The latest “HSDPA Operator Commitments” survey confirms there are now 174 HSDPA network commitments in 79 countries/territories worldwide, of which 117 have launched commercial services in 58 countries. Almost three quarters of commercial 3G/WCDMA networks have now activated HSDPA for mobile broadband services.

There are over 800 million GSM/WCDMA/HSDPA subscribers in HSDPA-enabled networks, according to GSA estimates. WCDMA leads the way in 3G markets worldwide, adding over 5.3 million subscriptions per month, with HSDPA the major driver of growth.

Network data speeds are quickly evolving. 65 HSDPA networks (compared to 37 just 3 months previously) are capable of downlink speeds of 3.6 Mbps (peak) or greater, of which 50 are commercially launched, as the first phase of a planned evolution to 14.4 Mbps (peak) for many operators by end 2007. Several networks are now upgrading to 7.2 Mbps (peak), with the first systems already launched.

In the uplink direction, High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) services have launched in Asia and Europe. HSUPA increases uplink data throughput up to 1.45 Mbps (peak) initially, later evolving to 5.8 Mbps (peak). The survey confirms 23 HSUPA (uplink) network commitments, deployments and launches worldwide.

GSA’s related “HSDPA Devices”survey underlines the continuing expansion of the number of HSPA devices launched in the market. The new devices survey confirms that 291 HSDPA-capable devices have been announced, an increase of 48% in the number reported 4 months earlier (196). The number of suppliers in the market increased from 51 to 70 in the same period. The range of devices identified in the HSDPA Devices survey confirms that all market segments are addressed by HSDPA:

• 130 mobile phones
• 58 PC datacards (PCMCIA cards and embedded modules)
• 49 notebooks
• 29 Wireless Routers
• 21 USB modems
• 3 Personal Media Players with HSDPA-connectivity
• 1 camera with HSDPA-connectivity

A growing number of devices support WCDMA-HSPA in three bands i.e. 850, 1900, and 2100 MHz, being the commonly used spectrum for 3G services. Almost 80% of HSPA devices are multi-mode, supporting quad-band GSM/EDGE operation. GSM/EDGE is used by the majority of HSPA networks for service continuity and the best user experience of mobile broadband surveys. 63 of 117 commercially launched HSDPA operators (i.e. 53%) have also commercially launched GSM/EDGE in their networks.

The “HSDPA Operator Commitments” survey and “HSDPA Devices” survey (both dated June 22, 2007) are available at www.gsacom.com