DVD-quality video on your phone? No problem, say executives at T-Mobile International.
The company announced plans today to implement high-speed mobile service in Germany, Britain, Austria and the Netherlands by March of 2006. Called High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), the technology is part of third-generation (3G) mobile phone services that many analysts say could make or break several carriers over the next year.
"High-speed 3G will be available wherever T-Mobile already offers 3G coverage," T-Mobile CEO Rene Obermann said.
The technology will enable properly equipped phones to access content at up to 1.8 megabits per second, with goals of eventually hitting 7.2 megabits per second. For comparison, the average fixed DSL line delivers about 1 megabit per second.
Although its ubiquity in the U.S. market still is a way off, earlier this year mobile giant Cingular announced plans to install HSDPA in at least 15 cities by 2006. The company ran its first HSDPA tests in January. Lucent, Motorola, Ericsson and Siemens also have been working on HSDPA units.
According to Mikael Bäck, vice president of WCDMA radio networks at Ericsson, U.S. consumers should expect to see HSDPA handsets available on the market early next year, with the technology to be integrated into PCs by 2007.
“We foresee a mass market with HSDPA implemented in 2006,” said Bäck.