So what's one of the main differences between W-CDMA/HSDPA and CDMA 1x EV-DO? Cingular's CTO Kris Rinne has been touting it for a while, and now it looks like the operator is looking to capitalize on the difference. W-CDMA/HSDPA allows Cingular to support both voice and data in the same spectrum on a per time slot basis, while EV-DO requires a CDMA operator to dedicate spectrum just to data with the simultaneous voice and data capability to be solved with VoIP when EV-DO Rev. A comes. Folks sort of dismissed the difference, but now it looks like Cingular is planning a real service around simultaneous voice and data. The operator plans to offer a real-time video-chat service to users within the next year that will allow them to share videos with each other while they continue their conversation. It will be interesting to see if simultaneous voice and data will become a big advantage down the road. Cingular has historically de-emphasized the need for VoIP in the W-CDMA network primarily because of the ability to run both voice and data in the same channel.
For more about Cingular's plan to offer simultaneous voice and data service:
- read this article from All Headline News