HSPA+ take-up grows
Newly updated reports on worldwide mobile broadband market developments have been published by the GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) which confirm the ever-expanding global footprint and evolving performance of mobile broadband services enabled by HSPA-based systems.
429 operators have now committed to HSPA network deployments in 167 countries. HSPA is the first evolution of WCDMA and has been deployed by more than 99% of WCDMA operators.
Commercial HSPA services are launched on 398 networks, 17% higher than a year ago.
HSPA-enabled mobile broadband services are now commercially launched in 160 countries/territories, compared to 143 one year ago.
More than two-thirds of HSPA networks (68%) are configured to support at least 7.2 Mbps peak downlink data speeds, compared to just over half of HSPA networks one year ago. 39% of operators have deployed HSUPA for fast data uploading performance, compared to 29% in April 2010.
The introduction of HSPA Evolution technology, often referred to as HSPA+ was the major trend in 2010 and this continues in 2011.
A total of 173 operators in 77 countries have committed to deploy HSPA+ and 123 of those operators have now commercially launched HSPA+ systems in 65 countries. Most operators entering the market today are launching immediately with HSPA+.
Alan Hadden, President of the GSA, said: “Our research confirms that 43% of HSPA operators are committed to HSPA Evolution (HSPA+) systems and almost 31% of HSPA operators have now commercially launched HSPA+. GSA forecasts there will be at least 150 commercial HSPA+ systems launched by end 2011.”
- 90 commercial HSPA+ networks support a peak downlink data speed of 21 Mbps using 64QAM modulation, delivering a typical user experience up to 8 Mbps (depending on device capability)
- 10 commercial HSPA+ networks support 28 Mbps utilizing MIMO technology
- 23 commercial HSPA+ networks support 42 Mbps, which is achieved by combining 64QAM and doubling the bandwidth (DC-HSPA+)
An increasing number of operators have committed to deploy 42 Mbps DC-HSPA+ capabilities on their networks and GSA anticipates that the number of commercial 42 Mbps systems will more than double by the end of this year.
5 operators have committed to the next HSPA Evolution step of 84 Mbps, which can be realized using a combination of DC-HSPA+ (64QAM) and MIMO. 84 Mbps systems and devices are expected to be commercially introduced within the next 12 months.
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