CDMA In India – Past, Present And Future

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Following is an excellent article written by one of our RIMweb member INCEPTION. His name is Rudradeep Biswas and he contributes articles to Telecomtalk.

Thank You Rudradeep. Fantastic Work Mate.

Original Article Link At Telecomtalk http://telecomtalk.info/cdma-in-india-past-present-and-future/50370/

In midst of the controversy of 2G spectrum scam and excitement of 3G and MNP, India's telecom watchdog TRAI released active user's base of all telecom operators based upon Visitor Location Register (VLR).

This heats up the old arch rivalry between GSM and CDMA operators on spectrum issue.

Though this study is not good enough to comment on, as TRAI did not specify any time period for VLR, but it shows Airtel, Vodafone and Idea has more than 75% active subscribers in their network compared to Reliance has 66% and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) has 45% – below than 70% of total active subscribers, based on September 2010 data.

Following this, COAI – the lobby of GSM operators (mostly Airtel, Idea and Vodafone) hit back AUSPI (union of CDMA operators, face of TTSL and RCom) saying as they have more active customers and thus need of spectrum for them is logical and they do not hold extra spectrum as TTSL accused them. Note that existing policy gives a maximum of 15 MHz of airwaves per circle to GSM players; while the limit for CDMA players is 7.5 MHz.

Recently TDSAT rejects TTSL's appeal for taking back extra airwaves from GSM players.CDMA had helped mobiles to reach masses of India via Reliance India Mobile, but now CDMA is not first choice of India, as it is said. But fact is it also could be GSM, if Mukhesh Ambani led Reliance Infocomm chose it.

CDMA got mass acceptance due to operator's marketing strategy in a GSM-predominant market. At the same time CDMA gave them some advantages also like efficient spectrum use, greater coverage area, superior voice quality and security than GSM. Reliance Infocomm pioneered in pushing mobiles to masses, the whole thing turns better when lifetime prepaid validity comes, multi SIM handsets launched and new operators bring rock bottom tariff.

CDMA Road Map in India

* December 2002: Reliance Infocomm started its CDMA mobile services with brand name of Reliance India Mobile with the tagline of 'Karlo duniya Mutthi Mein'

* January 2005: Tata Teleservices started its CDMA services with brand name of Tata Indicom.

* January 2006: 'One Nation-One Rupee' tariff plan introduced by Reliance Infocomm.

* October 2007: DOT allows CDMA players to enter GSM mobile service using Dual Technology platform.

* February 2008: Licenses issued to New Telecom Service Providers, only Sistema-Shyam choose CDMA.

* October 2008: Reliance rolls out GSM services with pan India approach. (Note Smart GSM services in eastern circles are owned by Reliance subsidiary)

* November 2008: Tata DOCOMO arises out of the Tata Group's strategic alliance with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO.

* March 2009: Sistema Shyam started pan India rollout with brand name of MTS.

* June 2009: Tata Tele starts GSM operation under brand name of Tata Docomo

* March, 2010: RCOM reaches 100 million subscriber marks including GSM and CDMA subscribers.

When Reliance and TTSL both entered GSM market, both said they will continue to focus on their CDMA business. But as we can see both CDMA major saw a way better response on GSM segment. Also when new 2G licenses were issues in 2008, only SSTL chose CDMA.

Check out current status of Reliance and Tata Teleservices (GSM and CDMA): (Note: Oct '08 Reliance GSM rolled out, June '09 Tata GSM/Tata Docomo rolled out) -

CDMA is loosing the ground – Why?

Handset Issue:CDMA is a patented technology and every manufacturer make cdma phones have to pay Qualcomm. As a result a cdma phone is priced more than a GSM phone with similar features. Also cdma handset market is small and options are limited. CDMA got a blow when leading phone makers Nokia and Sony Ericsson stopped making cdma phones. CDMA handset market is led by Samsung, LG, ZTE, Huawei. Also mediocre battery backup (because of continuous nature of transmission) makes these handsets not a good choice for most consumers.

Though introduction of open market handsets (OMH) by Samsung & others is now changing the situation. You can use non-OMH RUIM (equivalent to SIM of GSM), but data sevices and operator's portal can not used unless you get OMH RUIM. It has some drawbacks – you may not get it all places and it does not come free of cost, compared to you can use a GSM SIM to any device (mobile/modem/laptop/tablet) which has a SIM slot.

