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GSA upgrades HSDPA status |
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Sunday, 20 July 2008 |
More than 200 HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) systems worldwide have launched commercial mobile broadband services, according to the latest research published today by GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association. The GSA survey: ‘HSPA Operator Commitments’ confirms 207 HSDPA networks have launched in 89 countries. This compares with 126 commercial HSDPA networks in 63 countries reported by GSA 12 months previously. Today there are 110 commercial HSDPA operators in Europe, 44 in APAC, 26 in the Middle East and Africa region, and 27 in the
Americas and
Caribbean. A further 35 HSDPA networks in 10 additional countries are in various stages of deployment. The majority of WCDMA-HSPA systems operate in the IMT-2000 core band (2100MHz) although HSPA is deployed today in several additional frequency bands i.e. 850, 900, 1700, 1800, and 1900MHz to meet all market requirements.
There is considerable momentum for WCDMA-HSPA deployments in the lower frequency bands i.e. 850MHz and 900MHz to leverage coverage improvements, performance and cost efficiencies. Several commercial HSPA systems are successfully operating in the 850MHz band throughout the Americas and Australia, and 3 commercial HSPA systems are now launched in the 900MHz band (often referred to as UMTS 900) in Estonia, Finland and Thailand, with several more in deployment.
A significant evolution is also taking place on the uplink. 51 operators in 35 countries, compared to 26 commercial systems 6 months ago, have now launched HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) services, with an additional 17 HSUPA networks in deployment.
Europe has 38, i.e. the highest number of commercial HSUPA systems, representing 100% increase in less than 6 months. Most HSUPA networks initially support up to approximately 2Mbits/s peak, and some networks are now introducing 5.76Mbits/s peak capability.
www.gsacom.com |
