3G overview

According to ABI Research, 3G subscriptions are forecast to hit 285 million by the end of 2006. That number includes WCDMA/UMTS and CDMA 2000 technologies. "Operators' overall capital expenditure will grow for the fourth year to reach $126bn (or an average of $31.5bn per year), and annual 3G-related handset shipments should pull past 300m”. WCDMA will continue to keep the pressure on, and as end-users replace their GSM handsets, many will default to purchasing a W-CDMA handset. WCDMA is expected to overhaul CDMA2000 by about 2012.