117 Million 3G Subscribers for UMTS/HSDPA

3G technology has reached its peak with the UTMS/HSDPA service that is currently being used at the largest scale. Most people around the world seem to prefer it to any other 3G technologies available.

UMTS/HSDPA currently holds a share of almost 70 percent from the entire 3G world market. In other words, 117 million subscribes are currently using this service, in the detriment of CDMA EV-DO. Actually, this other type of 3G service is being used by only half of the amount of subscribers, when compared to UTMS/HSDPA.

Moreover, reports show that, in America only, almost 170 operators in nearly 70 countries offer UTSM services, while more than 100 offer HSDPA. These are large figures, especially when compared to the 70 operators from more than 40 countries that currently use CDMA EV-DO.

The future looks bright too for this type of technology, as "The anticipated launch of T-Mobile's UMTS network in 2007 will continue the 3G momentum in the Americas", said Chris Pearson, President of 3G Americas. Moreover, "UMTS/HSDPA technology in North America will continue its steady growth as subscribers become aware of the tremendous applications and devices that make full use of these high speed wireless data networks."

2.4 billion people worldwide are currently using GSM technologies, which stands for 85 percent of the entire wireless mobile market. The most important registered growth took place last year, when almost 540 million new GSM/UTMS subscribers joined this network. The most considerable growth has been reached in the US and Canada, where the UMTS market boomed with more than 600 percent.

HSDPA stands for High Speed Downlink Packet Access and is a data transfer service that can reach a speed of up to 10 Mbps. This technology helps define the migration path for GSM operators worldwide to mobile broadband.