[New survey from GSA confirms 315 3G/WCDMA-HSDPA devices are now available and 176 WCDMA products have been launched in the past 12 months.]

A new GSA survey confirms that the number of 3G/WCDMA devices announced in the market has reached 315, an increase of 129 products over the past 6 months. The rapidly increasing variety, competitiveness and availability of user devices, phones, PC data cards, etc. are key factors in driving 3G market acceptance. This latest in a series of regular GSA surveys confirms 176 WCDMA products have been launched in the past 12 months, i.e. a growth of 126%.

This latest figure of 315 includes 25 devices which support HSDPA, more than double the figure of 6 months ago. GSA understands that over half of the number of commercial WCDMA operators are now moving to HSDPA as the new baseline for mobile broadband.

The number of suppliers who have entered the WCDMA market by launching devices has increased by over 50% in 12 months, from 25 to 38 today. The share of WCDMA devices targeted for the global 3G market continues to rise and now exceeds 80%, the remainder being focused on the Japanese FOMA market WCDMA/HSDPA operators emphasise the importance of GSM/EDGE for service continuity.

The GSA survey confirms that the number of devices that support WCDMA and GSM/EDGE has risen to 48, an increase of over 40% in 6 months. The pace of 3G commercialisation globally is fuelled by WCDMA, which is now mainstream. GSA regular surveys on the evolution of 3G confirm that 40 3G/WCDMA networks launched commercial services during 2005. So far this year, a further 2 networks have launched to bring the cumulative total to 102 commercial 3G/WCDMA networks in 44 countries. The number of WCDMA subscribers passed 50 million in February 2006.

GSA confirms that 3G/WCDMA services are now available in Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, UAE, UK, and USA.

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