What are cellular carriers paying for digital handsets?
An informal poll of carriers conducted by MOBILE PHONE NEWS found that carriers generally are paying between $400 and $600 for code division multiple access (CDMA). Wholesale prices provided by respondents for the CDMA handsets ranged from as low as $369 to as high as $635. Carriers choosing the IS-136 time division multiple access (TDMA) air interface are paying an average of $300 for those handsets. Actual wholesale prices for the TDMA handsets provided by those carriers polled ranged from as low as $225 on up to $350 for some of the newer models. So now that carriers are rolling out digital networks, what degree of education will be necessary to ensure that customers are aware of the advantages of digital? Yankee Group conducted a survey of 616 U.S. cellular users last year that found 67 percent did not even know if digital service was available to them. Redman said that other results of the survey supported the idea that subscribers do not know the difference between analog and dig
