WCDMA and HSPA Top 500 Million Users

The number of subscribers to the 3G/UMTS networks is said to have topped the half a billion mark, and the latest reports on the matter show that the UMTS Forum has just confirmed this state of facts. Reaching 500 million users is quite an important milestone for 3G/UMTS networks, considering that the first commercial 3G/WCDMA network has been launched eight years ago in Japan by wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo.

According to the UMTS Forum, the total number of 500 million users includes 40 percent of 3G/UMTS subscribers who are benefiting from enhanced connectivity and services via the HSPA networks. At the same time, the reports also show that a number of over 35 HSPA+ networks are commercially available at the moment, and that users on those networks can benefit from theoretical speeds of 28 Mb/sec.

“While it took fixed telephone networks over a century to reach their first half billion customers, GSM achieved the same milestone in only a decade,” UMTS Forum Chairman Jean-Pierre Bienaime commented on the new announcement. “Reflecting our planet's ever-growing need to stay connected, it's taken UMTS technology even less time to achieve the same feat.”

One other interesting aspect related to the wireless networks is that operators, vendors and device manufacturers are all preparing for the launch of the first LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, based on the technical standards defined by 3GPP. The first LTE network in the world has been already deployed by TeliaSonera in Stockholm and Oslo, and a number of more than 40 carriers are expected to roll-out such networks by 2012.

“We're seeing WCDMA and now HSPA delivering the same economies of scale that have already made GSM such an overwhelming global success. It's a fantastic confirmation of the continuing efforts of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP.org) to provide a clear technology roadmap for operators and equipment manufacturers alike,” Bienaime concluded.