062107: HSPA, not WiMax, to bridge Apac digital divide -- Ericsson

June 21, 2007
Updated 12:31:52 (Mla time)
Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net

SINGAPORE -- Network equipment maker Ericsson believes high-speed packet access (HSPA) -- not WiMax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) -- will be the wireless standard that can provide Internet access to some 20 million "unconnected" PCs in Asia Pacific.

HSPA takes off from the W-CDMA standard or more popularly referred to as 3G. It currently delivers download speeds of 3.6Mbps.

That is expected to progress to 14.4Mbps as operators double in capacity, according to Ericsson. A more advanced standard called LTE (or Long Term Evolution), or sometimes referred to as 4G, promises speeds of up to 144Mbps.

WiMax, on the other hand, is an evolution from the popular Wi-Fi standard that today delivers speeds of up to 54Mbps.

Jan Signell, Ericsson president for Southeast Asia, believes HSPA can provide last-mile access to households, especially areas not covered by fixed-line networks.

Ericsson is positioning HSPA to bring Web access to home users, pointing out lower deployment cost for carriers.

In the Philippines, the number of households with PCs has reached more than four million but only about five percent of that has broadband access, according to research firm Ovum.

"The problem is that there is little copper deployed. And usually the existing copper is not that good in quality," Signell said during a briefing at Communicasia here.

While 3G started with mobile phones, the rapid development of mobile networks now covers Web access on to PC. Local carriers Smart Communications and Globe Telecom have already deployed HSPA services.

Signell said HSPA is two to three years ahead of WiMax, a standard championed by hardware makers. He also expects more HSPA-compliant devices to come out in the market next year.

"WiMax has not reached that scale yet. From our standpoint, we are meeting the demand for broadband with the current standard available," he said.

 

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