Ericsson: HSDPA’s here and now for infra and devices

Ericsson demonstrated the interoperability of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) with commercially available HSDPA PC cards from three leading vendors on its live HSDPA system, during the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The system is based on commercially available hardware and software.

The demonstrations showcased commercially available HSDPA PC cards from Novatel Wireless, Option NV and Sierra Wireless.

Mikael Back, Ericsson vice president for WCDMA radio networks, said, "Our message is clear: HSDPA is here and now. This is true for both infrastructure and devices."

"This interoperability demonstration with major PC-card suppliers further strengthens our belief that operators can launch HSDPA today, allowing them to introduce new attractive services such as mobile broadband," Back said.

Mobile broadband ensures access to e-mail, online music, the Internet and mobile TV anywhere. By exploiting the capabilities of HSDPA in the network, the services will have all the necessary prerequisites for mass-market uptake.

HSDPA, the first step in the evolution path of WCDMA, enables download data speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps, offers operators more than double the system capacity and reduces the response time for interactive services.

WCDMA is the dominant 3G technology, selected by eight of the world’s 10 largest operators.

Ericsson expects that by 2007, as many as 80 percent of all mobile subscribers will be served by the GSM/WCDMA family, in which Ericsson holds the leading position with a 35 percent market share.

Ericsson strongly supports open standards, and a WCDMA interoperability-testing program was initiated in 2000.