Leap Forges 3G Pact on EVDO Rev. A

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Leap Forges 3G Pact on EVDO Rev. A

By Susan Rush
August 15, 2006
NEWS@2 DIRECT

Leap Wireless International is calling on Huawei Technologies to help power its Cricket-branded 3G services in three states. The deal marks the first time Leap and Huawei have partnered on a commercial project.

Under the terms of the deal, Huawei will deliver its CDMA2000 network with 1X EV-DO Rev. A-capable base station. Specifically, Huawei will supply its SoftX3000-Softswitch, Air Bridge BSC6600, UMG8900-Universal Media Gateway and high capacity BTS 3606. The network deployment will enable simultaneous support of EV-DO and Rev. A technology, Leap says.

The Huawei equipment will be used in Spokane, Wash.; Boise, Idaho; and Reno, Nev. Leap's other EV-DO partners include Nortel and Lucent Technologies.

Leap Wireless recently reported second quarter earnings of $7.5 million, or 12 cents per share. Revenue increased 18 percent year over year to $267.9 million. The company says it attracted 58,000 new customers in the second quarter to end the period with 1.8 million subscribers. Leap offers wireless services under its Cricket and Jump Mobile brands.

The financial details of the Huawei agreement were not released.

Huawei has been busy this summer. In July, the company was selected as one of the suppliers of IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) network infrastructure and applications for Magyar Telekom's T-Mobile and T-Com business lines in Hungary. In June, the company joined the ZigBee Alliance.
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EVDO Addict.