Contact Information: Contact: Vicki Livingston 3G Americas 262 242 3458
HSPA Acceleration: HSPA+ at 21, 28, 42 and Now 84 Mbps
42 HSPA+ Operators Reported Across the Globe
| Source: 3G Americas
BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - February 10, 2010) - HSPA is on adrenaline; network deployments of
HSPA+ are rapidly increasing and throughput speeds are hitting new high
levels. 3G Americas, a wireless industry trade association representing the
GSM family of technologies including LTE, reports that 42 of the 303
HSPA operators worldwide have upgraded their networks to
HSPA+. HSPA technology has received widescale support from leading
manufacturers; one vendor recently announced plans to showcase live
demonstrations of HSPA+ at peak theoretical throughput rates of 84 Mbps at the upcoming 2010 Mobile World Congress
in Barcelona.
"3G Americas has been at the forefront of supporting HSPA+ for years; our
members recognized early on the clear advantages of leveraging HSPA
investments with new features and techniques that could provide greater
speed and efficiency," said Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas. "We
are encouraged by the tremendous efforts made by 3GPP in researching and
developing the standards so successfully and it is gratifying to see HSPA+
continue its commercial deployment success."
In February 2009, Telstra in Australia launched the first 3GPP Release 7
HSPA+ network, which utilized the 850 MHz frequency-band and offered data
cards. One month later, mobilkom Austria launched HSPA+ in the 2100 MHz
band; both operators offered peak theoretical downlink speeds of 21 Mbps.
HSPA+ networks are sometimes deployed with MIMO antenna systems providing
yet another upgrade in performance benefits. In July 2009, TIM Italy
launched the world's first Release 7 HSPA+ network using MIMO and offering
peak theoretical download speeds of 28 Mbps.
Achieving another milestone for HSPA+, Telstra was the first operator in
the world to test the HSPA+ dual-carrier 42 Mbps mobile broadband
technology outside of vendor laboratories in December 2009 and has been
working on a software upgrade to deploy the Release 8 technology across its
network. By the end of 2009, there were 38 commercial HSPA+ networks
reported in 24 countries, including the first launch of HSPA+ in North
America by Rogers Wireless in Canada and the first launch of HSPA+ in the
U.S. by T-Mobile and Bend Broadband.
Telstra, mobilkom Austria and Rogers, early innovators of HSPA+, will
present their network experiences February 17 at the
HSPA+ and LTE Mobile Broadband Building Global Momentum seminar offered
by the GSMA and moderated by 3G Americas during Mobile World Congress.
Mike Roberts, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media remarked,
"HSPA+ adoption will accelerate as the technology matures, leading to more
than 285 million HSPA+ subscribers globally by the end of 2014. That will
represent 10 percent of the 2.8
billion UMTS-HSPA-HSPA+-LTE mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide
that year."
The flexibility of the evolution from HSPA to HSPA+ offers operators the
ability to maximize their existing network assets while continuing
future evolutions of HSPA+ to deliver even higher peak theoretical
throughput rates. Commercial HSPA+ speeds are approaching the highest
mobile broadband speeds offered worldwide with LTE technology by
TeliaSonera in Sweden and Norway. Advantages of HSPA+ include its
cost-efficient scaling of the network for rapidly growing data traffic
volumes, ability to work with all HSPA devices, and improved end-user
experience by reducing latency. It is expected that a majority of the 303
HSPA operators will chose to deploy HSPA+.
"LTE is a clear choice as a next-generation technology for operators that
have spectrum available," Pearson commented. "It is great, therefore, to
see HSPA+ deploying globally and offering operators vast improvements to
their existing networks while utilizing their existing assets. Likewise, we
are further encouraged by the strong support from leading equipment
manufacturers throughout the entire ecosystem."
Of the more than 1,800 commercial HSPA devices from 163 suppliers that have
been made available worldwide since the technology's launch (GSM
Association, February 2010), there are currently 32 HSPA+-enabled devices
from 11 suppliers. HSPA+-enabled smartphones are expected to be announced
during Mobile World Congress with emergence in the market in the first
quarter of 2010.
For more information on HSPA and HSPA+ visit www.3gamericas.org. The
recently published 3G Americas white paper,
3GPP Mobile Broadband Innovation Path to 4G: Release 9, Release 10 and
Beyond: HSPA+, SAE/LTE and LTE-Advanced, provides a detailed
explanation of the opportunities available to operators and is available
for free download.
About 3G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Wireless Technology
3G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of
telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's
mission is to promote, facilitate and advocate for the deployment and
adoption of the GSM family of technologies including LTE throughout the
Americas. 3G Americas has contributed to the successful commercial rollout
of GSM across the Americas and its place as the No. 1 technology in the
region, as well as the global adoption of EDGE. The organization aims to
develop the expansive wireless ecosystem of networks, devices, and
applications enabled by GSM and its evolution to LTE. 3G Americas is
headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., with an office for Latin America and the
Caribbean in Dallas. More information is available at www.3gamericas.org.
3G Americas' Board of Governors members include Alcatel-Lucent, América
Móvil, Andrew Solutions, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Ericsson, Gemalto, Huawei,
HP, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Openwave, Research In Motion (RIM),
Rogers, T-Mobile USA and Telefónica.
About Informa Telecoms & Media
Informa Telecoms & Media (www.informatm.com) is the leading provider of
business intelligence and strategic services to the global telecoms and
media markets.
Providing business critical information -- Informa Telecoms & Media (ITM)
conducts primary and secondary research on the latest trends impacting the
mobile communications, fixed communications and TV sectors, on a global
basis. ITM's market intelligence services -- World Cellular Information
Service (WCIS), World Broadband Information Service (WBIS) and the
Intelligence Centre -- give clients access to market forecasts and key
performance indicators (KPIs), as well as detailed analysis and exploration
of trends. These comprehensive and reliable data sources combined with
access to a team of dedicated analysts provide clients with essential
business tools to assist in their strategic and tactical decision making
processes.
Creating communities -- In addition to the Training Academy, Informa
Telecoms & Media delivers the latest industry news and analysis through its
range of newsletters, magazines, reports and online information portal --
telecoms.com. From large exhibitions to intimate networking lunches,
Informa Telecoms & Media organises over 100 annual events bringing together
the industry's leading decision makers.