US : The number of countries where HSDPA mobile broadband networks are planned, in deployment or launched has now reached 50, according to a new publication from GSA - the Global mobile Suppliers Association.

GSM/3G Network Update - June 2006 also confirms that an increasing number of CDMA operators are facing falling market share and are switching to GSM and/or WCDMA-HSDPA for business growth, the most recent examples being Chinook Wireless (USA), KTF (Korea), and Telstra (Australia).

GSM/3G Network Update - June 2006, confirms WCDMA as the mainstream 3G technology globally with 112 networks having launched commercial services in 49 countries, and serving over 65 million users (end May 2006). The majority of WCDMA operators are enabling HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access - the first evolution of WCDMA) in their networks as the new baseline for 3G for the full mobile broadband experience.

Citing new GSA research, 102 operators in 50 countries have now committed to HSDPA of which 34 HSDPA networks have commercially launched services in 27 countries/territories, namely in the Americas (USA), APAC (Hong Kong, Malaysia, The Philippines, South Korea), Europe (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Germany, Isle of Man, Italy, Lithuania, Madeira, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland) and the Middle East & Africa (Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, South Africa, UAE).

GSA estimates that at least 63 HSDPA networks will have commercially launched by end 2006.

HSDPA offers the highest performance at the lowest cost, enabling true mass-market mobile IP multimedia. A High Speed Packet Access network benefits the operator by leveraging existing aspects, including:

Spectrum Subscriber base
Network infrastructure (sites, radio, core network, transmission)
Operation and Management system and staff
Subscriber management systems (authentication, billing)
For end-users HSDPA means shorter service response times, faster downloads, and new services. Operators will be able to offer advanced services at lower costs and with increased revenues and profitability.

GSM/3G Network Update - June 2006 also celebrates the 2 billion subscriptions milestone reached this month by the GSM family of technologies, and provides regional performances/breakdown.

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