Europe : The view confirmed by over 70 operators and vendor representatives attending the EDGE Operators' Forum meeting in Rome today is that most GSM operators will deploy EDGE to deliver the best user experience of advanced mobile data services.

EDGE powerfully boosts GPRS data speeds by over 3 times, ensuring better quality and faster services, at incremental cost. EDGE is a smooth low-cost upgrade of existing GSM/GPRS assets and stimulates the take-up and growth of next generation mobile multimedia services.

The complementary role of EDGE with WCDMA is now widely understood. In Europe, WCDMA using new spectrum will serve the major population centres, combined seamlessly with EDGE for serving the rural and semi-urban areas. In many situations EDGE will also be enabled in the major cities.

Discussions highlighted that the bigger the success of WCDMA, the more that operators will be forced to upgrade their existing networks to EDGE, to bridge the speed gap between GPRS and WCDMA with the help of EDGE.

EDGE is already commercial reality in the United States, following the launch by Cingular Wireless in June, 2003. Deploying EDGE is a business decision for operators, to ensure they have the ability to compete, and to safeguard their investments and assets.

TIM was the first major European operator to confirm plans to deploy EDGE with WCDMA. "TIM is in the forefront of the technology development", said Mauro Sentinelli, TIM Managing Director, speaking at the EDGE Operators' Forum meeting in Rome. "We are glad to be the first operator in Europe to deploy EDGE in its network, thus offering always better and friendly services to our customers. As a matter of fact, EDGE deployment in TIM's network is starting, representing an integration with UMTS at the beginning, and an important ally in its maturity."

Mike Bamburak, VP, Technology Architecture and Standards, AT&T Wireless Services (AWS), also speaking at the event, added: "I am happy to report that AWS confirms that EDGE performance lives up to the advertisements on all fronts."

Several manufacturers speaking at the event underlined the huge industry commitment to deliver increasing numbers and varieties of EDGE-capable devices in the coming year. More companies are coming in to the market, and from 2004, EDGE will be a standard feature in all new GPRS phones. 2004 will also confirm the arrival of several dual-mode terminals EDGE/WCDMA phones.

GSA confirmed that approaching 50 operators worldwide had now committed to EDGE deployment. "EDGE is commercial reality, and is already embedded in many networks throughout Europe" said Alan Hadden, President, GSA, who organised the event. "EDGE is necessary in all markets worldwide for speed and capacity, and fully complements WCDMA where new spectrum has been licensed in Europe and Asia Pacific. Cost savings from needing less base station hardware and fewer site splits are compelling".