CDMA vs. GSM in Post-war Iraq

An anonymous reader submits: "Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is pressing congress to favor CDMA over GSM for mobile phone service in U.S.-funded reconstruction plans. One reason for pushing this is that a CDMA system would benefit American companies, such as California-based Qualcomm, while GSM would favor European companies. Currently, GSM is the most widely used mobile standard in surrounding countries."

Comments

Re:hah!

[Ken@WearableTech]

FOOD, WATER, MEDICINE! Don't you know that free anytime minutes are the key to modern life?

Re:hah!

[Azureflare]

What? They don't need food, or water, or medicine! They're poor people! They can survive on cardboard and sand! Sheesh, didn't you know that??? We all know how important cellphones are to life!!!! OMG I would die without my cellphone!!! And I don't eat any food either, I just take in my nutrients through osmosis!!

Oh, and I'm also a plasmoid being from a distant solar system.

Re:Talk about counting chickens

[sheldon]

"Can I be on the occupied Iraq new currency designing committee?"

Too late, the Bush Dinar has already been designed.

Re:Well...

[Teese]

If this is going to be US funded I thinks it's okay to favor US companies

yay! To better position American companies they are also going to change the system of measurement from metric to US Standard (whatever the hell its called). Little does the world know, this is just the first step to rid us of the wimpy french metric system.

after all, there's no reason the Iraqi people need any input in these kind of decisions...

Re:Well, too bad for them

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Have there ever been a post on Slashdot that say anything negative of the US that hasn't set you off into another raving rant in less than five minutes after it was posted?

I'm not perfect. I've probably let one or two slip through. ;-)

Re:Yay

[Qrlx]

We're not nearly done killing people, and we're already planning ways to fuck them by pushing inferior wireless standards on them.

Not only that, Iraqis will be forced to get their Internet access from either AOL or MSN, depending on which gets me better karma for this post.

Oh Goody!

[Lucky Kevin]

Now I can get a phone that will work both in the States AND in Iraq! I just can't wait!

No thanks, I'll just stick to my world-wide GSM phone.

Re:Competition or GSM

[acb]

Cell-phone interoperability would be a huge boon -- so it would be great if the whole region used one standard.

Exactly. Which is why we need to liberate Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria next, and help them standardise on CDMA.

Btw, what are they using in Afghanistan now?

What's next?

[batlock]

Will the US force Iraq to switch to the imperial system? Because, ya know, the metric system was invented by the French.

Re:.. not our choice

[Anonymous Coward]

"Shocking. Invade a country and then try to sell them mobiles :O :D Blimey."

If we here in Finland had known this side of the plan we would be in the front line with the US troops ;-)

Re:Yay

[hplasm]

In other news, industrialists announce plans to build factories in post war Iraq. These are expected to produce goods for internal use only, and are expected to include NTSC Tv's, Betamax VCRs and the Ford Edsel, renamed the Liberator.