Subject: [NEXTEL-1] GSM Association responds over wireless post war Iraq comments

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 23:29:49 -0500

GSM Association responds over wireless post war Iraq comments
John Walko, 31-Mar-2003

The GSM Association has responded vigorously to a second-term
Republican Congressman's outburst at plans to build a cellular
network in post war Iraq based on what was described as the
'outdated French standard' instead of the 'superior' CDMA
technology developed by Qualcomm.

Rob Conway, CEO of the Association, said Congressman Darrell
Issa's intervention was “as ill-timed as it is misinformed”.

In a letter to US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld,
Congressman Issa, a former US Army captain, objected to plans
by the US Agency for International Development to use federal
funds to build a GSM based network in Iraq. He suggested it was
outrageous that this could benefit companies from France and
Germany, and said any such network should be based on CDMA
technology that could benefit US equipment providers, notably
Qualcomm, and 'safeguard hundreds of thousand of American
jobs'.

Conway said, “ the right time to debate the technology will be when
the real conflict is over. And at that time we should look at the real
facts, not the Congressman's ill advised opinion. To suggest that
GSM is simply a European or French standard is, in the current
climate, quite outrageous.”

Conway added “the suggestion that CDMA technology be deployed
in Iraq post-war is completely at odds with the rest of the region
and the majority of the world. It would add to the country's isolation
and arguably be at odds with the overall war effort.

“I can't believe someone has started this debate at this time, and I
certainly can't believe it has been started from such a false position
and on such nationalistic terms."

The GSM Association CEO noted GSM is an 'open standard', so
any manufacturer from any country can make GSM equipment on a
'level playing field' - including North American companies such as
Motorola, Lucent and Nortel.

Issa suggested GSM (which in its very early development was
referred to as Groupe Special Mobile) was developed by the
French, and that if it were deployed in post-war Iraq, the system
would be built by Alcatel or Siemens, or 'elsewhere in western and
Northern Europe'. Here he likely refers to companies such as
Ericsson of Sweden, the biggest supplier of cellular infrastructure,
and Finnish group Nokia.

Conway added major network operators in the USA offer GSM
services such as AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile
USA. He stressed GSM is already deployed in every country of the
Middle East region - CDMA is not deployed in any.

He noted GSM was installed in Afghanistan post-war by an
American company (TSI of New York) after a full tender process.

More than 20 Arab countries operate GSM networks that serve
60million customers in the region. However, since Iraq has been
under UN sanctions, it has not been able to purchase GSM
technology.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that Congressman Issa represents
the San Diego district of California, hometown of Qualcomm.
http://www.cmpnetasia.com/ViewArt.cfm?Artid=19229&Catid=5&subcat=48

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