Las Vegas — UTStarcom’s personal communications group is showcasing its first three mobile devices that operate in the new AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum, which consists of the 1700MHz and 2100MHz bands. All are or will be available in the spring to consumers.
All three, dubbed “triband” models by the company, are CDMA 1x EV-DO models that operate in the U.S. 850/1900MHz bands and in the AWS spectrum.
One of the phones, the CDM7126, became available to consumers in March through Leap Wireless at $119 in Tulsa, Okla., where AWS service hadn’t yet been turned on. The carrier plans to turn on AWS spectrum in new markets to complement its 1.9GHz markets.
The CDM7126, a 3.5-inch by 1.8-inch by 0.7-inch phone, features a metallic case with external indicators that alert users of incoming calls and messages when the phone is closed. The Bluetooth-equipped handset comes with speakerphone, polyphonic ringtones, text messaging, voice recognition, predictive text input, Web browsing, ringtone and graphics downloading, five hours of talktime and 10 days of standby.
The next AWS phone is the clamshell CDM7176, which adds VGA camera and BREW technology, used by Verizon Wireless to download applications over the air.
The third device is a wireless USB model with theoretical 3.1Mbps upload speeds and 1.8Mbps download speeds.
