3GPP - 4G Americas

In December 2005, Cingular Wireless (now AT&T) launched UMTS enhanced with High Speed
Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) in 16 major markets throughout the U.S., becoming the first
operator in the world to launch HSDPA on a wide-scale basis. At the writing of this paper, AT&T
has deployed HSPA – capable of peak theroretical downloads speeds of 3.6 Mbps -- across the
company’s 3G footprint, available in more than 350 U.S. cities (with populations greater than
100,000), including the top 100 major markets (MSAs). Additionally, T-Mobile USA launched
UMTS/HSDPA in New York City in the 1700/2100 MHz bands in May 2008 beginning its
nationwide rollout with 130 cities in 27 major markets and over 100 million pops covered at the
end of 2008. HSPA is the fastest nationwide wireless network in the United States.
3G Americas’ first UMTS white paper, UMTS to Mobilize the Data World, reported on the
progress of UMTS: from its inception in 1995, to standardization by the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in January 1998, to the commercial launch by
Japan's NTT DoCoMo and other operator trial launches. The paper provided documentation on
the installation, testing and preparation of UMTS networks on several continents and the
prediction that UMTS and EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) would serve as
complementary technologies for GSM operators throughout the world.
Figure1. Global UMTS Subscriber Growth Forecast
The rapid growth of UMTS led to a focus on its next significant evolutionary phase, namely
Release 5 (Rel-5). 3GPP Rel-5 – first deployed in 2005 – has many important enhancements
that are easy upgrades to the initially deployed Release 1999 (Rel-99) UMTS networks. Rel-5
provides wireless operators with the improvements they need to offer customers higher-speed
1 World Cellular Information Service Forecast. Informa Telecoms and Media. December 2008.
www.3GAmericas.org February 2009 Page 6
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