Seven in every eight commercial 3G/WCDMA operators have launched HSPA, according to the 3G/WCDMA-HSDPA Fact Sheet published today by GSA – the Global mobile Suppliers Association. 211 WCDMA operators have launched commercial services in 91 countries, of which 185 operators (87.6%) have also launched HSDPA – High Speed Downlink Packet Access.
HSDPA mobile broadband services are now commercially available in 80 countries. There are 103 commercial HSDPA operators in Europe, 36 in APAC, 24 in the Middle East and Africa region, and 22 in the Americas.
80 HSDPA operators commercially launched services during 2007, representing growth of 80%.
WCDMA is in use by over 72% of commercial 3G operators worldwide and is the technology of choice for delivery of mobile broadband services. HSDPA is the first evolution of WCDMA.
Evolution of network data speeds enabled by HSDPA is another key trend reported in the Fact Sheet. 116 commercial HSDPA operators, i.e. 62%, support downlink data speeds of 3.6 Mbps peak or higher, including 38 operators (over 20%) who have launched 7.2 Mbps peak or higher.
An evolution is also taking place in uplink data speeds. High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) services have been launched by 34 operators in 26 countries, with 24 additional deployments on-going.
HSPA (the term which embraces HSDPA and HSUPA) is driving mobile broadband services globally and is supported by the largest and most developed mobile broadband eco-system, which includes the greatest number of user devices supporting all market segments and frequency combinations. HSPA operators throughout the world are reporting strong subscription growth and increased profitably with HSPA.
GSA's research also notes that the majority of HSPA operators combine with GSM/EDGE for service continuity and the best user experience. 107 of 185 commercially launched HSDPA operators have also commercially launched EDGE.
WCDMA and HSPA are part of the evolutionary roadmap for GSM and the natural evolution path followed by GSM network operators worldwide. GSA calculates there are over 1.1 billion GSM, EDGE and WCDMA-HSPA subscribers in commercial HSPA-enabled networks worldwide.
WCDMA-HSPA key facts according to GSA:
– 211 commercial WCDMA operators in 91 countries
– WCDMA technology in use by over 72% of 293 commercial 3G operators
– Over 179 million WCDMA subscribers (Q4 07); 6.9 million monthly growth in 2H 07
– 80 million WCDMA subscriptions added in 2007 i.e. over 81% growth
– 220 HSDPA operator commitments in 92 countries; 185 operators launched
– 185 of 211 commercial WCDMA operators launched HSDPA (87.6% = 7 out of 8)
– 80 HSDPA operators commercially launched during 2007; annual growth of 80%
– Over 62% of commercial HSDPA operators support 3.6 Mbps peak or higher
– Over 20% of commercial HSDPA operators support 7.2 Mbps peak or higher
– 34 HSUPA operators commercially launched in 26 countries
– Over 1.1 billion GSM & WCDMA-HSDPA subscribers in HSDPA-enabled networks
– Over 800 WCDMA terminal devices launched in the market (October 2007)
– 403 HSDPA devices launched in the market by 80 suppliers (October 2007)