Nevertheless, the deployment of the HSPA+ technology in the country, according to the research agency, is only an interim step until the rollout of the superfast next generation LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile broadband network rollout. The LTE is expected to deliver without bottlenecks, mobile broadband speeds of up to 150Mbps. At present the prominent mobile broadband platform is HSPA.

The research agency further claimed that the mobile broadband serviceproviders in the UK were feeling the load of an increased user-base. It estimates that the traffic of mobile data users can increase by up to twenty five fold by the year 2012.

According to the spokesperson of Informa, Dimitris Mavarkis, the mobile broadband operators in the developed markets in the United States of America and the United Kingdom were beginning to saturate, which was evident in the fact that numerous bottlenecks were found in data-centric regions such as New York and London.

Mavarkis also boded that LTE, which was the next generation technology of mobile broadband would ease the strain on the networks.

HSPA is the abbreviation for High Speed Packet Access. The HSPA is in fact a collection of mobile telephony protocols that aims at improving the performance of the current mobile systems. The HSPA technology is just like having a broadband mobile system in your mobile phone or laptop. In case you need a cable broadband service then there are a lot of formalities to be considered such as you need to live in a cable serviceable area, you need to own a cable modem etc. HSPA on the other hand is similar cable broadband that does not require you to have any complicated wires or special modem or conditions. It is a type of mobile broadband service that provides you with a high speed internet service on your mobile phone or laptop.

HSPA forms a part of the GSM mobile network; in fact an upgradation done to the GSM 3G network service. To be able to access the HSPA technology all you need to have is an HSPA enabled unit, be it a mobile phone or a laptop. Most of the recent phones or high-end notebooks come with HSPA compatibility. For example the Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition (S8300), the Samsung OMNIAHD (I8910), the LG-X120 Laptop come with HSPA compatibility. Apart from mobile phones and laptops, many kinds of power amplifiers, servers, data-cards, docking stations, USB modems and wireless routers also come with built-in HSPA technology.

HSPA can be widely classified into two major categories; the HSUPA and HSDPA. HSUPA is High Speed Uplink Packet Access which allows you to upload data at higher speeds as high as 5.7Mbps. The HSDPA, High Speed Downlink Packet Access on the other hand increases the speed, at which data is received to your device. HSDPA has been around for almost 2 years now and is a common feature offered by most of the enterprise mobile phone models today. The further development to the HSPA technology is the HSPA Evolve, which is also known as HSPA+. This HSPA+ technology is working at providing higher speeds of up-to 42Mbps in the downlink and up-to 11Mbps in the uplink mode. The HSPA Evolve technology is expected to be available by the end of 2009.

Mobile Broadband is defined as a type of wireless high speed internet access that is obtained by using a portable modem. For this purpose various types of network standards such as the 3G, GPRS, HSPA, etc are used. A team was originally formed that aimed at spreading this mobile broadband connection to meet the needs of residential and business people. This team was the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) Working Group. On 11^th December 2002, the IEEE Standards Board approved the establishment of this group.

Due to the dedicated effort taken by this team; now a greater section of UK relies on the Mobile Broadband services. Initially the mobile broadband services were targeted at laptop users due to the availability of a USB slot. One of the main challenges faced by the Mobile broadband providers was coverage. It is not always possible to obtain full network in some areas, thus the available speed would be much lower than the advertised one. The main devices that are used for providing mobile broadband services include a mobile data card, USB modem, USB sticks, phones with internal data modems, and laptops with built-in 3G mobile broadband.

This service is mainly useful for those people who cannot get normal telephone connection, as well as for people who need to move houses often, and people who do not like the numerous wires running across their houses. This is also useful for people who live far away from the telephone exchange and obtaining a business broadband ADSL connection is impossible. Such people need not have to compromise with a slow dial-up network but can enjoy broadband speeds owing to the mobile broadband service. For using this network you do not need a telephone line or a wi-fi network. Juts connect your laptop to a USB modem or a data-card that comes with a SIM card and access the internet at broadband speeds. Another method of accessing  broadband mobile service is by simply attaching the cell phone or PDA to the computer to access internet. The evolution of this technology was due to the high number of mobile subscriptions in and around Europe.

Five major operators who are providing this service to millions of people in and around the UK have formed the Mobile Broadband Group. They are O2, 3, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.  The main functions of this Mobile Broadband Group is to develop new policies for legislation and regulation purposes, create a code of practice and act as a point of contact for their stakeholders. With a group of operators governing the mobile broadband services with clearly set out rules and regulations, there is only a rare chance of any kind of service misuse. In case you are wanting to take up the Mobile Broadband service, you can check out the various available plans and choose the one that suits your needs and budget best.

Vodafone is taking huge strides on the path of mobile broadband speed. There is information that they have successfully completed trials of a broadband mobile product offering a download speed of 20Mbps.

The tests are being conducted on Vodafone’s Spanish networks, with equipment from Ericsson, Huawei and Qualcomm Inc. The primary technology responsible for this enhancement in download speed is HSPA+ MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). HSPA+ is Evolved High Speed Packet Access. The broadband provider has also joined hands with device vendors and plug-in manufacturers, to ensure future compatibility.

Vodafone’s global networks director, Andy MacLeod, commented that breaking the 20Mb peak speed barrier using HSPA+ MIMO, would be yet another key milestone in the evolution of 3G mobile broadband technology and would raise the prospect of higher network performance for Vodafone customers in selected hotspots.

These hotspots would initially include business zones and airports. Mobile broadband download speeds depend on many external factors, as the connection is wireless. Hence, practically achievable download speeds would however be less than 20Mbps.

The current broadband speed offered by Vodafone in the UK is 7.2Mbps. The mobile service provider had recently succeeded with the 16Mbps broadband speed trials as well. Now it is 20Mbps. What’s next Vodafone?