| |
HSPA Maintains Steady Growth as 87% of all 3G Operators Upgrade—GSA
11 Mar 08
GSA's latest survey reveals that seven out of every eight operators with a commercial 3G operation have launched HSPA.
Global Insight Perspective | | Significance | The GSA has reported an 80% rise in the number of commercially launched HSDPA networks in 2007. | Implications | The growth of HSPA manifests itself in the growing popularity of mobile broadband services across the world. | Outlook | As HSPA roll-out continues, GSM-based mobile technologies will continue to dominate the global mobile market and will be well-positioned to influence the future beyond HSPA. |
HSPA is gaining significant traction as more operators with a 3G network upgrade their networks. According to a survey by the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), seven out of every eight commercial 3G/WCDMA operators have launched HSPA. In a fact-sheet published yesterday, the GSA said that 185 out of the 211 operators that have launched commercial WCDMA services have also launched HSDPA. Commercial WCDMA services have been launched in 91 countries, while HSDPA has been launched in 80 countries. There are 103 commercial HSDPA operators in Europe, 36 in the Asia-Pacific region, 24 in the Middle East and Africa region, and 22 in the Americas. Continuing further, the report adds that 80 HSDPA operators launched commercial operations in 2007, representing growth of about 80%. WCDMA retains its dominance of the global 3G market, accounting for over 72% of all commercial 3G networks globally. Speed is also on the increase, with the survey revealing that 116 commercial HSDPA operators (62% of the total) support downlink speeds of 3.6 Mbps or more, and 38 operators (over 20% of the total) offering downlink speeds of 7.2 Mbps and above. Outlook and Implications Making Mobile Broadband Real: Beyond the figures outlined in the survey, the key manifestation of the survey's findings is the increasing availability of mobile broadband internet around the world. The speeds available on HSPA have made the concept of mobile broadband a far more realistic prospect compared to the speeds of about 384 Kbps available on WCDMA. As such, across much of the developed world, mobile operators are rolling out mobile broadband services in a bid to boost their mobile data revenues and reduce the impact of declining voice revenues. Some operators are already taking it to a different level, positioning mobile broadband as a replacement for the fixed broadband, in much the same way as fixed-mobile substitution has led to the growing trend of mobile-only homes. The developing world is playing catch-up on the roll-out of HSPA, but given the way mobile phones have evolved to become a ubiquitous component of people's lives, mobile broadband could well step in to provide internet services in an environment with limited fixed internet connectivity. Evolution of Mobile Technologies: The survey findings highlight the continued dominance of GSM and its evolutionary technologies in the development of mobile services. Admittedly, the GSA is mainly interested in promoting GSM-based technologies. However, GSM and its successors have created a near-homogenous mobile market across the world and will likely influence the choice of technologies for 4G. At 72%, WCDMA clearly dominates the 3G market and HSPA—embracing both HSDPA and HSUPA—looks most likely to be the dominant mobile broadband system for some time. "HSPA is driving mobile broadband services globally and is supported by the largest and most developed mobile broadband eco-system, which includes the greatest number of user devices supporting all market segments and frequency combinations," the GSA said. "HSPA operators throughout the world are reporting strong subscription growth and increased profitably with HSPA." The GSA also noted that the majority of HSPA operators combine with GSM/EDGE for service continuity and the best user experience, while 107 of 185 commercially launched HSDPA operators have also commercially launched EDGE.
|
|
|
