14 DAY TRIAL // Although several operators have announces their intention to adopt the HSDPA standard, which is a faster version of WCDMA, this will not happen until 2006.
HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access promises speeds of up to 1 Mbps (average), unlike WCDMA, whose average speed is 300 kbps.
According to a study published by Informa Telcoms & Media's HSDPA Status Update, the postponing of the new standard is caused by the lack of sufficient compatible terminals.
That is why the transition to HSDPA will tak place only somewhere in mid 2006. This situation is not something new and operators that have implemented WCDMA faced a similar one during 2003 - 2004.
Samsung, LG and NEC have promised compatible terminals by the end 2005, but it's unlikely they will be produced before the beginning of next year.
The study points out Cingular as the first operator to introduce HSDPA, after NTT DoCoMo's postponing for the second half of 2006.
On the European market, O2 will be the first operator whose networks will offer support for HSDPA, the first attempts being scheduled for the summer of 2005.
HSDPA is announced for the end of 2005, but until now, only LG seems to be the only one being able to mass manufacture compatible terminals.
The situation is much more favorable for the producers of notebook HSDPA cards, which will be able to comply with the announced date.