Ericsson Supporting Vodafone HSPA Upgrade

Ericsson says that it has delivered equipment and services to upgrade Vodafone UK's 3G network with full HSDPA functionality so that the operator can offer its 3G broadband (HSDPA) service to customers. 3G broadband from Vodafone is available in major UK urban areas.

HSDPA enables Vodafone UK to introduce its customers to a new generation of mobile services; with theoretical download speeds up to four times faster than 3G at 1.8Mbps. Users can expect to experience speeds of around 1.4 Mbps.

Paul Wybrow, chief technology officer for Vodafone UK, said: "This is another significant step in our long-standing partnership with Ericsson. We understand that more and more of our customers need to be able to work away from the office and access critical applications and download and transfer heavy files as they would in the office. This improved 3G technology presents our customers with a real mobile broadband experience and is designed to meet the needs of this 'work anywhere' culture while also boosting productivity and business efficiency."

Jacqueline Hey, managing director of Ericsson UK, says: "We are proud to power Vodafone's mobile broadband launch, bringing this key technology to Vodafone's UK customers at a very early stage. We look forward to further collaborative projects with Vodafone as it brings further advanced mobile services to its customers."

The new service introduction follows the joint live trial of the HSDPA network earlier this year."

Posted to the site on 20th September 2006