Telecom's X model starts secret testing

By PETER GRIFFIN

The mid-year rollout of Telecom's much-improved cdmaOne (code division multiple access) mobile network is getting closer, but already the company is fine-tuning a faster version - cdmaOneX.

Trials of cdmaOneX technology have been taking place at six secret sites in and around Hamilton, where a telephone switch housed in a shipping container has been activated.

While Telecom's cdmaOne network will go live in May or June and supply packet data speeds of 14.4kbps, Telecom claims cdmaOneX will supply up to 10 times that speed, allowing fast internet access and streaming video.

Telecommunications giant Lucent Technologies was assigned the task of building Telecom's $200 million cdma network.

It has flown in five engineers to oversee the latest trial in Hamilton, which is being run simultaneously with trials in the US and Korea.

A demonstration of cdmaOneX technology last week gave glimpses of what high-speed packet data can deliver, but in reality, speeds will be influenced by the number of people connecting to local cell stations and the quality of cellular coverage and handsets available.

Systems manager of Telecom's cdma project, Miki Szikszai, said speeds over the network of 153kbps had been achieved during the trial but customers could expect an average data speed of 80kbps and peak speeds of 120kbps when the technology is released at the end of the year.

"We were running web browsers and e-mail type applications, net surfing, streaming video and accessing Telecom's corporate network. We were getting speeds up to the theoretical maximum of 153kbps.

"That's pretty significant when you compare that to dial-up internet or what the other products can do," said Mr Szikszai.

Before Telecom gets ahead of itself however, it will deliver cdmaOne in May or June.

The technology spreads calls across available spectrum, giving a higher number of calls on the network, better security and fewer dropped calls. Telecom will soon begin a customer pilot for cdma involving pre-paid customers through to corporates.

Vodafone is hard at work converting its network from GSM (global standard for mobile communication) to GPRS (general packet radio services), a rival to cdma.

Earlier this year Vodafone claimed delays in the roll out of its GPRS network were due to a lack of readily available handsets. Telecom claims cdma-capable handsets supplied by manufacturers including Samsung, Hyundai and Kaisera will be available in sufficient quantities in time for roll-out.

Telecom will be working with local and overseas software developers to produce applications suitable to the cdma network. A lab has been set up in Wellington where developers can bring in their applications for tweaking before releasing them to the market.

Telecom sees the initial response to cdma coming as demand for internet and e-mail access.