The success of HSPA systems continues and there is growing momentum towards the evolved version of the technology - HSPA+, which was largely specified in 3GPP Release 7.

A recent report from the GSA highlights the contribution of dual carrier or dual cell technology (DC-HSPA+) towards delivering 42 Mbps, using 64QAM modulation and using dual adjacent carriers.

GSA have reported that there are now 245 HSPA+ devices available, compared to 92 just a year ago. 

GSA Statistics

HSPA and HSPA+ deployments status – global:

• 483 HSPA operator commitments in 181 countries

• 451 commercial HSPA operators in 174 countries, Includes 187 HSPA+ networks commercially launched in 96 countries

• Over 41% of HSPA operators have commercially launched HSPA+

• 117 commercial HSPA+ networks support a peak downlink data speed of 21 Mbps

• 8 commercial HSPA+ networks support a peak downlink data speed of 28 Mbps

• 62 commercial networks support DC-HSPA+ for a peak downlink data speed of 42 Mbps

• Over 43% of HSPA operators have commercially launched HSUPA

• 129 HSUPA networks (66%) support at least 5.8 Mbps peak

Breakdown of 3,362 HSPA devices by form factor:

• 1,413 Mobile phones, smartphones

• 580 USB modems (dongles)

• 502 Notebooks, netbooks

• 434 Wireless routers/gateways, mobile hotspots

• 295 PC data cards (PCMCIA cards, ExpressCards, embedded modules)

• 48 Personal Media Players, UMPCs

• 27 Femtocells

• 12 E-book readers

• 8 Cameras

• 43 Mobile tablets

Full details about HSPA and HSPA+ network commitments, deployments, commercial launches and user devices announced by manufacturers are contained in 3 new reports, which are available to registered site users as free downloads from the GSA website www.gsacom.com