NEW DELHI, May 24, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Today at the "CDMA India 2007" conference, an event commemorating the one-year anniversary of the CDMA Development Group's (CDG) office in India, the CDG announced that CDMA2000(r) operators in India are continuing to break industry records. They are blazing the way toward increasing telephone and Internet access penetration in India by offering affordable tariffs and ultra low-cost handsets. As of March 2007, the number of CDMA2000 subscribers in India reached 44.5 million, more than double the subscriber base of last year.
The Indian CDMA operators achieved this notable milestone, while breaking several industry records:
1. World's lowest voice tariffs: India's operators began offering
tariffs as low as US$0.025 per minute for wireless phone
services.
2. World's fastest subscriber acquisition: Reliance
Communications (RCL) sold more than one million phones within
a week after introducing three ultra low-cost CDMA2000
monochrome phones with data access on May 2, 2007.
3. World's fastest growing market: India's operators have
been rolling-out 3G CDMA2000 1X services faster than any
other market, exceeding an average of 1.7 million net
subscriber additions per month.
4. World's most affordable color phone: RCL introduced the
world's lowest-cost wireless phone with a color display,
the Classic 631.
5. World's most affordable data access phones: RCL introduced
three of the world's lowest-cost mobile phones with data
access, the Classic 202, 203 and 204 models.
6. World's first 3G CDMA single chipset handset: Tata
Teleservices launched the world's first CDMA2000 handset
using a single chipset solution, MotoFone f3c, to enable
feature-rich services at an affordable price.
"The CDG is enthusiastic to witness the record breaking growth trend occurring in India," said BV Raman, CDG's managing director in India. "CDMA2000 continues to offer a two-to-three year lead over other wireless technologies in delivering high-quality voice and high-speed data services. The success of wireless in India has become a prominent example of the potential CDMA2000 technology has in fulfilling the demand of emerging markets."
CDMA2000 operators in India continue to expand their portfolio of very low-end (VLE) handsets, as well as mid-tier and high-tier devices to address demand from all market segments. Over the past year, 38 CDMA2000 VLE handsets from 13 suppliers have been introduced into the highly competitive Indian market. With this extensive portfolio from multiple suppliers, CDMA2000 is well positioned to continue to rapidly expand throughout India and other developing markets.
Meanwhile, offering international roaming, inter-standard (CDMA and GSM) roaming, and campaigns like "Thank you India" from Tata Telservices and "Talk in Color" from Reliance, has provided consumers with attractive options to upgrade to color and feature-rich devices. Both Reliance and Tata Teleservices have introduced true global roaming with their "One Number One World" service that offers Indian consumers seamless roaming across CDMA and GSM networks worldwide with a single phone number - a service unmatched by any other wireless provider in India. Moreover, the CDMA2000 wireless Internet services, Reliance Netconnect and Tata Indicom Plug 2 Surf, are the most preferred solutions to obtain seamless, high-speed, Internet connectivity throughout the pan-Indian region.
India is the fastest-growing market for wireless services in the world and it is also one of the fastest-growing markets for CDMA services. In 2006, CDMA more than doubled its subscriber base in India. With nearly 45 million subscribers, India is now the third largest CDMA market in the world; yet, by the first half of 2007 the country's CDMA customer base will exceed that of South Korea, moving India into second place behind the United States. Both Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices are among the Top 10 CDMA2000 operators worldwide. With a teledensity of only 18 percent and a large underserved rural population, the rapid growth of CDMA in India is expected to continue for many years.
For more information on CDMA2000, visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
About CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is the most widely deployed 3G technology, with 215 operators in 95 countries, including 70 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO systems, serving more than 350 million subscribers. Counting 2G cdmaOne(tm) subscribers, there are more than 387 million CDMA users worldwide. CDMA2000 has become the technology of choice for cdmaOne, TDMA, analog and greenfield operators, and is deployed in the 450, 700, 800, 1700, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands. More than 1,700 CDMA2000 devices from over 92 suppliers have been introduced to the market, including more than 440 1xEV-DO and 26 Rev A devices. More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
About CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA2000 technologies. The more than 130 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 CDMA2000 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 CDMA2000-related matters. For more information about the CDG, contact the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030, or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
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