US - The UMTS900 Global Status Information Paper published today by GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association, confirms 67 UMTS900 devices are launched in the market by 14 suppliers. This compares with 9 UMTS900 devices identified in a similar survey by GSA in June 2008 and confirms an increase over seven-fold. The UMTS900 Global Status information paper details UMTS900 network deployments, launches, trials, regulatory developments worldwide, and devices availability.

UMTS900 devices support HSPA data speeds comparable with 2100 MHz devices. The research by GSA confirms that the 900/2100MHz combination for WCDMA-HSPA is becoming much more commonplace.

This research, together with related activities by GSA, confirms the strong momentum for deploying UMTS900, which helps operators to extend voice, data and mobile broadband services coverage by leveraging the advantages of lower frequencies. While the majority of today’s HSPA mobile broadband networks operate in the 2100 MHz band, the use of lower frequencies, such as 900 MHz, provides a much larger coverage area. This translates to a significant reduction in the number of cell sites needed to cover rural and suburban areas. Another benefit is improved voice quality.

GSA recently published an operator case study on Elisa, Finland, which concluded that 3G coverage with UMTS900 can save 50 to 70% of mobile network costs when compared to deployments in the 2100 MHz band, including both CAPEX and OPEX. Similar cost and coverage benefits also apply to UMTS system deployments in other lower frequency bands, such as 850 MHz.

GSA also confirms that 6 network operators have commercially launched mobile broadband services using UMTS900: Elisa (Finland), Elisa (Estonia), Optus (Australia), AIS (Thailand), Vodafone (New Zealand), and now DNA (Finland), with the majority being part of a dual-band HSPA (i.e. 900/2100 MHz) system. Several more trials and network deployments of UMTS900 systems are on-going worldwide.

GSA co-hosted the UMTS900 workshop at AfricaCom in Cape Town last month, which addressed the business opportunities and challenges faced by operators in deploying UMTS900, including regulatory considerations, spectrum allocations, co-existence with GSM900, and availability of UMTS900 devices. All the presentations from this workshop are now available as a free download at www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/cape_town_2008.php4

GSA is co-hosting another UMTS900 workshop, which will be held on December 17, 2008 at the GSM 3G Middle East conference in Dubai. The UMTS900 workshop is free to attend. The agenda and registration procedure is available at www.comworldseries-me.com/page.cfm/Link=115/t=m/goSection=3

Related UMTS900 downloads:

UMTS900 Global Status (December 1, 2008) www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/info_papers.php4

UMTS900 Workshop (Cape Town) presentations www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/cape_town_2008.php4

UMTS900 Operator Case Study of Elisa, Finland www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/info_papers.php4