The "3G/HSDPA Operators" survey published today by GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association, is said to underline the continuing expansion of HSPA-enabled mobile broadband networks worldwide, and evolution of network data speeds.
HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is the first evolution of 3G/WCDMA, delivering advanced mobile multimedia services and typical user throughputs of 800 kbps to 3.0 Mbps, depending on individual networks and device capabilities.
The GSA survey confirms that 138 HSDPA networks have commercially launched services in 66 countries, compared to 58 commercial launches (in 37 countries) reported by GSA exactly 12 months ago. A further 47 HSDPA networks are currently in deployment, for a total of 185 HSDPA operator commitments in 81 countries, an increase of 54% on 120 commitments a year ago.
The survey confirms that HSDPA services are now commercially available in the Americas (8 countries), Asia Pacific (12 countries), the Middle East/Africa (9 countries), and Europe (37 countries). HSDPA is commercially available today in 26 of the 27 countries which together comprise the European Union.
While most HSDPA networks initially support 1.8 Mbps data (peak) for a typical mobile broadband user experience of 0.8 – 1.5 Mbps, the survey notes a strong trend of evolution in network data speed. 66 HSDPA networks with capabilities to deliver 3.6 Mbps (peak) or greater in the downlink direction have now commercially launched, an increase of 120% on the number 6 months ago. This includes 12 networks that have commercially launched 7.2 Mbps (peak) services, a key step in the planned evolution to
14.4 Mbps (peak) for many operators by end 2007.
High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) increases the uplink data throughput to typically 1.45 Mbps (peak) initially, subsequently evolving to 5.8 Mbps (peak). The survey identifies 11 HSUPA networks have now commercially launched: in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and the UK.
The majority of HSPA network operators also deploy GSM/EDGE for service continuity and the best user experience of mobile broadband services. 80 of the 138 commercially launched HSDPA operators (i.e. 58%) have also commercially launched GSM/EDGE in their networks.
GSA estimates that there are over 850 million GSM, WCDMA and HSDPA subscribers in HSDPA-enabled networks worldwide.