Bangkok--20 Dec--Farh Agency HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) is an evolutionary technology based on the existing WCDMA/UMTS standard that enables a new level of wireless experience. HSPA offers a superior choice over WiMAX due to its superiority in coverage, spectral efficiency and economies of scale. HSPA is also available commercially now. HSPA enables mobile operators to deliver a wide range of mobile broadband services cost effectively. It targets all end-user segments and delivers an end-user experience that was previously only available with fixed broadband network technologies. Furthermore, HSPA delivers full mobility — anywhere, anytime. HSPA is clearly the undisputed choice for mobile broadband service, providing: 1. Significant benefits through economies of scale, uniquely available through a technology that is part of the 3GPP family of standards, serving over two billion subscribers worldwide; 2. Exciting new applications and faster performance with transmission bit rates of up to 14 Mbps in the first phase and up to 42 Mbps in the second phase; 3. Highly economical urban and rural coverage, providing up to 200 km of cell range and with measured speeds that exceed 2 Mbps at the cell edge; 4. A clearly defined and easily adopted evolutionary path. The network capacity of HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), an evolution of existing WCDMA/UMTS networks, demonstrates that an operator would have a technology capable of cost-effectively delivering over 30 gigabytes of data, plus 399 minutes of mobile TV and 1,000 minutes of mobile voice per month, for any user, based virtually anywhere. AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless), the largest mobile operator in U.S., launched the world’s first commercial HSDPA service as an upgrade of its existing EDGE network. Its aggressive rollout during 2006 brought HSDPA services to approximately 160 major cities in the country. With boosted downlink speeds of up to 1.8 Mbps, considerably faster than WCDMA, AT&T was able to launch compelling next generation data services such as mobile television and broadband Internet access. For AT&T, this resulted in rapid growth in data ARPU and increased customer loyalty. Data ARPU increased 53 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006, while churn rates fell from 2.4 percent in 4Q 04 to 1.8 percent in 4Q 06. With this success, AT&T is gearing up for enhancing its network performance. The operator committed to a HSUPA upgrade (High Speed Uplink Packet Access), offering vastly improved uplink speeds. Once deployed, the service would benefit users who use wireless services frequently for large file transfers, as well as in the enterprise sector and more. Improved uplink speeds will also open up user-generated content markets such as home-made videos filmed on wireless handsets and subsequently posted into AT&T’s Web portal. Faster speeds for the HSUPA downlink are also planned from 1.8 Mbps to 3.6 Mbps. While average speeds (currently at 400-700 kbps) are enough to address subscriber needs, an HSUPA upgrade would allow AT&T to accommodate even more users and devices expending on its network. AT&T chose to deploy HSDPA to offer market competitive rates while enhancing overall service quality to support a growing variety of content. HSDPA’s superior spectrum efficiency also meant that its data services could be priced competitively. The benefits of HSPA in terms of delivering mobile broadband are numerous. It is important that operators and users around the world are free to make their choice of the best vehicle for delivering mobile broadband based upon an accurate and balanced comparison between alternative technologies. Whilst many of the uses involved in determining the best choice may be truly commercial, some of them will be determined or greatly influenced by local regulatory positions. It is therefore important that all decisions affecting the regulatory position are made in the spirit of producing an equitable environment for customers to exercise their right of choice. For more information please contact Voraparn Eua-arporn Farh Agency Tel 0 2616 0991-2 Mobile 08 9144 4014 E-mail : [email protected]