|
Wednesday, 03 October 2007 |
|
GSMA sees major HSPA growth…
According to new data from the GSM Association (GSMA) the number of mobile users with access to broadband services is increasing rapidly as operators upgrade their 3G networks with high speed packet access (HSPA) technology and roll out an array of advanced 3G handsets. Operators in Asia, Europe, North America and
Australia
are all reporting a surge in uptake of HSPA devices capable of accessing the Internet and other multimedia services at broadband speeds, typically ranging from 500kbits/s to 3Mbits/s.
The GSMA says KTF in
Korea
has acquired 1.7mn HSPA customers in just six months and Telstra in
Australia
passed the 1mn milestone in just 10 months. In the USA AT&T has more than 5mn 3G customers, the vast majority of whom have HSPA devices.
There are already more than 120 different HSPA handsets available worldwide and that figure is set to rise dramatically as operators rollout new models for the peak Christmas season in Europe and the USA. Vodafone, for example, has announced that it will add 10 new HSPA models to its handset range for Christmas 2007.
“Uptake of mobile broadband services is surging in many countries as consumers and business users see the benefit of having a high-speed connection available to them at all times,” calculates GSMA ceo Rob Conway. “We are witnessing the creation of a virtuous circle in which mobile broadband will achieve further economies of scale, driving down the cost of HSPA equipment and enabling more and more people to enjoy easy access to mobile multimedia services.”
In other HSPA news
China
’s Huawei Technologies has announced that it has successfully completed commercial technology testing for 'VoIP over HSPA' in
Shanghai
in cahoots with US CDMA pioneer Qualcomm. This is billed as the industry's first VoIP service display with an all- IP end-to-end solution that is based on a commercial chipset and an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based system platform. Huawei and Qualcomm’s efforts apparently indicate that VoIP over HSPA increases traffic capability by 50% in comparison with traditional voice communications technologies, and the suggestion is that VoIP over HSPA+ will increase capacity by 100%.
John Williamson |
