Intro : To date 7 operators have launched EDGE in 6 countries: Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless in the USA, AT&T Wireless in Bermuda, AT&T Wireless in Puerto Rico, Telefonica Moviles in Chile, CSL in Hong Kong and AIS in Thailand and the orange areas above show where EDGE services are in deployment or are being trialed.

Europe : At the start of the new millennium when all the talk was about 3G services, EDGE was being written off as a technology of little consequence that would only be deployed in Canada and the USA. Now, with the prospect of 3G-enabled services still some way off in many markets, the business case for EDGE is looking stronger than ever: EDGE is firmly on the agenda of a large number of GSM operators.

With North America leading the way, the deployment of EDGE-enabled infrastructure is now occurring on a global scale. Asia-Pacific and Latin America are also fuelling the gathering momentum. 'EDGE is being adopted in markets as diverse as the Philippines, Hungary and Kuwait where there is potential demand for high-speed data services but where 3G licences have yet to be awarded,' comments Liz Hall, senior research analyst at EMC.

Where 3G licences have been issued the conditions of these licences are key to determining the business case for EDGE. The majority of Western European operators have yet to show their commitment to the technology but a number have confirmed that they are evaluating it and TeliaSonera and TIM have committed to it. To date 7 operators have launched EDGE in 6 countries: Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless in the USA, AT&T Wireless in Bermuda, AT&T Wireless in Puerto Rico, Telefonica Moviles in Chile, CSL in Hong Kong and AIS in Thailand. More than 50 other operators are committed to deploying EDGE.

In exploring operators' strategies and progress towards the deployment and launch of EDGE-enabled services on a region-by-region basis, EMC's Insight on EDGE covers the roll-out plans of over 30 operators. The EMC report identifies two distinct approaches to deploying the technology; the deployment of EDGE as a stepping stone to W-CDMA in a bid to prepare consumers for 3G services and its deployment as a complementary technology to provide 3G-like services where W-CDMA coverage is lacking.

Along with details on commercial EDGE networks and EDGE-enabled networks in deployment or planned, the EDGE Insight also includes a summary of available and expected EDGE-capable devices.