‘Super 3G’ group looks at future alternatives

A consortium of 200 wireless vendors and operators – including international cellular giants NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone – has begun a study to determine the feasibility of defining a standard that supports wireless download speeds as high as 100mbps. The ‘3G Partnership Project’ group will undertake the study, due for completion in June 2006, to look at possibilities for the long term evolution of W-CDMA technology and to define relevant future technologies and spectrum requirements. Specifications for a so-called ‘Super 3G’ standard could follow by June 2007. The research represents a split in strategies between some of the world’s major wireless players, with Samsung recently announcing it was taking a completely different route to wireless development by joining the ‘WiMAX Forum’ group, and Qualcomm developing plans for the spread of CDMA2000.