HSPA+, or Evolved High-Speed Packet Access, is a technical standard for wireless, broadband telecommunication. HSPA+ enhances the widely used WCDMA based 3G networks with higher speeds for the end user that are comparable to the newer LTE networks. HSPA+ was first defined in the technical standard 3GPP release 7 and expanded further in later releases.

HSPA+ provides an evolution of High Speed Packet Access and provides data rates up to 168 Megabits per second (Mbit/s) to the mobile device and 22 Mbit/s from the mobile device. Technically these are achieved through the use of a multiple-antenna technique known as MIMO (for “multiple-input and multiple-output”) and higher order modulation (64QAM) or combining multiple cells into one with a technique known as Dual-Cell_HSDPA.

The 168 Mbit/s and 22 Mbit/s represent theoretical peak speeds. The actual speed for a user will be lower. In general, HSPA+ offer higher bitrates only in very good radio conditions (very close to cell tower) or if the terminal and network both support either MIMO or Dual-Cell_HSDPA, which effectively use two parallel transmit channels with different technical implementations.

The higher 168Mbps speeds are achieved by using multiple carriers with Dual-Cell_HSDPA and MIMO together simultaneously. ^[1][2]

The technology also delivers significant battery life improvements and dramatically quicker wake-from-idle time - delivering a true always-on connection. HSPA+ should not be confused with LTE, which uses a new air interface based on OFDMA technology. HSPA+ is an evolution of HSPA that upgrades the existing 3G network and provides a cheap way for telecom operators to migrate towards 4G speeds without deploying a new radio interface. ^[3]

Evolved HSPA specifies all-IP architecture[link]

A flattened all-IP architecture is an option for the network within HSPA+. In this architecture, the base stations connect to the network via IP (often Ethernet providing the transmission) bypassing legacy elements for the user's data connections. This makes the network faster and cheaper to deploy and operate. The legacy architecture is still permitted with the Evolved HSPA and is likely to exist for several years after adoption of the other aspects of HSPA+ (higher modulation, multiple streams etc.).

This 'flat architecture' connects the 'user plane' directly from the base station to the GGSN external gateway, using any available link technology supporting TCP/IP. The definition can be found in 3GPP TR25.999. The user's data flow bypasses the Radio Network Controller (RNC) and the SGSN of the previous 3GPP UMTS architecture versions thus simplifying the architecture, reducing costs and delays. This is nearly identical to the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) flat architecture as defined in the 3GPP standard Rel-8. The changes allow cost effective modern link layer technologies such as xDSL or Ethernet and is no longer tied to the more expensive and rigid requirements of the older standard of SONET/SDH and E1/T1 infrastructure.

There are no changes to the 'control plane'.

Nokia Siemens Networks Internet HSPA or I-HSPA is the first commercial solution implementing the Evolved HSPA flattened all-IP architecture.^[4]

Deployment[link]

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (August 2011)

• On 10 June 2008 Australia's Telstra Next G network was the first to enable some features of HSPA+.^[5]

• On 5 December 2008, the first 21 Mbit/s (downlink) and 5.8 Mbit/s (uplink) data link was established on a commercial network (Telstra).^[6]

• On 23 October 2008, the first wireless data devices for the HSPA+ standard were announced. The devices, developed by Sierra Wireless in collaboration with Netcomm,^[7] Telstra, Qualcomm, and Ericsson, offer peak download speeds of 21 Mbit/s over Telstra's Next G network – three times faster than currently available HSPA modems.^[8]

• New Zealand's 2degrees Mobile network has announced it will use HSPA+.^[9]

• Telecom in New Zealand have also announced its use.^[10]

• On 2 December 2008, PCCW, the largest telecommunications company in Hong Kong publicly demonstrated their "PCCW NextGen Network" based on HSPA+ technology. The company will market its new HSPA+ network together with next generation gigabit fiber landline internet service in a bundle, and products are scheduled to be released to the mass market in early 2009.^[11]

• On 8 January 2009, StarHub, a telecommunication provider in Singapore, commenced the upgrade of its mobile broadband network to HSPA+, following a successful live demonstration of its capability to deliver 21 Mbit/s on the downlink. This is 50% faster than its previous network capacity of 14.4 Mbit/s. By 2Q-2009, StarHub's mobile broadband network will be HSPA+ ready for commercial rollout nationwide.^[12]

• In June 2009, Telecom Italia Mobile, the biggest Italian provider, plans to cover the city of Milan with HSPA+, with Ericsson as the technological partner.^[13]

