GSA Survey Confirms 7 in 8 WCDMA Operators have launched HSPA

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 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.

The 3G/WCDMA-HSPA Fact Sheet (March 10, 2008) is available at www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/wcdma_databank.php4#3G_WCDMA_Fact_Sheet

The Fact Sheet incorporates the main findings of two new GSA surveys, both published on March 7, 2008 and available at www.gsacom.com: – 3G/WCDMA-HSDPA Launches Worldwide survey
HSDPA Operator Commitments survey

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:

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)

3G/WCDMA-HSPA Fact Sheet (March 10, 2008) is available at http://www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/wcdma_databank.php4#3G_WCDMA_Fact_Sheet

3G/WCDMA-HSDPA Launches Worldwide survey (March 7, 2007) is available at http://www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/wcdma_databank.php4

HSDPA Operator Commitments survey (March 7, 2008) is available at www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/wcdma_databank.php4#HSDPA_Operator_Commitments

Supporting charts and maps are available at www.gsacom.com/news/statistics.php4

ABOUT GSA

GSA represents leading GSM/3G suppliers worldwide, with over 80% of GSM/3G market share globally. The member companies are Aeroflex, AnyDATA Inc, Broadcom, Business Logic Systems, Comsys Communication & Signal Processing, EDO-EVI, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard, LSI Logic Corporation, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, Qualcomm Inc., Radixs, Talking Eye, and Telcordia.

The GSA website www.gsacom.com assists visitors from 186 countries and provides a single information resource targeted for the mobile industry, including market updates, information papers, subscriber growth, GSM, EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA network deployments, devices availability, 3G applications and services, success stories, evolution to HSPA+, EDGE Evolution, LTE/SAE, and more.

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