Same thing applies when EVDO/1X data cards come in talk. No private CDMA operators (Reliance, Tata and MTS) sell RUIM for using on customer's own EVDO data card. They sell network-locked data cards. Only BSNL sells CDMA RUIM cards for voice and data. But BSNL CDMA services are not commercially available all over the country. Also there are also limited options for CDMA data cards.

SIM-Advantage of GSM: The success of Reliance was based on bundled handset offer. Both Reliance and Tata Indicom sold thousands of Motorola C131, an early cdma b/w handset. Till date most cdma phones are sold with network locked, even if it is RUIM enabled.

With worldwide availability of GSM networks (virtually everywhere), global roaming is easier if you are on GSM.

Internet on Mobile: Broadband penetration in India is poor, most Indians get into internet for 1st time via mobile. GPRS/EDGE enabled GSM networks and wide range of GPRS/EDGE supported handsets favors the situation to GSM. With limited handsets, most of which do not support 1X connectivity CDMA could not be a mass adaptation! Also like GSM operators have GPRS pack (2GB at around Rs. 100), CDMA operators do not offer 1X Data packs. Recently Tata Indicom has come up with 1X data packs. CDMA lost this game because of limited handsets with data support and operators' lack of interest to be into the ring.

Interestingly CDMA players, who are never keen to capture data market on mobile, launched high speed internet via USB dongle (EVDO) for using with computers to capture wireless internet market first. Before 3G comes, EVDO data cards (speed 2.4 – 3.1Mbit/s) were the only option for high speed wireless internet.

No Long SMS and USSD: Those who are high SMS users are generally staying away from CDMA, because network does not support any SMS longer than 160 characters – SMS is delivered in parts, it is really painful to forward the long SMS to others. USSD code which offers real time connection on GSM is not supported on CDMA, it is done by SMS if operators really like to do it!

3G and MNP: These are main factors which will control the telecom growth in 2011, and both of them can erode the growth of CDMA. With Mobile Number Portability (MNP) it is expected more and more users will move to GSM while retaining their numbers. At the same time GSM players 3G offerings also lure the customers to enter into GSM space leaving CDMA. Better handsets and same SIM for mobile and data card – it will hike up GSM operators' growth. Also CDMA players can not offer video calls on their current EVDO network. These 3G and MNP will have a very negative effect on CDMA's growth.

Though LTE is the common upgrade path for GSM and CDMA, CDMA to LTE path is more complex than UMTS/HSPA to LTE upgrade.

Currently there are 6 operators offering CDMA mobile services -

# RelianceCommunications (mobile, high speed internet, fixed wireless)

# Tata Teleservices – brand name Tata Indicom/Virgin Mobile (mobile, high speed internet, fixed wireless)

# Sistema-Shyam Teleservices – brand name MTS India (mobile, high speed internet, fixed wireless)

# BSNL CDMA (mobile, high speed internet, fixed wireless)

# MTNL under brand name of Garuda (mobile, fixed wireless, 1X data services) – available in Mumbai and Delhi.

# Quadrant Televentures Ltd (formerly HFCL Infotel Ltd) under brand name of Ping Mobile (mobile, fixed wireless) – in Punjab circle only.

All CDMA operators in India is using 800MHz spectrum

Advantages of CDMA in the context of Indian scenario:

Though technically CDMA has more benefits than GSM, we are talking about the points which are very relevant in the context of Indian scenario.

It can accommodate more users per MHz of bandwidth – efficient use of spectrum; it is ideal for a spectrum-starved country like India. CDMA has no built-in limit to the number of concurrent users. It is able to produce a reasonable call with lower signal (cell phone reception) levels – beneficial to rural users situated far from cells. CDMA also offers better coverage area – better for rural penetration. CDMA offers superior voice quality compared to GSM. CDMA has a well-defined path to higher data rates and increased cellular communications security. Also 3G from GSM players using 2100Mhz spectrum requires around 3 times more BTS covering same area compared to 800Mhz CDMA spectrum used for offering EVDO service.

Both CDMA and GSM have their merits and limitations, but as India is a predominant market of GSM operators, users base of CDMA is decaying.

What could be the future roadmap for CDMA in India:

With MNP kicks in pan India, voice users will shift from CDMA to GSM. With less voice users, the momentum must be given to data.

