Universal Wireless Communications Consortium

04/06/98 In a move that might disappoint CDMA advocates, the TDMA technology group UWCC placed itself as the second leading technology behind GSM. "Our research indicates that this is a three-horse technology race, with TDMA clearly in second place behind the de facto European standard of GSM," said Mike Buhrmann, president of the UWCC. quot;Too often, TDMA is left out of the technology debate," Buhrmann added. UWCC said the technology will have 18.5 million subs by the end of this year and 115 million subs during the next five years.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 1998--

The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) announced today the annual growth of worldwide telephony subscribers using the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) air interface will be more than 100 percent in 1998 at 18.5 million subscribers.

Estimates show that TDMA subscribers will grow to 115 million subscribers during the next five years.

Consortium research indicates that TDMA had 9.2 million worldwide subscribers at year-end 1997. It anticipates the number of subscribers will grow to 18.5 million subscribers by end of 1998; 35 million by the end of 1999; 58 million by the end of 2000; 82 million by the end of 2001; and 115 million by the end of 2002.

As of December, UWCC subscribers using TDMA in North America are 4 million and the number is anticipated to grow to 8.5 million by this December; 16.1 million by year-end 1999; 22.5 million by year-end 2000; 32.3 million by year-end 2001; and 42.2 million by year-end 2002.

"Our research indicates that this is a three-horse technology race, with TDMA clearly in second place behind the de facto European standard of GSM," said Mike Buhrmann, president of the UWCC. "Too often, TDMA is left out of the technology debate. The reality is that we have been quietly optimizing our networks and planning for the future. TDMA systems are now in 70 countries throughout the world, with almost complete coverage in North and South America."

The UWCC attributes the success of TDMA to its voice clarity with the new ACELP vocoder; the introduction of dual-band, dual-mode phones; its increased capacity; its global footprint; and its newly introduced migration path to Third Generation, UWC-136.

"The increasing market take-up of TDMA (IS-136) reflects the accelerated digital transition together with the continuing maturity of the technology. As important, it exemplifies that all three leading digital technologies will find a foundation for Third Generation services," said Dr. Herschel Shosteck, president and CEO, Herschel Shosteck Associates.

The UWCC represents 90 telecommunications carriers and vendors of wireless products and services. The consortium is dedicated to supporting TDMA (IS-136), a digital air interface complemented by the Wireless Intelligent Network (WIN IS-41). The UWCC is a limited liability company formed in 1996 in Washington State. For more information, contact the UWCC at 425/372-8922.