier (MC) mode will be based on cdma2000 standards and will provide an evolution path to 3G for many of the IS-95 operators in the United States.
"In supporting this initiative, Nokia is continuing to build on its leading position in driving forward the standardization process, for future third generation technologies. The adoption of this proposal will in time accelerate market growth for the industry as a whole," says Professor Yrjö Neuvo, Senior Vice President, Product Creation, Nokia Mobile Phones. "It would also maximize the level of freedom and flexibility for end-users, enabling the development of interoperable applications and services."
Nokia aims to create a volume market and accelerate positive development of third generation for all industry players, including manufacturers and operators. Nokia will continue to work within the standardisation organisations to support standardisation on all fronts. As the harmonization effort is not yet finalized in its details Nokia asks that all participants in the standards groups will work efficiently in order to deliver the year 1999 releases in time. Only this will ensure that the third generation services will be available as planned. The ITU aim to finalize the standardisation process during their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, in October this year.
In addition to the wideband-CDMA harmonisation a parallel process to harmonise the evolution of the US-TDMA standard (IS-136) with the GSM evolution towards EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) is currently ongoing and will unify the TDMA based 3G standards.
By utilising long term WCDMA research and development Nokia can offer innovative infrastructure solutions for operators evolving their networks to 3G from the second generation systems. As the world´s number one mobile phone manufacturer, and as one of the first companies to launch an IS-95 (CDMA) phone, Nokia is committed to maintaining a range of highly competitive phones for all major standards.
Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks including related customer services. Nokia also supplies solutions and products for fixed and wireless datacom, as well as multimedia terminals and computer displays. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR 13.3 billion (USD 15.7 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges, has sales in over 130 countries and employs more than 47,000 people worldwide.
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