GSA Highlights 3G WCDMA Growth

Europe : A new survey by GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) confirms that the number of 3G/WCDMA networks delivering commercial services has now reached 74 in 34 countries worldwide, an increase of 14 networks in the first half of 2005. A further 6 networks are at the pre-commercial stage.

GSA also reports that the number of subscribers to WCDMA services accelerated to 26.48 million globally by end May 2005, an increase of 10 million so far in 2005. WCDMA networks globally added over 2 million customers in each of the last 3 months. WCDMA take-up is faster than GSM was at the same stage of its introduction.

Subscriber growth is driven by a wider range of competitive service offerings, more variety of terminals in the market, and maturing technology. GSA's related survey of WCDMA devices identifies a total of 179 device models in the market from 26 suppliers, including 71 products introduced so far this year. The survey confirms that the number of WCDMA devices launched has quadrupled over the past 12 months. HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) PC datacards and handsets are included. A growing number and approaching three quarters (132) of WCDMA device models are designed for use on WCDMA networks globally, with the remainder (47) for use on the NTT DoCoMo FOMA service in Japan. The survey identifies some new FOMA devices that are also compatible with WCDMA/GSM/GPRS networks worldwide.