If the operator have 5 MHz, i.e. 4 carriers of 1.25MHz they can upgrade to EVDO Rev B by multi carrier mode, allotting one/two carrier for voice and the rest three/two for data. 2X EVDO Rev.B can give upto 6.2 Mbps and on 3X EVDO Rev. B can give upto 9.3Mbps. Globally there are three commercial EVDO Rev B network is available (Smart Telecom of Indonesia, PTCL in Pakistan and China Telecom of China). In India Tata Tele already tested for 2X Rev B with ZTE. And MTS plans for hardware upgrade its network to support maximum 4.9Mbit/s per carrier, so with 3 carriers it can offer upto 14.7Mbit/s!

CDMA players are offering 3.1Mbps download speed with EVDO Rev A on their 2G 800Mhz spectrum, this is almost similar to GSM operators 3G offering – 3.6Mbps. CDMA players did not have to pay some thousand crore rupees for getting 3G spectrum, still the dual mode operators (Reliance and Tata) who are offering both 3G and EVDO data services are priced almost similarly to cut down competition between their 3G and EVDO services. BSNL, the PSU operator is probably priced the most reasonably for EVDO and 3G services. BSNL offers 3G at a price double of EVDO – BSNL EVDO unlimited comes at Rs. 750 and 3G unlimited data comes at Rs. 1499.

As there is a little chance of auction of CDMA 3G spectrum at 2.xGHz band private operators can choose a roadmap which is shown in the following figure:

Brief Technical details of CDMA

 :[/b]
CDMA2000 family
(next to CDMAone/IS95 which was for only voice)
1xRTT or just 1X-Core CDMA2000 wireless air interface standard, supports packet data speed upto 153kbps (DL & UL)
1X Enhancements-1.5 x increases in the voice capacity, supports packet data speed upto 153kbps (DL & UL) – NOT Commercially successful.
1X Advanced-Up to 4x increase in the voice capacity of today's networks, Frees-up spectrum for high revenue earning EV-DO data services, Up to 70% increase in coverage with same capacity as today, supports packet data speed upto 307kbps (DL & UL)
1x-EVDO or EV (Evolution Data Only) 	
	* EV-DO Rev 0: Upto 2.4Mbit/s downlink, 153kbps uplink. On realtime use downlink is average of 800kbps.
	* EV-DO Rev A (DOrA): Upto 3.1Mbit/s downlink and upto 1.8Mbit/s uplink using single carrier of 1.25MHz. Supports VoIP and video telephony.
	* EV-DO Rev B (DOrB): It is the multi carrier upgrade of Rev A. With multicarrier Rev B can support upto 9.3Mbps using 3 carriers of total 5MHz. With H/W upgrade Rev B can deliver upto 4.9Mbps downlink per carrier. Uplink upto 5.4Mbps. With EV-DO Rev B as allowing the combination of up to 15 1.25 MHz radio channels in 20 MHz – significantly boosting peak theoretical rates to 73.5 Mbps. (DO Advanced)
	* DOrC: also known as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB)/CDMA 4G. Qualcomm discontinued it in November, 2008. As a result Long Term Evolution(LTE) will be natural upgradation pathway for CDMA operators, though it is more complex than migrating from UMTS-HSPA to LTE.
	* EVDV- Evolution Data and Voice Qualcomm stopped developing EVDV chipsets in 2005. Recently Verizon has taken initiative to roll out Voice over Rev A (VoRA) to offer Apple iPhone CDMA on its network.
Notes:
 * CDMA spectrum is allocated carrier wise. Each carrier is of 1.25 MHz. Initially operator is given 2 carriers i.e 2.5 MHz and then one carrier to be added depending on increase in subscriber base. (Hence it'll be 2.5 then 3.75 then 5 and so on) As per current allocation methodology, each CDMA operator is contractually permitted to receive till 5 MHz without any additional charge and can have maximum 7.5MHz in a circle area.
 * UMTS is also a CDMA-based 3G technology (WCDMA) that represents an evolutionary step forward for the 2G GSM networks. The 1x technologies operate in the 1.25 MHz radio channels, compared to the 5 MHz channels used by UMTS, resulting in lower theoretical peak rates, but similar average throughputs for high level of network loading.
 * CDMA450 represents a family of CDMA2000 technologies that operate across the 410-470 MHz band.
GSM Evolution: 2G(WAP/GPRS) > 2.75G (EDGE) & EDGE Evolution > 3G UMTS/WCDMA > HSPA > HSPA+ > LTE

Edited December 29, 2010 by rajanmehta

[parin 857]

Too good to get knowledge on this. Awesome.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

[Karthik R 246]

I am just hoping that the defense sector will loosen its current stand and free enough spectrum for 3G CDMA auction to be held. It is the only definite road ahead! Otherwise the turmoil will continue with Telecos eventually focussing on GSM and related data service alone.

