The latest ‘HSDPA Operator Commitments’ survey undertaken by vendor trade association GSA - Global mobile Suppliers Association, confirms that 100 HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) networks, an increase of 100% in 6 months, are in deployment or commercially launched in 49 countries and territories worldwide. Alan Hadden, President, GSA said: “Several recent announcements underline the quickening pace of commercialisation and market take up. This new survey confirms that 30 HSDPA networks have commercially launched services in 23 countries/territories, delivering the full broadband experience to subscribers. We expect the number of commercial HSDPA networks will more than double to 63 by end 2006. All WCDMA networks are expected to activate the HSDPA upgrade.” HSDPA services are now commercially available in Austria, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Madeira, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the USA.

A related GSA survey ‘HSDPA Devices’ confirms that the number of user devices supporting HSDPA and announced in the market has reached 39 (up from 25 in February 2006, i.e. 56% growth in 3 months) from 13 suppliers. The total of 39 HSDPA devices comprises 14 mobile phones, 15 PCMCIA PC data cards, 7 PCI Express Mini Cards (suitable for integrating into laptops and other portable multimedia devices), and products for addressing wireless ADSL opportunities.
www.gsacom.com