NEWS
Hybrid phones could also have an impact on mobile phone company mergers, which would no longer be limited by the kind of standards considerations that came into play in the proposed merger of AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless -- both GSM carriers.
Signs of how dual-mode phones might play into mergers and partnerships between CDMA and GSM carriers can be glimpsed in recent efforts from Verizon Wireless to market a hybrid phone.
Verizon Wireless believes the phones could strengthen its relationship with UK-based Vodafone Group, a GSM carrier that owns Verizon Wireless jointly with CDMA partner Verizon Communications.
Vodafone has since wrestled with some of the downsides of working across standards with its US partner. For example, its predominantly European clientele must rent CDMA phones when travelling in Verizon's coverage area.
In a further sign of its discontent with Verizon, Vodafone tried to snap up GSM network AT&T Wireless when the carrier put itself up for sale last year. That bid failed, however, and GSM network Cingular Wireless walked away with the prise.
"The fact that Vodafone is one of our parent companies played a big role" in the decision to begin selling a hybrid phone, a Verizon Wireless representative said.
The phones could also put a new twist on roaming agreements -- the terms carriers reach with competitors so that subscribers can make or receive calls in each other's markets. With the broad adoption of CDMA/GSM phones, a GSM carrier would be free to consider deals with CDMA networks, bringing new competition to the market.
Not everyone agrees that dual-mode phones are a harbinger of major industry changes, however.
Executives at European carrier Orange and at T-Mobile USA said the wireless industry has coalesced around domestic and regional markets, offering few opportunities for synergies on a big international scale implied by melding GSM and CDMA.
"I just can't see a lot of carriers selling these phones," said Steve Glagow, director of group business development and partnerships at Orange.
Dual-mode phones unveiled
Sceptics aside, at least one carrier appears to be placing a big bet on the hybrid network. China Unicom has said that it's picking up on mixed standards because it wants the best of both worlds: the faster wireless data of CDMA and GSM's omnipresent voice coverage.
The company officially unveiled the first of its Worldwind dual-mode mobile phones at a launch ceremony on 5 August. Devices presented at the event included the Motorola A860, Samsung's SCH-W109 and LG's W800. The company, which announced at the time that it is buying 500,000 hybrid handsets, plans to use those phones to woo businesses in CDMA countries with ties to China, where carriers have made GSM the dominant standard.
China Unicom has already invited various Latin American and US operators and handset vendors to Beijing to discuss forming an alliance for CDMA handset purchases.
"We have resolved to be a first-class global enterprise -- our ultimate goal with our international strategy is to leverage our CDMA technology worldwide," Wang Jiangzhou, China Unicom's chief executive, said in a statement accompanying the phone announcement.
He added that sales of hybrid handsets are outpacing supply. "We're facing a shortage of Worldwind phones. It's been selling so well that we don't have enough stock to meet customers' demands," he said.
