Mobile Unified Communications, WiFi, FMC, GSM, CDMA … Can You Hear Me Now?

By Rich Watson

A really interesting question came up via email in response to a recent NetworkWorld article on DiVitas, and we thought it would make for some good blog material. (See Mobile UC: The ultimate end game)

Email: Who is doing the mobile unified communications with CDMA? I have met with [another vendor] and they tell me it is only available via GSM. 

• Our response to the statement in this email: So not true!
• The answer to the question in this email (and why the previous statement isn't true): DiVitas Mobile UC most definitely supports CDMA.
• Our question to this other vendor: Why would you limit your solution (and your sales) by ignoring millions of subscribers? Why not just create a huge pile of money and have yourself a big bonfire? We are baffled by this squandered opportunity.

On a more serious note, it’s true that CDMA is the orphan cellular network, given that most of the world today uses GSM. It is estimated that CDMA has only 270 million subscribers worldwide (including half of the U.S., which is the largest country using CDMA). Compared with GSM, which is estimated to be over 1 billion, this is just a drop in the bucket.

But regardless of which number is the highest, there are apparently still enough (millions) faithful users in the U.S. that CDMA-based Verizon and Sprint are making a healthy living. (Note: CDMA may be primarily U.S.-deployed, but it’s a really big country). And the average American doesn’t have a clue which network-type they are using anyway. They just want the best deal on a reliable service.

Yes, other enterprise-based solutions and carrier-based FMC solutions have totally ignored the lonely CDMA networks. But DiVitas hasn’t. Conversely, our vendor- and carrier-agnostic architecture embraces all kinds of wireless services, and even supports mixed (GSM and CDMA) network sites.

Some day in the near future a CDMA-FMC consumer will be able to say “can you hear me now” over any wireless network – WiFi or cellular!