Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay launched HSPA+ commercial networks during the first week of November, bringing Latin America’s total of HSPA networks in the region to 66, with 25 now upgraded to HSPA+ technology, which is available in 17 countries, industry group 4G Americas reported.
HSPA+ has been the natural upgrade for carriers prior to implementing 4G services. In a recent interview with RCR Wireless News, Erasmo Rojas, director of Latin America and the Caribbean at 4G Americas, said that it makes sense for carriers to upgrade their networks to HSPA+ before the deployment of 4G networks to provide speeds connections and capacities similar to LTE.
The wireless industry trade association, which represents the 3GPP family of technologies, also noted that, as of this year’s second quarter, operators were reporting an average of 22% of monthly revenue from data services.
UMTS-HSPA+ currently accounts for 11% of the region’s 615 million total subscriptions; By the end of 2016, it is expected that UMTS-HSPA+ will have 50% market share of all wireless technologies in the region.
For instance, Cable & Wireless Communications’ Lime subsidiary has launched HSPA+ services in the Cayman Islands in the begging of October. Cable & Wireless has worked with HSPA+ in other markets, most recently launching services in Panama under the +Movil brand. In the Cayman Islands, Lime said it will provide 100% coverage of all three islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac).
In August, Telefonica’s Movistar announced deployment of HSPA+ network in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito. This happened after carrier’s investments of U.S. $ 20 million to launch HSPA+ technology in Guayaquil, the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador. In addition to Quito and Guayaquil, four other cities in Ecuador — Ambato, Cuenca, Manta, Santo Domingo and Machala — have HSPA+ networks.
Before launching LTE
The increase of HSPA could be an evolution before LTE deployment. In the region, several trials are in progress, and launches are expected next year. The first launches are expected in next year’s first quarter by Mexican Telcel (in 1.7/2.1 GHz) and Colombian Une (in 2.6 GHz).
In Brazil, Sky has an agreement with Telebrás to offer 4G (fixed-Internet broadband). Puerto Rico also is scheduling to launch. According to 4G Americas, there are already 37 operators in 15 countries in the region committed to deploying LTE pending the acquisition of spectrum resources.
“HSPA+ and LTE are parallel evolution paths, so telecom operators could choose to evolve their 3G technologies to HSPA+ first. It’s not necessary to migrate to LTE, because HSPA+ ensures similar user experience outside the LTE coverage, they have similar performance, both in spectral efficiency and peak data rates,” said Qualcomm Inc.’s Bill Davidson, senior vice-president for global marketing and investor relations.
The decision to choose HSPA+ rather than move the technology to LTE is a different situation than the disruptive migration from 2G to 3G, Davidson said.
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