• On 17 February 2009, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, O2 Germany unveiled the start of a HSPA+ trial in Munich, Germany in summer 2009. The friendly user test^{[clarification needed]} should provide 28 Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.76 Mbit/s on the uplink.^[14]

• On 23 March 2009, Austrian mobile operator A1 - mobilkom austria started a commercial HSPA+ Network in Europe.^[15]

• On 30 March 2009, CSL Limited, Hong Kong's leading mobile operator, unveiled the first commercial launch of HSPA+ in Hong Kong, provided up to 21 Mbit/s on the downlink and offers the widest coverage providing unrivaled mobility and performance.^[16]

• On 4 April 2009, Dialog Telekom, one of Sri Lanka's HSPA providers, announced its update to HSPA+ will be completed soon. And now they are implemented a test network in Colombo.

• On 20 May 2009, Cosmote in Greece announced that it started offering HSPA+ speeds up to 21 Mbit/s in parts of its HSPA network in central Athens and Thessaloniki with other areas to be upgraded soon. Cosmote was also the launch market for ZTE's new HSPA+ data card product.^[17]

• On 29 May 2009, Alfa's CEO and chairman announced that Lebanon is going to be among the first countries in the world to launch the HSPA plus technology by the end of the year. This would make the country the first in the Middle East to offer this advanced service.^[18]

• On 4 June 2009, the president of DAVE Wireless, a future wireless provider in Canada, revealed that the company would be deploying a HSPA+ network covering several major cities in the country.^[19]

• On 7 June 2009, Vodafone Greece announced that they are launching 21.6 Mbit/s speeds in the downlink and 5.7 Mbit/s speed in the downlink for the first time (sic) in the Greek market. Those speeds are initially going to be available in Athens and coverage is going to be expanded continuously.^[20]

• On 8 June 2009, E MOBILE, providing HSPA network in Japan, announced that E Mobile starts its upgrading to HSPA+ from early August 2009.^[21]

• On 27 June 2009, Vodafone Portugal launched a HSPA 64QAM service at 21.6 Mbit/s. Two days later Optimus and TMN also launched the same service in Portugal.

• On 28 July 2009, Rogers Wireless announced a national deployment of HSPA+ in Canada for 2009–2010, starting with Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver on September 14.

• On 1 September 2009, Zapp Romania announced a national deployment of HSPA+ in Romania. The service will be available starting October 2009 in major cities.

• On 3 September 2009, Vodafone Romania announced the launch of commercial HSPA+ service in Bucharest area with plans of extending the network in major cities throughout Romania.

• On 4 September 2009, Swiss telecom operator Swisscom announced the launch of commercial HSPA+ service with speeds of up to 28.8 Mbit/s in the Geneva area in October for the start of ITU with plans of extending the network to major cities throughout Switzerland.^[22]

• On September 2009, Mobiltel announced a national deployment of HSPA+ in Sofia area with commercial launch on 17 September and plans of extending the network in major cities throughout Bulgaria.

• On 4 November 2009, SmarTone-Vodafone in Hong Kong announced they have upgraded their 3G network to HSPA+. Offering a theoretical downlink speed of 21 Mbit/s.^[23]

• On 4 & 5 November 2009, Canadian providers Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility respectively launched their HSPA+ networks, running alongside their existing EVDO networks.^[24]

• On 4 November 2009, Indonesia's largest mobile phone operator, Telkomsel launched their HSPA+ service to its post paid customers in the Greater Jakarta area called Next Gen Flash.^[25]

• On 15 November 2009, Telefonica Moviles announced a national deployment of HSPA+ in Spain, Argentina and Venezuela, for launching on 2010.

• On 18 November 2009, Estonias leading mobile operator EMT opened its HSPA+ services to its customers. Network now supports speeds of 21Mbit/s when downloading and 5,76Mbit/s when uploading.

• On November 2009, Cyfrowy Polsat with Sferia and Aero2 in Poland launched their HSPA+ network to its customers. The network uses UMTS850 and UMTS900 bands and is available in all major cities through the country and also in villages located in southern Poland.

• On 1 December 2009, Plus GSM - polish mobile phone operator launched own HSPA+ network in eleven Polish cities.

• On 4 December 2009, Entel PCS chilean mobile phone operator deployed HSPA+ network in the urban areas of 20 main cities.

• On 20 December 2009, Mobitel (Sri Lanka), the mobile arm of Sri Lanka Telecom has announced its successful trial on HSPA+. Mobitel is the 2nd Sri Lankan operator to trial HSPA+ after Dialog Telekom HSPA+ trial deployment in April 2009.

