CDMA Subscriber Base Reaches 475 Million Worldwide

(Top News, 27 Nov 2008)

The CDMA Development Group (CDG) has announced that subscribers to the CDMA family of technologies are at 475 million worldwide, continuing a growth trend toward half a billion subscribers fueled by rapid growth in both developed and emerging markets. The CDMA2000 subscriber base added 13 million users during the third quarter of 2008 to exceed 463 million, while CDMA2000 1xEV-DO grew by 5 million net subscribers to more than 105 million users.

CDMA2000 subscriptions grew at pace of 15.7 percent between September 2007 and September 2008. Asia-Pacific accounts for almost 53 percent of the global CDMA market, adding more than 47.2 million new CDMA2000 subscribers during the same period. North America (including the U.S. and Canada) saw an addition of 16 million new CDMA2000 users over the year and, with over 145 million subscribers, CDMA now accounts for more than 52 percent of the wireless market in the region. Europe, the Middle East and Africa continues to be the most rapidly-growing region for CDMA, adding more than 14 million CDMA2000 subscribers in the past year, representing a 125 percent growth rate. This is a strong testimonial to the value of CDMA2000 and its growth in emerging markets underserved by wireline voice and data services.

"CDMA continues to grow at a consistent and healthy pace around the world, particularly in emerging markets that are seeing the value proposition that CDMA2000 services provide," says Perry LaForge, Executive Director of the CDG. "Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia are seeing impressive demand for EV-DO, as economies of scale enable the delivery of more affordable mobile broadband services. We expect to see similar uptake in China and India as operators begin offering EV-DO Rev. A services in early 2009."

CDMA operators worldwide added over 22 million EV-DO users from September 2007 to September 2008, representing a 27 percent annual increase. With more than 105 million subscribers, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is the leading mobile broadband technology worldwide, with 124 operators in 62 countries offering high-speed CDMA services. About 48 of these operators have deployed CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A networks to offer advanced mobile broadband services, and another 35 operators are in the process of deploying the industry-leading solution to receive the substantial revenue being generated by most current Rev. A operators. Europe, the Middle East and Africa saw an increase of almost 3 million EV-DO subscribers, a dramatic rise from less than 1 million subscribers a year ago. North American operators continued impressive gains with more than 15 million subscribers at a 36 percent growth rate, while Asia-Pacific users increased by 12 percent.

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