[inception 75]

thank you guys!

@rajan can u post the original Telecomtalk link with it?

------

rajan!

Edited December 29, 2010 by inception

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

I am just hoping that the defense sector will loosen its current stand and free enough spectrum for 3G CDMA auction to be held. It is the only definite road ahead! Otherwise the turmoil will continue with Telecos eventually focussing on GSM and related data service alone.

I have little (read NO) hopes in starting of auction for 3G CDMA, esp with current Defense minister..

[csmart 472]

India is the leading player in outsourcing market. but we ourself dont understand or rather dont want to understand technology. be is an individual customer or big corporate houses. to save few bugs, we are ready get old technology. we never fully understand or take advantage of latest technology.

now the failure of CDMA is handset. 2 major players-Tata and Relaince, messed it up. they get age old handsets at very high price. eg HTC S720, Samsung Galaxy. Reliance has BB8530 at Rs 19000/- or so. while its GSM counter part is Rs 12000/- or so.. they argue about paying royalty to Qualcomm, but it cannot be such high. these 2 telcos also failed to market the advantages of CDMA. With increasing competition and voice charges dropping, both carriers lost their vision and fail to attract new subscribers. still we dont have CDMA BB with BIS and BBM in range of 10-12k.. the look and feel of handsets are not that good.

even if CDMA has lot to offer, carriers are not willing to do so. i dont see Tata or Reliance are in mood to offer good in CDMA. it all depends how MTS performs.

[Punjabi 10]

absolutely fantastic article!

Cheers

Jasmeet

[Pankaj Verma 0]

Following is an excellent article written by one of our RIMweb member INCEPTION. His name is Rudradeep Biswas and he contributes articles to Telecomtalk.

Thank You Rudradeep. Fantastic Work Mate.

Original Article Link At Telecomtalk http://telecomtalk.info/cdma-in-india-past-present-and-future/50370/

* January 2005: Tata Teleservices started its CDMA services with brand name of Tata Indicom.

I think as per my memory Tata Teleservice had started operation prior to Reliance in June 2002.

[shashank 8]

^^Yes! Even i remember reading Tata was the first to launch CDMA tech in india..i guess in Andhra Pradesh Circle...

[kshah 452]

Excellent report. But I doubt active users data. IMO, cdma may have more number of active users than GSM. GSM may not have even 50% ACTIVE USERS.

CDMA technology has certain limitations which makes it highly vulnerable to network exploitation and as on today no remedy available for it. (No discussion please). That keeps even operators in problems. OMH addresses them too quite an extent. But it will take years before OMH become norm.

[Sadikk 301]

MTS is Rev B hardware ready for Mumbai/Delhi and and some gujrat circles.. But its wait and watch game as they planning LTE now.. seeing reliance industries strategies... they dont want to go Wimax... So LTE is mostly more likely then REV B for wireless data...

there is a possibility MTS taking over Tata Indicom completely.. (Money pumping in MTS from Russian government and tycoons is no issues for them for that.)

CDMA will exist in india unless USA carrier Verizon, Sprint, USC and others go GSM...

HTC, Samsung and Sanyo making new handsets using open sourced OS like android supporting OMH will give one hope to CDMA in terms of handsets.. (Though our import/tax policies make them non affordable like GSM is the different story altogether)

[vvinayakpai 26]

Can you please explain the difference between Rev 0, Rev A and rev B????

[rajanmehta 4,056]

http://en.wikipedia....-Data_Optimized

[vvinayakpai 26]

^^^^^^^^^^

Excellent article!!!!!!! Thanks for the link

I have one more doubt. CDMA is always considered a superior technology as long as data transfers are concerned. I read an article about BSNL 3G that they are going to offer sppeds of 21.7MBPS (http://telecomtalk.info/exclusive-bsnl-to-offer-14-2-mbps-super-speed-on-3g/52475/).