• On 4 January 2010 - Etisalat UAE announced that their 3.5 G network was upgraded to support HSPA+.^[26]

• On 10 January 2010, both Mobily and STC announced their own HSPA+ networks in Saudi Arabia. Coverage focused on major areas in the biggest 3 cities Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah, other areas & cities covered with 3G & GPRS.

• On February 4, 2010, Vodafone Hungary announced its commercial 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ network. The service is available in Budapest.^[27]

• On 10 February 2010, Viva Bahrain announced its 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ network, very few details known about the network and its implementation as Viva Bahrain didn't start its services in Bahrain as of the announcement date.^[28][28]

• On February 2010, Etisalat Misr (Etisalat Egypt) launches its 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ service. No exact details about coverage is published. The higher speed is provided for a (99 EGP ~18US$) extra fee on any of the available packages.^[29]

• On February 2010, Telstra - An Australian Telco Launched the worlds first 42 Mbit/s network in the world.

• On March 2010, Orange - An Austrian Telco Launched the Austrians first 42 Mbit/s network in Vienna Neustadt.

• On 7 April 2010, Mobitel - An Slovenian Telco launched its 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ network. With one third of UMTS stations upgraded.^[30]

• On 15 April 2010, Vodafone Malta announced that they launched 14.4 Mbit/s speeds in the downlink and 2 Mbit/s speed in the uplink for the first time in the Maltese market.^[31]

• BendBroadband, a small nationally recognized US cable operator, became the first production HSPA+ deployment in the United States.^[32] The product has been demonstrated at speeds in excess of 15 Mbit/s down and 6 Mbit/s up.

• Cell C (South Africa) is planning a R5-billion (US$660 million) investment in a HSPA upgrade during 2010. Over 8 cities around South Africa now have fully operational HSPA+ services ^[33]

• Belarus has announced its first network in Belarus will support HSPA+. Download 19 Mbit/s. Minsk, Gomel.

• velcom Belarus announces the commercial launch of 3G on the base of UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ technology. Download speed 20.6 Mbit/s.^[34]

• On 16 April 2010 Etisalat Egypt started offering 42 Mbit/s "the first in Africa and all the Middle East".^[35]

• On 26 April 2010 Indosat, Indonesian mobile operator launched HSPA+ internet service with downlink speed 42 Mbit/s (claimed the first in Asia) and Uplink speed 11 Mbit/s.^[36]

• On 13 May 2010 3 Ireland, announced that it has switched on the world's first commercial voice and data I-HSPA network.^[37]

• On 25 May 2010 Israel's Pelephone launched their HSPA+ internet service, codenamed "High Speed GSM+" with speeds of 21 Mbit/s (download) and 5.6 Mbit/s (upload).^[38]

• On 2 June 2010, AT&T Mobility announced plans to upgrade to HSPA+ starting later that year, prior to launching 3GPP Long Term Evolution.^[39]

• As of 21 July 2010, T-Mobile USA has deployed HSPA+ with theoretical download speeds of 21 Mbit/s to 50 major metropolitan areas.^[40]

• In the month of July 2010 Vodafone started rolling out HSPA+ in the Netherlands starting in the major cities, offering speeds of up to 28Mbit/s down.

• On 16 August 2010, SaskTel activated their new HSPA+ network in Saskatchewan, Canada. Coverage started with major cities and towns and will continue to expand throughout the province, finishing by the end of 2011.^[41]

• On 27 August 2010 Megafon Russia launched their HSPA+ internet service in two cities: Kazan and Naberezhnye Chelny with maximum download speed up to 16Mbit/s

• On 9 September 2010 Vidéotron launched their HSPA+ networks with theoretical download speeds of 21 Mbits in Quebec, Canada.

• On 27 September 2010, U Mobile Malaysia launched their HSPA+ networks at Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur with theoretical download speeds of 42 Mbits using Dual-Carrier HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) connections.^[42]

• On 11 October 2010, Vodafone Portugal launched their HSPA+ networks in Portugal with theoretical download speeds of 42 Mbits using Dual-Carrier HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) connections.^[43]

• Croatian operator Tele2 announced that the 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ will be available around the beginning of December 2010

• On 5 November 2010 Tata DoCoMo launched their HSPA+ networks with theoretical download speeds of 21 Mbits in India,^[44] even though most BTS are supported with HSDPA 3.6 Mbit/s.

• On 9 November 2010, Tusmobil Slovenia launched their HSPA+ network with speeds up to 21 Mbit/s.

• On 10 November 2010, Russian Mobile TeleSystems announced plans to introduce HSDPA 14 Mbit/s and HSPA+ 21 Mbit/s services in the Moscow region by Q1 2011.^[45]

• On 15 November 2010 Iusacell Mexico launched their HSPA+ network with speeds up to 21 Mbit/s.

