November 18, 2004

The 3G World Congress, which began as a CDMA-only show nearly ten years ago, came to an end Thursday, on a note of cooperation between the various communities representing different 3G technologies.

This was the ninth year for the show, which has been promoted in the past by the CDMA Development Group (CDG). But the show's focus has expanded beyond CDMA, with both the UMTS Forum and the TD-SCDMA Forum joining as sponsors.

There were many signs during the conference and on the show floor that there was an increased spirit of cooperation, but that didn't mean the GSM and CDMA communities were bosom buddies.

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Many issues, political and economic, continue to divide those communities. TD-SCDMA, meanwhile, is a technology still under development and hasn't reached the competitive level of the other two.

According to conference organizers, this year's 3G World Congress was the most successful yet.

An estimated 5,000 visitors and delegates attended the show in the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, at least double the number from a year ago. The show was moved to Bangkok in 2003 because of the SARS epidemic in China.

Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG, said he wanted to expand the conference this year to represent and help foster the growth of the entire 3G world.

Alan Hadden, president of the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), which exhibited at the conference for the first time, said he was encouraged by the broader scope.

The GSA represents vendors and suppliers for the GSM industry. Hadden noted that companies such as Siemens and Alcatel, which don't provide cdma2000 equipment, were exhibitors and participants at the congress this year.

The GSM and CDMA communities are still at odds over a variety of issues, in addition to their business competition.

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The biggest existing row is over the allocation of spectrum to operators in India, where the GSM community is trying to have the new spectrum set aside for W-CDMA only.

LaForge said he expects the Indian regulatory authorities to make a decision in the next few months.

Both LaForge and Hadden agreed on one thing in Hong Kong: The 3G World Congress has made cooperative strides.

Source: Wireless Week