There are three predominant wireless standards in the U.S.: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). There are also at least two 3G standards in the works: W-CDMA and CDMA2000.
Europe relies entirely on GSM, which some analysts say is superior to the U.S. approach because of the uniformity of the network. The push for 3G in Japan is especially pronounced. Analysts say that's because Japan has so many nonstandard proprietary systems and radio spectrum is being used up.
Service in the U.S. is fragmented because the Federal Communications Commission originally sold separate digital wireless licenses in dozens of markets, mainly to generate income for the government, says Alan Reiter, an analyst at Wireless Internet and Mobile Computing in Chevy Chase, Md.
"The FCC did the American public a disservice by issuing licenses in each market, so we have three standards and don't have coverage or penetration," he says. "The FCC certainly could have issued half a dozen licenses for nationwide service, but didn't."
But some analysts say the FCC's actions were aimed at promoting competition.
| TECHNOLOGY | FEATURES | ||
| First-generation wireless | AMPS | Advanced Mobile Phone Service | |
| Second-generation wireless | CDMA | Code Division Multiple Access | |
| TDMA | Time Division Multiple Access | ||
| GSM | Global System for Mobile Communications | ||
| PDC | Personal digital cellular | ||
| Third-generation wireless | W-CDMA | Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access | |
| CDMA-2000 | Based on the Interim Standard-95 CDMA standard | ||
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