So considering the above article, the maximum speed offered in Rev B is 14.7MBPS. How can evdo Rev B(as of now the most superior in CDMA technology) match up to speeds, at least promised by these 3G operators??????

Edited December 30, 2010 by vvinayakpai

[ravi_patent 28]

indicom being made orphan and possible takeover by MTS are on expected lines LTE entry by MTS is akin to verizon/ sprint.

[Karthik R 246]

Incorporated in 1996, TTSL is the pioneer of the CDMA 1x technology platform in India. They were also the first to launch CDMA mobile services in India with the Andhra Pradesh circle.

Source : wiki, official Tata website

[kesav 127]

MTS is Rev B hardware ready for Mumbai/Delhi and and some gujrat circles.. But its wait and watch game as they planning LTE now.. seeing reliance industries strategies... they dont want to go Wimax... So LTE is mostly more likely then REV B for wireless data...

there is a possibility MTS taking over Tata Indicom completely.. (Money pumping in MTS from Russian government and tycoons is no issues for them for that.)

CDMA will exist in india unless USA carrier Verizon, Sprint, USC and others go GSM...

HTC, Samsung and Sanyo making new handsets using open sourced OS like android supporting OMH will give one hope to CDMA in terms of handsets.. (Though our import/tax policies make them non affordable like GSM is the different story altogether)

IMHO, waiting for another round of 4G(LTE) spectrum auction is worthless in Indian context.

Everyone knows how much time past 3G&4G auction has to took see the light. There'll be lot and lot of reasons(economic situation, spectrum to be vacated by defense, TRAI vs DoT fight, 2G Scam, 3G Scam, finalizing auctioneers etc., etc.,) for Govt. to delay the next round of auction.

Even if next round of 4G auction starts MTS cannot be guaranteed of wining by fighting against TATA, Vodafone, Airtel.

Better prudence is to make use of the current available spectrum to maximum extent possible.

If MTS wants to be meaningful player in Indian data market, it's better for it to launch national level Rev. B ASAP.

Even if they later launch LTE, LTE can only be launched in major cities/towns for next 2-4 years.

During those initial years you need better speed to fall back in the smaller towns/villages.

IMHO, When you've LTE's 80 Mbps in large cities/towns at least it's better to have 14.7 Mbps speed in smaller towns/villages to provide good user experience for shuttling customers.

Just think of situation of 80 Mbps in some pockets and rest of India in 3.1 Mbps, how bad user will feel when he shifts tower to tower.

In order to achieve such a national 14.7 Mbps footprint, it's better for MTS to start updating all their BTS nationally(with completion target of 4th quarter 2011) to Rev. B HW&SW immediately.

[vvinayakpai 26]

I think the maximum speed offered by the 3G Private players is 21.7MBPS. So if CDMA EVDO auctions become a reality, what can be the expected speed for EVDO combined with a) Rev0 and B ) Rev A?????

Because in another forum I read that the maximum download speed offered by cdma Rev B is 14.7 MBPS. Does that not make it quite slower compared to their GSM counterparts????? Especially considering that cdma is more data centric than GSM as the tenchology inherently enables faster data transfers!!!!!!!

Also how many of our cdma operators are having a Rev A or a Rev B compliant network?????

Edited January 2, 2011 by vvinayakpai

[Saurav 22]

I think at present instead of comparison between EVDO & 3G OR 3MBPS, 7MBPS or 14 or 21 but a normal user wants is affordability. The price at which 3G data is available is not as per the pocket size of majority users.

If companies want good users they must have cost effective plans. One who will offer cheaper price will be winner.

As EVDO spectrum charges are much less as compared to 3G so companies must reduce its Plan Cost as well increase coverage.

[kshah 452]

Till EVDO Rev 0, it was true that CDMA is more data centric standard than GSM. SInce last one decade GSM has evolved a lot and its almost as efficient as CDMA in terms of spectrum efficiency and data transfer rates. EDGE Class 8, 10 and MCS 9, GSM can not be considered inefficient or poor in terms of data. It is another story that most GSM networks are fragmented in India hence there is no consistency like GSM network.

3GSM operates on 2100 mhz which makes it inferior than 800 Mhz CDMA or EVDO. Else GSM 3GSM standard supports VOICE DATA SIMULTANOUS which is not the case in CDMA rev-A

CDMA Rev-B is still far from reality in India and even if say Rev-B comes today how many handset really support it?

