14 DAY TRIAL // Qualcomm Incorporated unveiled its new mobile phone chipset, RTR6570, the first to provide support for WCDMA (UMTS) and CDMA2000 wireless services in the yet to come 700 Mhz frequency band. The new product is a CMOS quad-band, single-chip transceiver that will also support any other frequency band available in the US, including 850 Mhz, 1900 MHz and 1700/2100MHz.
"Qualcomm is pleased to offer the first CMOS transceiver solution offering support for 700 MHz, meeting the needs of any of our customers who will be designing either CDMA2000 or WCDMA (UMTS) devices in that spectrum", said Steve Brown, senior director of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. "The RTR6570 will help to ensure the availability of devices when the first services in 700 MHz launch, helping accelerate the commercialization of new application possibilities for wireless users."
Qualcomm's new chip will surely be of interest for the companies that bid on next year's FCC auction for the 700MHz spectrum. It is known that Google will bid on the auction and rumors say that Apple also wants to bid.
The announced RTR6570 comes after Qualcomm released information about its other advanced chips, like the 1GHz one from the Snapdragon chipsets series for next-generation handsets. RTR6570 will power, among other handsets, devices that enable public safety agencies to deploy broadband network services in the 700 MHz frequency spectrum. The Qualcomm Cell Site Modem CSM6800 for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B base stations already supports the 700 MHz frequency band, offering a complete solution for the CDMA2000 services in this spectrum.
The RTR6570 transceiver should be available in the second half of 2008, ready to power the 3G phones with 700Mhz compatibility from 2009. Its availability coincides with the recently announced "Any Apps, Any Device" option that Verizon Wireless will offer to subscribers via its mobile network.