TMCnet News
Cingular Rolls Out World's First HSDPA NetworkBy ROBERT LIU
TMCnet Wireless and Technology Columnist
Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, has become the first carrier in the world to roll out a commercial network based on the Universal Mobile Telephone System - High Speed Downlink Packet Access (UMTS-HSDPA) standards.
HSDPA, a next-generation packet-switched technology for carriers using GSM-GPRS-EDGE networks, is currently undergoing trials around the globe with vendors such as Ericsson and Lucent Technologies leading the marketing push. The upgrade promises peak down-link speeds comparable to WiFi of 14 megabits per second. Cingular has previously stated it was conducting customer trials and expects to offer HSDPA-enabled networks in 15 to 20 markets by the end of the year. On Tuesday, the company said it has completed testing in 3 of the 6 test markets.
“Officially, we are now commercially carrying all voice and high-speed UMTS traffic on the upgraded network” said Ritch Blasi, Cingular spokesman.
“From the comapny's perspective, UMTS/HSDPA's ability to carry voice and data traffic will deliver significantly lower costs for carrying voice traffic,” Blasi explained in an email.
To be sure, existing UMTS customers won’t be able to take advantage of the higher download speeds until they upgrade their handset. Cingular believes the new HSDPA-enabled devices will be on the market “shortly.”
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Robert Liu is Executive Editor at TMCnet. Previously, he was Executive Editor at Jupitermedia and has also written for CNN, A&E, Dow Jones and Bloomberg. For more articles, please visit Robert Liu's columnist page.
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