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HSDPA Technology Deployed in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean
250 Global EDGE Commitments; 100 Million Global UMTS/HSDPA Customers; Over 300 Million GSM Customers in the Americas; 2.2 Billion Worldwide
| Source: 3G Americas
BELLEVUE, WA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- December 21, 2006 -- 2006 is shaping up as a year of milestones for
the GSM family of technologies. The rapid deployment of GSM's 3G technology
evolution is continuing its momentum, with the recent announcement made by
Chile's Entel PCS of their launch of UMTS/HSDPA, making Entel the first GSM
operator in Latin America to achieve this commercial status. "It only took
a little over a year for HSDPA to emerge in the markets of the U.S.,
Canada, the Caribbean and now, Latin America," commented 3G Americas'
president, Chris Pearson. "The deployment by Entel PCS cements the 3G
foundation for the evolution of the GSM family of technologies throughout
the Western Hemisphere."
Entel PCS in Chile launched the first commercial GSM network in Latin
America in 1998 and only eight years later, GSM networks will likely
represent nearly 70% of all digital wireless technologies in Latin America
and the Caribbean by the end of 2006. As of mid-December, GSM has more
than 300 million customers in all of the Western Hemisphere, according to
estimates by Informa Telecoms & Media. GSM is also the number one wireless
digital technology in the Western Hemisphere based on the number of
customers and is available in every single country in the region.
Erasmo Rojas, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean, stated, "The
launches of UMTS/HSDPA by Cingular Wireless in Puerto Rico on November 30th
of this year and by Entel PCS of Chile on December 13th are very important
milestones for GSM in the Caribbean and Latin America." He continued,
"These milestones are just the beginning of more UMTS/HSDPA commercial
launches expected throughout this region in 2007 as GSM wireless operators
begin to upgrade their networks and deploy 3G services to their customers."
EDGE was first deployed in the Americas and continues to make significant
progress throughout the world achieving global scope and scale, with
deployment commitments from more than 250 operators including 179
commercial networks in service in 94 countries today. Nearly all
UMTS/HSDPA devices manufactured today have EDGE as the compatible fall back
technology to allow for global roaming and delivery of 3G services.
UMTS is the leading 3G technology and it is estimated by Informa Telecoms
and Media that there will be 103.6 million UMTS/HSDPA customers at the end
of 2006 with nearly a billion subscribers projected by 2011. Today, global
operator commitments to deploy UMTS number nearly 300, with 147 commercial
UMTS deployments worldwide, and another 65 planned, in deployment, or in
trial; 94 of those UMTS networks are currently upgraded to HSDPA, with 59
additional HSDPA networks planned, in deployment, or in trial.
As a result of deploying a larger variety of applications and services for
high speed wireless data that is enabled by EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA, GSM
operators across the Americas are reporting continually rising data ARPU
(Average Revenue per User). For example, in Q3 2006, Cingular Wireless
reported data ARPU at 12.7% of overall wireless ARPU, a 46% year-over-year
increase since Q3 2005. T-Mobile USA reported Q3 2006 data revenues at
11.3% of blended ARPU, compared to 8.3% one year ago. For Rogers Wireless
in Canada, data ARPU increased in Q3 2006 to 10.5% of total wireless
revenue for the quarter and Telcel in Mexico ended Q3 2006 with 13% of
revenue attributed to data services and expects continued growth.
About 3G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Wireless Technology
The mission of 3G Americas is to promote and facilitate the seamless
deployment throughout the Americas of GSM and its evolution to 3G and
beyond. The organization fully supports the Third Generation (3G)
technology migration strategy to EDGE and UMTS/HSPA adopted by many
operators in the Americas that is expected to account for up to 85% of
next-generation customers worldwide. 3G Americas is headquartered in
Bellevue, WA with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas,
TX. For more information, visit our website at www.3gamericas.org.
About Informa Telecoms & Media
Informa Telecoms & Media provides business intelligence and strategic
services to the global telecoms and media markets. All of our products and
services -- from news, trend analysis and forecasting to industry data,
face-to-face events and training -- are driven by our deep understanding of
the markets we serve and by our goal to help our clients make better
business decisions. www.informatm.com