Sprint and U-Blox Partner for Long Term 2G CDMA Network Support

We live in a fast paced constantly moving forward world. You blink too long and you might miss something. By the time you get around to buying that new device, it will probably be obsolete. It is the mentality of looking for the next thing while leaving the first thing behind, simply because we don’t need it any more.

U.S. telecommunications provider, Sprint and Swiss-based provider of cellular modem modules, u-blox have announced a collaboration that expands Sprint’s commitment to the 2G (1xRTT) CDMA network. That’s right, I said 2G CDMA network!

Sprint Nextel is a U.S. based company that operates multiple wireline and wireless networks. It is a tier one global Internet service provider. By offering a comprehensive range of both wireline and wireless options, Sprint brings a certain freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. On the other hand, u-blox is a fabless semiconductor provided of embedded positioning and wireless communications components and software for several markets. These include industrial and automotive markets along with the consumer market. Fabless refers to a company that does not fabricate its own silicon wafers. Instead, it concentrates on the design and development of semiconductor chips.

Because Sprint believes in giving its customers network choices, it believes that machine to machine (M2M) customers should be able to choose or, if they want, combine 2G, 3G and 4G LTE capabilities. This would rely on their particular requirements. With this in mind, Sprint plans to maintain its 2G network capabilities for the long haul.

Both Sprint and u-blox believe that 2G continues to be an important option for business customers, including those that deploy M2M solutions as part of their service or product offerings. This allows Sprint’s business customers to extend the lifetime of their existing 2G M2M devices, seamlessly integrating them into the CDMA network.

Through the use of u-blox’s modems that have successfully been tested for compatibility with Sprint’s CDMA 1xRTT network, customers can continue to use Sprint’s 2G GSM networks in the U.S. The u-blox FW75-C200 modem is a pin-compatible replacement for the GSM modem MC75i as well as its alternatives. It is well suited to continue on 2G without having to migrate to much more expensive 3G and 4G modems.

Vice President of Sprint’s M2M group, Wayne Ward said, “Now is the opportune time for any customers migrating off GSM or designing new products for telematics, telemetry, automotive, and security applications to take advantage of Sprint’s 2G platform. Sprint’s Network Vision strategy enables ongoing 2G connectivity with the security and performance advantages of CDMA*, while also supporting a smooth path to CDMA 3G and LTE 4G for customers who choose that transition. We are pleased to collaborate with u-blox to bring these options to 2G-embedded M2M customers.”

Nikolaos Papadopoulos, president of u-blox America added, “We are proud to have been selected as the preferred provider by Sprint. It will allow customers to leverage Sprint’s impressive CDMA coverage in the US. Forced migration from 2G GSM to HSPA can now be avoided, given Sprint’s commitment to 2G longevity of the CDMA network. Should customers still want to offer their devices in 2G and 3G, we at u-blox have already prepared for this parallel track with our nested-design module philosophy for 2G/3G platforms, where customers can select the inexpensive CDMA SMT modem LISA-C200.”

The idea behind the Sprint network vision is to improve Sprint 2G coverage, capacity and reliability. This is necessary since M2M and other emerging solutions can involve a variety of different transmission speeds. On a long term basis, Sprint expects to be able to work in conjunction with all of these network platforms.