Three New HSPA World Records Achieved by Ericsson

Swedish telecom technology and services supplier Ericsson has just announced that it has achieved three new HSPA world firsts

The foremost world record was attained using a multi-carrier HSPA that reached a 168Mbps downlink speed and 24Mbps for the uplink.

This was achieved during a live demonstration staged for Singapore Telecommunications Limited, in Stockholm, Sweden. The company used a prototype consumer device and commercial network equipment for the demonstration.

“SingTel has been driving the growth of mobile data services with the introduction of new smartphones, tablet devices and rich multimedia applications. We expect to see greater demand for higher speeds and bandwidth in the near future,” said Tay Soo Meng, executive vice president of SingTel Networks.

“We have been in continuous collaborations with Ericsson on opportunities in the HSPA evolution and its relevance and timing for implementation in our networks. In 2010, we were one of the first in the world to demonstrate 42Mbps "live" on our networks, and it is a natural progression to continue improvements in HSPA with 84Mbps and beyond,” added Meng.

Using commercial network products at both ends, Ericsson reached peak speeds of 84Mbps, doubling the maximum speed offered today by commercial HSPA networks. During the demonstration, Ericsson used a dual-carrier HSPA and two 5MHz carriers.

The third world-first achievement was the demonstration of single-carrier HSPA with 42Mbps using end-to-end commercial products, including a consumer device.

However, Ericsson also stated that the actual customer speeds will be lower and will vary depending on certain conditions.

The single-carrier HSPA with 42Mbps and dual-carrier HSPA with 84Mbps are expected to be launched for commercial use during 2011, while higher HSPA speed implementations will be available later on.

Ericsson will demonstrate all three HSPA world firsts in Ericsson Hall during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Starting on February 14, we will be there to keep you up to date with live reports on the latest product launches and presentations.