CDMA body scratches out V5.2

Neeraja Kumar in New Delhi

It's like buying a used car and finding out, after a flat, that no one makes tyres that size anymore. The fate of basic telecom operators offering wireless in local loop (WLL) and their customers may not be too different in the not too distant future.

In a move that could spell disaster to basic telecom operators deploying the V5.2 interface on their code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, the international standards body for CDMA says it does not plan to support the V5.2 interface in the future.

The CDMA Developers Group (CDG), which decides the specifications on which equipment vendors develop CDMA systems, has sent a letter to the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) saying, “This particular interface (V5.2) is not currently supported by 3GPP2 (a forum responsible for framing 3G specifications) and there are no plans to support this (V5.2) in the future.”

In the letter sent on September 25, Mr Sam Samra, senior director (technology programs) CDG, has expressed his “concern” about the “use of the V5.2 interface in the GR (generic requirements)” being developed by TEC for CDMA 2000 1X for India. “My recommendation is not to use V5.2 for the CDMA2000 family of products,” he added.

As per the letter, “the only way to keep this interface synchronized with evolving standards will be to do proprietary development.” This means that operators deploying this interface will become completely dependent on the proprietary developers for network upgrades, who in turn can practically hold these companies to ransom. Such a move will eventually harm the end-users, who will end up paying more for services.

Proprietary development “will not only increase the complexity of this interface, but also delay the product availability by at least two years,” the letter added.”

The CDG has also warned that “inter-operability with a proprietary V5.2 network will be problematic and will add another layer of complexity and delay.” It has recommended that “the TEC adopt an approach that will enable inter-operability in a multi-vendor environment and use an open standard that is automatically updated by 3GPP2 when new specifications are developed for future CDMA2000 family of products.”

“The V5.2 interface does not provide any unique advantage and the specification is not in keeping with the evolving standards,” the letter added. Moreover, CDMA 1X offers data transmission rates of upto 144 kilobytes per second (kbps) as against the 14.4 kbps possible with the IS95A standards, which Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) plans to deploy on its WLL networks.

CDMA1X also offers three times the voice capacity, which means the network can support three times the number of subscribers using the same spectrum, as compared to an IS95A network.

When apprised of this development, BSNL chairman and managing director, Dr DPS Seth, said, “We will follow the recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory authority of India (Trai).”

It maybe recalled that Trai had recommended a few months ago that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) make it mandatory for basic telecom operators to deploy the V5.2 interface on their WLL CDMA networks.