With More Than 45 Million 1xEV-DO Users and Rev. A Deployments, the CDMA2000 Industry is on an Accelerated Migration Path to Advanced Broadband Services
COSTA MESA, Calif., Nov. 27, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) announced today that the total number of CDMA2000(r) subscribers reached 302 million, adding more than 25 million 3G subscribers in the third quarter. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO added 9 million new users, taking the total number of 1xEV-DO subscribers to more than 45 million. CDMA2000 remains the dominant 3G technology in the world. It currently represents up to 75% of the entire 3G subscriber base worldwide. The total CDMA subscriber base using cdmaOne and CDMA2000 services surpassed 350 million at the end of 3Q 2006. Net subscriber additions during this quarter reached an all-time high of nearly 19 million, with the evolutionary migration from 2G cdmaOne to 3G CDMA2000 nearing an end.
"The CDG is pleased to report the continued strong growth in CDMA2000 worldwide," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "Consumers in both the developed and emerging markets are responding favorably to the performance value and economics enabled by CDMA2000 technologies. More than 85% of CDMA subscribers already use 3G technologies and 15% of them access wireless broadband services. CDMA2000 will continue to lead in the global trend towards 3G migrations, by reaching 330 million CDMA2000 and 50 million 1xEV-DO users by the end of 2006."
The Asia-Pacific region has the most CDMA2000 subscribers, followed by North America, the Caribbean and Latin America, and then Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In North America, CDMA2000 is by far the most dominant 3G technology, with 43% market share. In Latin America and the Caribbean it is the only 3G technology available, accounting for 20% of all users. In Asia, CDMA2000 has surpassed 134 million users, and subscribers continue to increase at double digit rates fueled by CDMA operator growth in India, new deployments in South East Asia and KDDI's successful growth in Japan.
On an annual basis, the CDMA2000 base grew by over 100 million, or 50%, between September 2005 and 2006. Asia Pacific and the Caribbean and Latin America regions contributed the most to this growth, adding 36 and 39 million users respectively, and North America's base grew by over 22 million users.
Driven by the strong demand for CDMA2000, the CDMA base added 69 million new users in the past year, which represents a 25% increase.
Currently, there are over 180 CDMA2000 operators in commercial operation worldwide, of which 52 of these operators offer 1xEV-DO broadband data services. Another 42 CDMA2000 1X and 53 1xEV-DO networks are in the process of being deployed. As operators begin upgrading their CDMA2000 network to 1xEV-DO Rev. A to deliver enhanced broadband data services, we expect subscriber growth to continue to increase substantially. This first-to-market advantage helps fuel subscriber growth and reduce churn.
