70 operators now have EDGE up and running
A survey from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has found that there are now 70 operators in Europe with EDGE networks either operational or in deployment, putting the continent at the top of the list of deployments.
EDGE, which is increasingly being used to infill areas of non-WCDMA coverage, is now deployed in 61 combined WCDMA-EDGE networks globally, compared to 23 a year ago. 31 of the 61 networks are now actually in service.
EDGE offers typical user data speeds of around 120-160kbps, lifting it above GPRS. Operators initially baulked at being asked to re-upgrade their GPRS networks, viewing EDGE as a solution for an operator who didn’t intend going all the way to 3G. But the survey clearly shows, with 70 European operators in deployment, that the decision to make the upgrade was made for them by the user experience degradation between 3G and GPRS.
The survey also confirms that 185 operators in 96 countries are deploying GSM/EDGE, compared with 128 networks at end 2004 (44% growth). For the first time Europe has more EDGE networks operational or in deployment than any other region, the breakdown being Europe (70 operators), Americas and Caribbean (69), Asia (26) and Middle East/Africa (20). EDGE is being rolled out, or in service in 36 countries in Europe, followed by the Americas/Caribbean (34), Asia (14), and Middle East/Africa (12).
135 GSM/EDGE networks globally have now entered commercial service, i.e. growth of 90% (71 commercial networks end 2004).