STOCKHOLM, Sweden—L.M. Ericsson says it won a contract to boost mobile operator 3 Scandinavia’s wireless broadband offering by upgrading its W-CDMA network with HSDPA equipment, which is designed to deliver download speeds of up to 3.6 megabits per second.
“Our customers are driving the evolution of our networks, demanding more advanced services,” stated Shlomo Liran, chief executive officer of 3 Scandinavia.
Deliveries already have begun, and Ericsson says it plans to launch commercially in several Swedish and Danish cities within a few months.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
According to a new survey from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association, HSDPA deployments are on the rise, with some 79 HSDPA launches in the works in 43 countries. GSA says its survey found that three-quarters of 105 operators that commercially have launched W-CDMA services also have committed to HSDPA upgrades. In addition, GSA’s survey confirms that 14 networks have launched HSDPA services commercially in Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Isle of Man, Israel, Kuwait, Madeira, Portugal, South Africa and the United States.
GSA explained that most W-CDMA networks are expected to have activated the HSDPA upgrade by late 2006.
