Telecom Italia Mobile has begun overlaying GSM on its main TDMA networks (A and B bands in Paraná, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais and eight Northeastern states between Bahia and Piauí). The move was announced Tuesday, March 11, by Hélder Azevedo, TIM?s corporate sales director, when he unveiled special plans to be offered by TIM Business. TIM hasn?t yet signed contracts with suppliers so it won?t disclose their names. There will be three all told. One is Ericsson, which is also supplying GSM infrastructure for PCS in metropolitan São Paulo. Another will probably be Nokia, which in the past has supplied GSM equipment to telcos in the interior of São Paulo State. The third will be either Alcatel or Siemens. Siemens supplied TIM?s networks in Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. TIM?s TDMA operations serve some 5 million customers in Brazil.
GSM vs. CDMA
