Survey: HSDPA Networks To Double By End Of 06

LONDON — The number of High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) enabled third generation mobile networks deployed has doubled over the past six months and reached 100, spread across 49 countries, mostly in Europe.

And the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), which tracks the sector, says the number of commercial networks will double by the end of this year.

HSDPA is the first evolution of 3G/WCDMA and offers much higher data rates than the first generation of 3G networks.

The GSA says in its latest survey that HSDPA services are now commercially available in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Madeira, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S.

According to Alan Hadden, President, GSA, the number of commercial HSDPA networks will more than double to 63 by the end of this year. “All WCDMA networks are expected to activate the HSDPA upgrade,” said Hadden.He adds commercialization and market take up is increasing at a heady pace, and “the latest survey confirms that 30 HSDPA networks have commercially launched services in 23 countries or territories.”

A related GSA survey “HSDPA Devices” also published Wednesday (May 31) indicates that 39 phones or mobile devices can now support HSDPA, up from 25 in February 2006, representing growth of 56 percent in three months.

Thirteen suppliers now have HSDPA models on the market, covering 14 mobile phones, 15 PCMCIA PC data cards, 7 PCI Express Mini Cards — suitable for integrating into laptops and other portable multimedia devices — and products for addressing wireless ADSL opportunities are just beginning to appear.