COSTA MESA, Calif., Sept. 10, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) announced today that the 3G CDMA2000(r) subscriber base reached 54 million in June, an increase of nearly four million from the previous month. CDMA2000 and cdmaOne(tm) carriers combined added nearly 10 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2003, bringing the total number of users to 164 million.
"3G CDMA2000 continues to dominate the global market for advanced wireless services," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "Operators worldwide recognize CDMA2000's competitive advantage and one-third of cdmaOne subscribers have already migrated to CDMA2000 services."
With more than 300 percent annual subscriber growth, CDMA2000 represents the most efficient and successful evolution for 3G and is increasing market share across all major markets worldwide. According to the EMC World Cellular Database, CDMA2000 is by far the most widely used technology to access wireless data across the globe.
"The CDMA market share will continue to expand rapidly, doubling within the next four years," said Ken Hyers, senior analyst, In-Stat/MDR. "As the single most dominant airlink in the United States, coupled with the advances in Southern and Southeast Asia, the future looks very bright for CDMA."
CDMA2000 delivers improved voice capacity and enables carriers and handset manufacturers to provide advanced data services for businesses and consumers, such as wireless access to the Internet and corporate intranets; latest games and entertainment; location-based safety and security services; and new devices with built-in cameras, MP3 and video players.
Asia Pacific is the fastest growing CDMA2000 region in the world, fueled by subscriber expansion in the key markets of Japan, China and India. Specific statistics for the Asia Pacific region include:
-- The Asia Pacific subscriber base for CDMA2000 and cdmaOne
expanded by nearly 18 million over the last year (June 2002 and
2003) to 63 million subscribers; this represents a 39 percent
annual growth rate.
-- More than half of the total CDMA subscribers in the region use
CDMA2000 technology.
-- KDDI captured the lead in subscriber growth in Japan for each
month in the second quarter due to the strong demand for their
CDMA2000 services.
-- China Unicom reported more than 10 million CDMA2000 and cdmaOne
subscribers as of June.
-- CDMA is outpacing GSM in India, adding 1.2 million new users in
July and capturing the largest share of new subscribers for any
wireless technology. This compares to 1.15 million for GSM, which
has been available in India for more than seven years.
-- Korea leads the world in true broadband mobile data services with
more than 2 million CDMA2000 1xEV-DO subscribers at the end of
August.
Latin America, including the Caribbean, is another rapidly expanding market for CDMA2000:
-- At the end of 2Q 2003, there were more than 29 million CDMA users
in this region, a 23 percent increase from last year.
-- There are 22 commercial CDMA2000 networks in the region, and four
more will be operational by the end of 2003.
North America, which is the largest market for CDMA, continues to grow with nearly 69 million subscribers, increasing at 24 percent per year. There were 21 million CDMA2000 subscribers in North America at the end of June. Sprint reported that at the end of 2Q 2003, nearly 2.1 million of its CDMA2000 customers were subscribers of PCS VisionSM, its advanced wireless data service.
Additional subscriber statistics and CDMA2000 deployment information are available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The 110 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters. The subscriber numbers in this release are estimates provided by third parties on a quarterly basis and have not been independently verified by CDG. For more information about the CDG, contact Valerie Christopherson of the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030, ext. 14, e-mail vchristopherson@bockpr.com, or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.