CDMA is here to stay and its going to attract people like us who like to waste time on crac**ng and tweaking. CDMA attract people because of inherent security lapses and vulnerability to exploits.

[cdma evdo 1]

Incorporated in 1996, TTSL is the pioneer of the CDMA 1x technology platform in India. They were also the first to launch CDMA mobile services in India with the Andhra Pradesh circle.

That is completely true....

TTSL was the first one to launch CDMA (based on IS-95 A/B platform) in Hyderabad.

CDMA 1X came about 2 or 3 years later.

They (and Reliance) had something called a "WLL" (Wireless in Local Loop) license.

License conditions meant that they were treated just like extended landline providers

....incoming was free and outgoing was1.80 per 3 minutes. That was the time when

GSM was charging something like16 per minute outgoing and8 per minute incoming !

Every Mohammed, Ram and D'Souza went for it. Only drawback was that it had "limited mobility" -

that means it would work only in a Short Distance Calling Area (SDCA) - lets say only in Hyderabad.

That is probably why, in the early days, CDMA was said to be the (C )haiwalla, (D)hobi, (M)istri

and (A)yah network. That image probably sticks till today and has been reinforced with the

operators themselves, by providing only low end, low featured handsets.

And then came the master stroke (influenced by Reliance).....when those licences were

converted to full mobility, virtually free of charge. But that is another SCAM and

another long story.

BTW, all CDMA Operators the world over sell cobranded network locked handsets - so don't blame only

the Indian CDMA operators. The major mistake made by Indian CDMA operators was to go for the RUIM

based handsets. Since India and China are the only major markets where RUIM is popular,

the choice of models/manufacturers gets limited. They lose out on the vast majority of Non RUIM models

which are available in markets like S Korea, USA, etc.

The author of the article is correct - the only major way ahead for the CDMA operators

to survive in the long term, is to encourage data usage in their networks. CDMA is more

efficient in terms of spectrum usage and their networks are not that clogged like the

GSM ones. That is why you see all of them pushing Data to no extent and trying their

best to give their brand a "youngster" image.

[kesav 127]

3GSM operates on 2100 mhz which makes it inferior than 800 Mhz CDMA or EVDO. Else GSM 3GSM standard supports VOICE DATA SIMULTANOUS which is not the case in CDMA rev-A

It's not correct but widespread misconception.

EVDO Rev. A can support simultaneous voice & data which is required for video calls. There's a need for n/w upgrade/patch to VORA(Voice Over Rev A).

This information is clearly highlighted in the first post of this topic with a information that Verizon is upgrading their Rev A n/w with VORA patch.

BTW, all CDMA Operators the world over sell cobranded network locked handsets - so don't blame only

the Indian CDMA operators. The major mistake made by Indian CDMA operators was to go for the RUIM

based handsets. Since India and China are the only major markets where RUIM is popular,

the choice of models/manufacturers gets limited. They lose out on the vast majority of Non RUIM models

which are available in markets like S Korea, USA, etc.

The above observation is not true. Going for RUIM based handsets by Indian Operators is the major milestone in Indian CDMA market. It's because of this we still have few CDMA customers left in Indian Telecom otherwise entire CDMA customers might have been wiped off when Reliance & TATA launched their GSM operations. Launching RUIM based handsets never ever stopped any operator from importing non RUIM models from S Korea, USA etc.,

OMH handsets, RUIM handsets, Non-RUIM handsets harmoniously co-exist in Indian CDMA market.

[ravi_patent 28]

kesav

good clarification reg "vora"

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

EVDO Rev. A can support simultaneous voice & data which is required for video calls. There's a need for n/w upgrade/patch to VORA(Voice Over Rev A).

This information is clearly highlighted in the first post of this topic with a information that Verizon is upgrading their Rev A n/w with VORA patch.

Nice info Kesav ji... Verizon upgrading from DORA to VORA.. But how many Indian CDMA operators, esp those DualTechnology operators, will upgrade their network is the question..

[cdma evdo 1]

Launching RUIM based handsets never ever stopped any operator from importing non RUIM models from S Korea, USA etc.,

OMH handsets, RUIM handsets, Non-RUIM handsets harmoniously co-exist in Indian CDMA market.

Yes, it never stopped them...but they lost complete interest.

That is why the small variety of non RUIM handsets you

see in the Indian market are all high end and exhorbitant prices.

Even the OMH handsets being sold in the market are all RUIM based.