DL - 4G Americas

HSDPA network in February, followed by commercial 7.2 USB modems in April and 7.2 data cards in
May. There were numerous announcements of commercial network upgrades to Rel-6 HSUPA
throughout 2H 2007 and as of December 2008, there were 60 commercial networks and 101 operators
who had already announced plans to deploy HSUPA. 8 AT&T was the first U.S. operator to deploy
enhanced upload speeds through HSUPA in its HSPA networks in 2007 with average user upload speeds
between 500 kbps and 1.2 Mbps and average user download speeds ranging up to 1.7 Mbps.
Uplink speeds for HSUPA increased from peak 2 Mbps initially, up to 5.8 Mbps using 2 milliseconds (ms)
Transmission Time Interval (TTI). HSUPA eliminates bottlenecks in uplink capacity, increases data
throughput and reduces latency – resulting in an improved user experience for applications such as
gaming, VoIP, etc.
The ecosystem of HSPA devices continues to expand and evolve. As of December 2010, 112 suppliers
commercially offered 690 devices. 9 The HSPA mobile broadband device variety included handsets, data
cards, notebooks, wireless routers, USB modems and embedded modules.
Leading vendor infrastructure developments include multi-carrier power amplifiers that feature digital predistortion
and A-Doherty techniques to maximize efficiency, minimize running costs and ultimately reduce
the networks/impact on the environment. Certain zero footprint or flexible base station solutions offer
cost-effective deployment options to deliver UMTS-HSPA capability. Many are already fully software
definable to upgrade to LTE, which means operators can deploy the base station with GSM-UMTS-HSPA
technology and then upgrade to LTE via software in the same frequency band. In addition to providing
increased opportunities that might offer high return on investment for operators, these solutions increase
opportunities in areas where previously deployment costs meant that the business case was unfavorable.
Using a distributed architecture, the zero footprint solution type is comprised of units that are physically
small – some are waterproof – so they can be deployed virtually anywhere; thus, they are relatively easy
to site, a major consideration in dense urban areas where space is invariably a premium. When combined
with features such as RAN site sharing, remote antenna adjustment and the various backhaul techniques,
these smaller units are cost effective for operators. Base stations support most IMT frequency bands
including the 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS band and the 700 MHz band in the U.S. and Canada. A top vendor has
been providing LTE-capable multi-standard base stations since 2001, offering many options to operators
including a smooth transition to new technology while minimizing Operating Expenses (OPEX) and
reducing environmental impact.
Over the course of 2006 to 2007, there was significant progress on Rel-7 standards, which were finalized
in mid 2007. Rel-7 features were commercially introduced as HSPA+ and trials of HSPA+ began as early
as Q3 2007 including several planned commercial announcements made in the 2007 to 2008 timeframe.
The world’s first data call using HSPA+ was completed in July 2008 achieving a data transfer rate of more
than 20 Mbps in a 5 MHz channel. The industry’s first HSPA + Rel-7 chipset was launched in early 2009
which set the state for the first commercial launch of HSPA+ by Telstra. In February 2009, Telstra in
Australia became the first operator in the world to launch Rel-7 HSPA+ using the 850 MHz band and a
data card, and one month later in Austria Mobilkom launched in the 2100 MHz band; both operators
initially providing peak theoretical downlink speeds of 21 Mbps. Rogers was the first mobile operator in
the Americas to commercially launch HSPA+ at 21 Mbps in July 2009, more than doubling the speeds of
its HSPA network. By the end of 2009, there were 38 commercial launches of HSPA+ in 24 countries
including Rogers, Telus and Bell Canada in Canada as well as T-Mobile USA in North America and by
8 Global Deployment Status UMTS-HSPA, See Appendix D, 4G Americas, December 2010.
9 Devices, GSMWorld.com, 31 December 2010.
www.4gamericas.org February 2011 Page 15