HSPA Connects to Surpass 150 million

The GSM Association expects global high-speed packet access (HSPA) connections to pass the 150 million mark by the end of summer.

With more than 300 networks across 127 countries and approaching 1,500 available HSPA-enabled devices, HSPA has become a dominant mobile broadband technology. "The tremendous success of HSPA demonstrates the enormous ongoing demand for truly mobile broadband access," Dan Warren, director of technology, GSMA said in a statement.

According to Wireless Intelligence, the following regions will see marked HSPA growth between now and the end of September:

• AsiaPac, from 50 million to 56 million.
• EMEA, from 50 million to 60 million.
• United States, from 32 million to 37 million.

Interest in the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications family of technologies, which includes HSPA, HSPA+ and Long Term Evolution (LTE), is growing outside the mobile industry, according to Wireless Intelligence and the GSMA. Non-traditional players include consumer electronics, automotive, energy and utilities industries; governments; and businesses and end-users.

Separately, Informa Telecoms Media, in its latest World Cellular Data Metrics report, estimates that global mobile broadband subscribers of all technologies totaled more than 225 million at the end of March 2009.

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. (For more from GSMA, click here).