With all the sound and fury around LTE migration, it is easy to forget that most mobile operators are still putting the huge bulk of their investment and upgrade effort into 3G extensions.
Advanced carriers are galloping along the HSPA(+) roadmap, and deployment of CDMA EV-DO Rev A is also accelerating. Even Rev B, which introduces key technologies like multicarrier support, to the CDMA platform, is starting to see some action, despite the very limited operator adoption, so far at least, for this upgrade.
Two operators, KDDI and China Telecom, have so far committed to deploy Rev B, prior to, or in parallel with, 4G technologies (KDDI is using Wimax via its UQ venture and will eventually do LTE too; Telecom is expected to move to LTE relatively early though it has only just officially launched 3G services).
Both have significant market impact - KDDI because of the advanced nature of its home market, Telecom because of its size - and may influence other CDMA operators to look closely at Rev B.
Telecom has started to trial Rev B with Alcatel-Lucent, a breakthrough for the French vendor, given that the operator's initial field tests were solely with native supplier Huawei. China Telecom, through its subsidiary Shanghai Telecom, has successfully tested and validated ALU's multicarrier Rev B system, said the supplier, working though its own Chinese subsidiary, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell.
ALU has provided all the CDMA networks for Shanghai Telecom, which was the first unit of China Telecom to go live with EV-DO, and has completed Rev 0/Rev A coverage of its operating area now.
ALU will engage in broader Rev B trials with China Telecom in the fourth quarter, as the Chinese carriers race to have advanced facilities in place for next year's World Expo.
Earlier this year, the CDMA Development Group announced significant enhancements for Rev B, following Qualcomm's outlining of its future chip roadmap last fall.
At the time, the CDG pointed out that 4G was likely to account for only 5% of the market in 2017, and EV-DO would have to be continually enhanced until about 2015, then achieving maturity and living alongside the growth of LTE and Wimax.