Hong Kong's mobile-phone standards generally are lumped into one of two camps - PCS (personal communications system) and GSM (global systems for mobile).
A small number of subscribers use alternate standards, such as Hongkong Telecom's TDMA (time division multiple access) network and Hutchsion Telecom's CDMA (code division multiple access) system, both of which offer rock-bottom tariffs without the comprehensive service options available to PCS and GSM.
Now, the CDMA Development Group (CDG), a 100-member group of operators and telecommunications equipment vendors, is trying to make inroads in Asia with the US-developed CDMA standard, as the regional telecommunications markets opens and next-generation applications attract interest.
Group representatives in Asia include Nortel Networks, Motorola, Lucent Technologies, Qualcomm and Hutchison Telecom.
'We are not pro-CDMA or pro-GSM,' said Desmond Cheung, Hutchison senior manager of radio network CDMA. He said group member companies had investments in both mobile technologies.
Most of Europe, Southeast Asia, and parts of the US - comprising about half of all mobile-phone users - use GSM. But CDMA has drawn more attention in Asia since the mainland approved its use in China Unicom's wireless network.