CDMA CERTIFICATION FORUM (CCF) TO SHOWCASE COMPELLING NEW CERTIFICATION PROCESS AT CTIA WIRELESS 2007 SHOW

Global Non-Profit Encourages Wireless Test Engineers, Product Managers and CTO’s to see firsthand how CCF test process results in faster time to market at lower cost

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 26, 2007) - - The CDMA Certification Forum (CCF), a global non-profit playing a critical role in ensuring that CDMA2000 devices come to market faster and at a lower cost than ever before, today announced that it will showcase compelling new visuals highlighting its value proposition at the CTIA Wireless show, March 27-29, 2007 in Orlando, Fla. in booth #835.

CCF encourages wireless test engineers, product managers and chief technical officers of service providers and device manufacturers to visit the booth and visually see firsthand how its test process results in a faster time to market at a lower cost with increased test coverage than their current test processes.

"We are very proud of our success, which last year included saving the industry $14 million and 10 years labor," said CCF President Thomas Erickson. "We look forward to speaking with more Tier 1 Operators and vendors about how we can increase their test efficiency; reduce their test costs and speed time to market in their overall testing process."

In just its first full year of testing, CCF’s streamlined global certification process certified 35 CDMA2000 devices, which represented about 40 percent of certified devices that hit the market last year. Vendors saved on average 12 weeks of time, as compared to current processes, while vendors also saved as much as $400,000 in certification costs, not including their own engineering labor, per device tested. Operators saved on average six weeks of engineering process time in acceptance testing as compared to current standards. Of the 35 devices certified by CCF, many of them are currently in use in multiple markets after passing standard CCF Laboratory (CCF-L) certification lab testing. All CCF certified devices meet the requisite product conformance, network interoperability, and essential performance specifications dictated by international standards bodies.

Launched in late 2005, a total of 16 operators and vendors have so far adopted the CCF process and a total of 43 devices from 11 vendors are now certified. Now entering just its second full year of existence, CCF is gaining momentum in the industry. Other vendors to place their trust in CCF test processes include Axxestel, Haier, Huawei, Kyocera, Motorola, Sungil, Telian and ZTE. Additional operator members of the CCF are such well-recognized companies as Movicel, Sasktel, Telus, US Cellular and Verizon. 

The CCF test is an evolutionary step forward from the existing CDMA Development Group (CDG) test process, and it is working closely with the CDG to create a single and evolved test process. In the interim, CCF continues to work to improve product quality, reduce costs, accelerate time-to-market and improve the end-user experience, with CDG’s Global Handset Requirements (GHRC) for CDMA defining the features and functional requirements that drive the CCF test coverage.

CCF welcomes operators to submit their devices for a "test drive" of its streamlined global certification process. For more information, please visit us on the Web at globalccf.org. 

About CCF
Every day the CDMA Certification Forum (CCF) is playing a critical role in ensuring that CDMA2000 devices come to market faster and at a lower cost than ever before. Its streamlined global certification process, which saved the industry $14 million and 10 years labor in 2006, certifies that CDMA2000 devices meet the requisite product conformance, network interoperability, and essential performance specifications dictated by international standards bodies. A critical partnership between CDMA operators and CDMA device vendors, CCF is a global non-profit organization with members companies from Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and North America. Founding members include Motorola, Nokia, QUALCOMM, Telstra, U.S. Cellular and Via Telecom. For more information about the CCF, visit the CCF Web site at globalccf.org or contact the CDG News Bureau.

CONTACT:
CDMA Certification Forum
Joe Connor,

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