NextWave Wireless announced plans to purchase a 69.23% stake in Japanese operator IPMobile to speed up the deployment of TD-CDMA technology, which is used by public safety in New York City.

TD-CDMA has long suffered from a lack of economies of scale. NextWave bought the technology’s developer, IPWireless, in April (see MRT May, page 18), but it hasn’t been clear how NextWave could jump-start the market for TD-CDMA equipment, despite the fact that the broadband wireless technology is commercially proven.

IPMobile secured spectrum in the 2 GHz band for mobile services in November 2005, along with Softbank and Emobile. Both of those companies have launched service, but IPMobile has struggled to find financing to deploy TD-CDMA, also called UMTS TDD, technology. Now IPMobile must launch service by November or risk losing its license. NextWave says it will work to meet that deadline.

According to Liz Kerton, executive director of the Global UMTS TDD Alliance, IPMobile is expected to cover Japan with up to 8000 base stations. She believes such a commitment to TD-CDMA should “kick production into high gear and bring major vendors into the ecosystem.”

Peter Jarich, analyst with Current Analysis, isn’t as confident. “Clearly, any new deal is a boon to the technology and bound to help bump scale up a bit,” Jarich said. “However, we still need to consider the magnitude and specifics of the deal. IPMobile is not a major operator. Their plans call for the deployment of ‘up to’ 8000 base stations. Will that be enough to entice big name network vendors to jump on board?”

NextWave thinks it will. According to Michael Gury, vice president of external relations with NextWave, a successful deployment by IPMobile “would bring benefits to a range of Japanese technology companies to grow as part of the TD-CDMA ecosystem.”

TD-CDMA is a standardized next-generation network technology that originally was anticipated to be rolled out in 2008, primarily to provide overflow capacity when wideband-CDMA FDD (frequency division duplex) channels reached capacity. But IPWireless accelerated the development and commercialization of the technology, creating a non-line-of-sight, high-capacity system designed as a replacement for DSL systems. The IPWireless solution uses TD-CDMA and multiple input/multiple output technology to deliver data rates of 8 Mb/s to 10 Mb/s download and 1 Mb/s to 2 Mb/s upload in a typical download-intensive environment. The technology also is likely to be an important part of the long-term evolution (LTE) standard, the next phase of the commercial 3G UMTS standard.

Last October, New York City officials awarded a five-year, $500 million contract to global defense company Northrop Grumman to build a broadband wireless public-safety network based on TD-CDMA. New York is using 10 MHz of licensed spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band obtained via lease agreements with Sprint Nextel, the nation’s largest holder of 2.5 GHz spectrum, and Trans Video Communications, owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

The technology also has been deployed commercially in a handful of countries, including the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Germany, South Africa, Sweden and the United States. Sprint Nextel had evaluated the technology, even investing $14 million in IPWireless, but ultimately went with WiMAX because it struggled with the lack of an ecosystem surrounding TD-CDMA.

However, Northrop Grumman has its sights on TD-CDMA. “Our view is that we picked the best technology for the requirements of the jurisdiction,” said Mark Adams, chief architect for Northrop Grumman, in a recent interview. “From a performance perspective, TD-CDMA can hold its own in capacity, latency and average data rates on the street. … TD-CDMA is certainly on our list.”

GLOBAL TD-CDMA DEPLOYMENTS

AUSTRALIA > IQ Networks

Spectrum: 1900-1920 MHz

Announced Date: January 2004

Announced Deployment: Townsville, Cairns

CZECH REPUBLIC > T-Mobile

Spectrum: 1900-1920 MHz

Announced Date: June 2005

Announced Deployment: Prague by end of 2005; nationwide in 2006

FRANCE > Orange

Spectrum: 2500-2686 MHz

Announced Date: March 2005

Announced Deployment: Lille

GERMANY > Airdata

Spectrum: 2500-2686 MHz

Announced Date: October 2003

Announced Deployment: Stuttgart

GREAT BRITAIN > UK Broadband

Spectrum: 3400-3600 MHz

Announced Date: December 2004

Announced Deployment: Thames Valley

INDONESIA > netZAP

Spectrum: 2053-2083 MHz

Announced Date: December 2006

Announced Deployment: Jakarta

JAPAN > IPMobile/NTT Communications

Spectrum: 2010-2025 MHz

Announced Date: October 2003

Announced Deployment: Tokyo Trial

KHAZAKSTAN > Aksoran

Spectrum: 2500-2686 MHz

Announced Date: September 2004 Licensed in Astana, Almaty and Atyrau

LITHUANIA > Atenit and Nelte

Spectrum: 3400-3600 MHz

Announced Date: March 2005

Announced Deployment: nationwide

MALAYSIA > Atlas One

Spectrum: 2500-2686 MHz

Announced Date: January 2003

Announced Deployment: national coverage

MALAYSIA > Maxis

Spectrum: 1900-1920 MHz

Announced Date: June 2004

Announced Deployment: Subang Jaya, USJ and Puchong

MOZAMBIQUE > EmilNet

Spectrum: 2053-2082Mhz

Announced Date: December 2004

Trial Deployment: Maputo

NEW ZEALAND > Woosh Wireless

Spectrum: 2053-2082 MHz

Announced Date: January 2003

Announced Deployment: Auckland live; national coverage in 2004-05

NIGERIA > Netcom Africa

Spectrum: 2500-2686 MHz

Announced Date: November 2004

Announced Deployment: Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano

SOUTH AFRICA > Sentech

Spectrum: 2500-2686 MHz

Announced Date: January 2004

Announced Deployment: Johannesburg, Midrand, Pretoria, Soweto, Durban and Cape Town

TANZANIA > Cats-Net

Spectrum: 1900-1910 MHz

Announced Date: June 2004

Announced Deployment: Dar-es-Salaam

UNITED STATES > Northrop Grumman

Spectrum: 2500MHz

Announced Date: October 2006

Announced Deployment: New York City