Australia Telstra might scrap CDMA mobile

Australia's Telstra is considering a plan to scrap a mobile-phone network used by more than 1 million residents of the remote outback.

Advocates for Australia's farmers say they are wary of plans to replace Telstra's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network with 3G service, which requires a higher level of infrastructure and might result in some sparsely populated areas losing their mobile service.

Analysts told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the next logical step would be conversion to wireless broadband rather than 3G.

The possible dropping of CDMA is part of Telstra's continuing move toward full privatization.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International