The GSM Association (GSM) has recently presented its latest statistics to demonstrate how HSPA and HSPA+ are fast becoming the de-facto global mobile broadband technologies and “lead the way in bridging the digital divide.”
At the moment, there are 245 commercially available HSPA networks supporting more than 125 million live connections in 107 countries. A further 65 HSPA networks are either being deployed, in trial or planned with an average of 4 million mobile broadband connections being added globally on a monthly basis. Moreover, there are 1,380+ HSPA enabled devices offered by 134 different suppliers worldwide.
As for HSPA’s competition, GSMA’s CMO Michael O’Hara said that WiMAX is a complimentary technology to HSPA and will “play a niche role.” “HSPA and HSPA+ have the global pedigree and supporting ecosystem to bring Internet coverage to the masses, creating economies of scale to deliver an affordable global broadband solution,” he added.