• On 2 December 2010, Si.mobil rolled out their HSPA+ network.

• In December 2010, BSNL started upgrading their entire 3G network in 760 Indian cities from the current HSDPA (7.2 Mbit/s) standards to the HSPA+ standards with minimum speeds of 14.4 Mbit/s and maximum speeds of 21.1 Mbit/s. The entire up-gradation process will be completed by 31 March 2011.^[46]

• On 10 February 2011 Vip Mobile Serbia launched their HSPA+ network with speeds up to 42 Mbit/s.^[47]

• On 21 February 2011 Zain Jordan acquired the license to operate the HSPA+ Network in Jordan. The official launch of the service is planned to be at the beginning of March.

• On 21 March 2011, T-Mobile USA announced their plans to upgrade their HSPA+ network to 42 Mbps in three cities and to 25 by mid-year ^[48]

• On 31 March 2011 MTS Mobility plans to launch their new HSPA+ (shared with Rogers Wireless) network with speeds up to 21Mbit/s, alongside their current CDMA network.^[49]

• In 2009 Telus launched their 4G network with speeds up to 21 Mbit/s, and is launching an upgraded 4G network (a major upgrade for Telus Winnipeg) with speeds up to 42 Mbit/s.^[50]

• On April 16, 2011, Globe Telecom announced its plans to roll out nationwide HSPA+ services to the entire Philippines by late 2012.^[51]

• In April 2011, Three UK began its rollout of 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ Mobile Broadband.^[52][53]

• In May 2011 Etisalat Lanka (PVT) LTD (Owned by Emirates Telecommunication Network) launched 3.75G in Sri Lanka which became the first commercial launch of 3.75G in South Asia. Currently, it has 515 3.75G bases across the country.

• On June 1, 2011, Cincinnati Bell Wireless began the rollout of its HSPA+ network with peak download speeds of up to 21Mbps and peak upload speeds of up to 5.7Mbps.

• In 2011, O2 UK began deploying 21Mbit/s HSPA+ to its existing up to 14.4Mbit/s 3G network.^[54]

• In August 5, 2011, Smart Communications listed several locations in the Philippines with coverage of its HSPA+ network.^[55]

• In August 9, 2011 Claro Panama announced the availability of their HSPA+ network. ^[56]

• On August 12, 2011 Total Access Communication (DTAC) Launched HSPA+ up to 42Mbps Service in Bangkok, Thailand on the 850Mhz band. DTAC plans to continue to expand their HSPA+ network with a target of 2000 base stations in 2012 and a further 780 base stations to provide 3G service in a total of 40 provinces.

• On August 30, 2011 Truemove-H launched its HSPA+ network and will launches in a total of 16 provinces in Thailand before the end of 2011 and plans to increase the number to 77 provinces in 2012. Truemove-H will be the first HSPA+ Operator that provides a nationwide HSPA+ 42 Mbps network.

• On November 2, 2011, MTC Touch, Zain affiliate in Lebanon, officially launched HSPA+ services in Lebanon. The service is to cover all Lebanese territories by beginning of 2012.

• On 19 December 2011 Pelephone Israel announced that they are upgrading their HSPA+ network with speed up to 42 Mbit/s.^[57]

• On 27 December 2011 Deutsche Telekom announced that they finished upgrading their UMTS-Network to 42Mbit/s HSDPA which reaches about 60% of Germany's population. Deutsche Telekom uses HSDPA+ (MIMO) as well as Dual-Cell HSDPA, which combined could offer up to 84,4 MBit/s in the near future.

• On March 2012, Orange France announced its HSPA+ network has covered more than 50% of the French dwellings.

• On March 27, Claro Nicaragua announced its HSPA+ network in Managua.^[58]

See also[link]

• High Speed Packet Access
• Comparison of wireless data standards
• List of HSPA+ networks

References[link]

External links[link]

• 3GPP
• Free download of 3GPP standards available at
  • 3GPP Specifications Home Page
  • ETSI GSM UMTS 3GPP Numbering Cross Reference
• HSPA LTE Link Budget Comparison
• Public HSPA Discussion Forum
• Nokia HSPA^{[dead link]}
• EDGE, HSPA & LTE
•  QUALCOMM to Deliver 28 Mbps Mobile Broadband with HSPA+
• Huawei HSPA+^{[dead link]}
• HSPA+ Upgrade in Sri Lanka [6]
• Sri Lanka; Local 28.8 Mbit/s downlink HSPA trial a 'success'[7]
• HSPA now "officially" 4G