Vodafone joins HSDPA test series

September 26, 2005 - source: BWCS

UK mobile giant Vodafone has begun testing so-called fourth generation or HSDPA mobile services. The trials are being conducted with business customers at the CentrO Oberhausen shopping centre in Germany.

According to the Newbury-based company, a small group of business customers will be given the chance to work with HSDPA-enabled terminals in the pilot scheme. Among the first group of users will be shop owners and the centre's management staff. The centre also plans to use HSDPA to deliver advertising clips to large display screens housed within the centre. Vodafone plans to launch HSDPA services commercially in the first half of next year.

Earlier this month T-Mobile International announced plans to launch a new HSDPA high-speed mobile service in four European countries by the end of the first quarter of next year. The company said at the time that its decision is aimed at boosting connection speeds to the internet from its 3G mobile phones.

UK mobile operator, mmO2 has also recently launched trials of HSDPA, sometimes known as "super-Fast" 3G, on the Isle of Man. The former BT mobile division plans to roll out the service in the UK and Germany by February of next year. HSDPA is said to be capable of achieving mobile data transmission speeds of up to 1.8 Mbps per second initially and 7.2 Mbps eventually.