Ericsson Upgrades Vodafone's 3G Network in UK

The agreement between the two giant companies, will see that Ericsson delivers equipment and services for upgrading Vodafone's 3G network with full HSDPA functionality so that the UK operator can offer its 3G broadband (HSDPA) service to customers.

HSDPA enables Vodafone UK to introduce its customers to a new generation of mobile services; with theoretical download speeds up to four times faster than 3G at 1.8Mbps, and 20 times faster than a GSM/GPRS connection. Users can expect to experience speeds of around 1.4 Mbps. This advance means that workers can now access more powerful applications and use a number of applications concurrently while working away from the office. Users will also experience faster file download and transfer speeds.

Jacqueline Hey, managing director of Ericsson UK, says: "We are proud to power Vodafone's mobile broadband launch, bringing this key technology to Vodafone's UK customers at a very early stage. We look forward to further collaborative projects with Vodafone as it brings further advanced mobile services to its customers."

The new service introduction follows the joint live trial of the HSDPA network earlier this year.