This Weeks 3G News By Photos

Europe / US : Novatel Wireless announced it has developed the Merlin U870, a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) PC Card Modem, to support the global rollout of HSDPA networks.

Novatel Wireless and Siemens have successfully completed their first 3.6Mbps (megabits per second) data call, a wireless link between a base station and a wireless modem. The test data call took place at Siemens' labs in Berlin, using the company's NodeB 880 base station and Novatel Wireless' Merlin U870.

The Merlin U870 is Novatel Wireless' second-generation HSDPA PC Card Modem, which provides accelerated HSDPA speeds of up to 3.6Mbps (megabits per second), compared to the industry's current 1.8Mbps. The product also works on the 800, 1900 and 2100 MHz HSDPA bands in North America and Europe, making it a global roaming card. The card is backward compatible with currently deployed data network technologies including UMTS, EDGE and GPRS.

"With the introduction of our second-generation tri-band HSDPA PC Card Modem and the successful completion of the first 3.6Mbps data call with Siemens, Novatel Wireless reconfirms its leadership position in the wireless broadband market worldwide," said Peter Leparulo, chief executive officer for Novatel Wireless. "With established partners like Siemens, and cutting-edge products, Novatel Wireless is continuing its focus on offering operators advanced end-to-end HSDPA solutions."