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Showing posts with label Mobile Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mobile Internet. Show all posts

List of HSPA mobile phones

HSPA mobile phones use either of two High-Speed Packet Access communications protocols, HSUPA or HSDPA to provide value-added services which require high-speed data transmission.

HSDPA

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity. This is a list of HSDPA Phones.

* Apple iPhone 3G (3.6Mbit/s) and iPhone 3GS (7.2Mbit/s)
* BenQ released its first HSDPA mobile phone, the EF91, in July 2006. But since BenQ-Siemens mobile filed for bankruptcy in Q3/2006, the future of BenQ mobile phones is unclear.
* Garmin Nuvifone scheduled release Q3 2008; http://www8.garmin.com/buzz/nuvifone/
* HP iPAQ 910 supports Tri-band HSDPA 3.6/7.2 Mbit/s (850/1900/2100 MHz); http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/215348-215348-64929-314903-3352590-3551665.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
* High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC) released the HTC TyTN (HTC Z) handset/PocketPC Phone Edition(branded as the MDA Vario II on T-Mobile, X01HT in Japan, XDA Trion on O2, Qtek 1605 on Vodafone, the SPV M3100 on Orange, the Dopod 838 Pro and the I-mate JasJam on Cellcom and Telstra NextG Network and the Cingular 8525 on Cingular) which supports HSDPA. Now the HTC P3600 / Trinity (Orange M700 or Dopod D810)and TyTN II is available and also supports HSDPA, in South America, Argentina currently speed tested with Personal is 1.8 Mbit/s. The new HTC X7500/Advantage (T-Mobile Ameo, Dopod U1000) also supports HSDPA, currently limited by 1.8 Mbit/s downlink speeds by T-Mobile UK, although T-Mobile plans to upgrade its network yearly. Touch HD
* LG Electronics released the LG Chocolate (U830) in late 2006, supporting 3.6 Mbit/s HSDPA. The LG CU500 handset also supports HSDPA, up to 1.8 Mbit/s. The latest offering in HSDPA from LGE includes the very successful KU990 Viewty and KS20 windows mobile phone.
* Motorola has released a number of HSDPA phones including: the KRZR K3, the Motorola RAZR v3xx in Q3 2006, the RAZR maxx V6, the RIZR Z8 in May 2007 (a class 10 EDGE phone), and the RAZR² V9 in July 2007 (a class 12 EDGE phone)
* Nokia released its first HSDPA device, the N95, in late March 2007. This is a category 6 device meaning up to 3.6 Mbit downlink speeds. Nokia E90, Nokia 6120 classic,Nokia 5320 Xm and Nokia 6110 Navigator are released with HSDPA. Furthermore the company brings the technology to lower cost phones with the release of E51
* NEC released the N902iX High Speed along with NTT Docomo's HSDPA network launch on August 31, 2006. It is the first handset capable of 3.6 Mbit/s to go into commercial service.
* Palm, Inc. released the Treo 750, which does UMTS today and HSDPA via a firmware upgrade in 2007 for Cingular.
* Research In Motion BlackBerry Bold (formerly 9000) sold by T-Mobile Germany and Movistar Chile, soon to be released in other parts of the world including North America.
* Samsung:
o In late 2006 released the A501 and A701 Telstra Branded HSDPA mobile devices for Telstra's nextG network. These devices are capable of traditional mobile phone functions, web browsing, as a modem for another device and for viewing online video such as Foxtel on Mobile. Also the Z720 and U700 handsets. Also, the Samsung F480 and F490 handsets
o Samsung SGH-F490.
* Sony Ericsson released the Z750, an HSDPA Quad-EDGE enabled phone in the first quarter of 2007. In June 2007 it also announced the K850i and W910i which is a category 6 device supporting up to 3.6 Mbit downlink speeds. V640i, W890i, W980i, C902 are now also available. The X1 also supports HSDPA.
* Vodafone:
o Vodafone Australia currently sell re-badged HSDPA enabled Huawei Technologies E220 (USB) and E620 (PCMCIA) cards that provide downlink speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s. The network was initially rolled out only in Sydney and Melbourne CBDs but has recently been upgraded to include other metropolitan areas in Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. Vodafone Australia's HSDPA network currently runs on top of the UMTS 2100 MHz network therefore making most HSDPA enabled handsets from Telstra and Vodafone/Optus unable to use the service (there are a number of exceptions to this rule; for example the Dopod 838Pro is a Quad-Band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), Tri-Band 3G/HSDPA (850/1900/2100 MHz) enabled handset.) The Sony Ericsson K660i has recently been enabled onto the HSDPA Vodafone network in specific areas of Sydney and the Central Coast including the suburbs of Normanhurst-Hornsby, Woy Woy-Narara and Hurstville-Heathcote.
o Vodafone New Zealand and Vodafone Ireland recently released its HSDPA mobile broadband device the Vodem. This device is designed for use with notebook or desktop computers and is in fact a re-badged Huawei Technologies E220 USB Modem.
* ZTE released its first HSDPA device in Australia, re-badged as the Telstra 252.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

List of HSUPA networks

Australia

* Telstra has introduced HSUPA on its Next G network, operating with a 1.9 Mbits/s enhanced uplink speed. As of June 2009 selected regional and metropolitan areas of Next G operate at HSUPA Category 6 speeds, with a peak uplink of 5.76 Mbits/s.

Austria

* Mobilkom Austria started the world's first HSUPA network in February 2007. It operates at 2.0 Mbit uplink.
* T-Mobile is planning to introduce HSUPA in 2007 or 2008.

Bulgaria

* M-TEL started HSUPA operations in August 2007
* Globul started HSUPA operations in 2007
* Vivatel started HSUPA operations in 2007

Croatia

* VIPNet started HSUPA operations in April 2007.

China

* China Unicom started HSUPA operations in May 2009.

Egypt

* Etisalat Egypt started HSUPA network in November 2007

Finland

* Elisa opened its HSUPA network in the end of August 2007. It operates at up 1.4 Mbit uplink.
* DNA introduced HSUPA to its whole 3G network in 2008.

Germany

* Vodafone started HSUPA in July 2007.

Hungary

* Pannon started HSUPA in October 2007.
* T-Mobile started HSUPA in September 2007.
* Vodafone started HSUPA in January 2008.

Italy

* Telecom Italia- October 2007
* 3- July 2007

Israel

* Pelephone is planning to introduce HSUPA in 2008.
* Cellcom has introduced HSUPA with 80% coverage of the population.

Japan

* EMOBILE started HSUPA @ 1.46 Mbit/s in Novenver 2008. up to 5.8 Mbit/s in April 2009.
* NTT DOCOMO has introduced HSUPA @ 5.7 Mbit/s in June 2009.

Portugal

* Vodafone started HSUPA in September 2007.

Romania

* Orange Romania has introduced HSUPA in 42 major cities on 31 October 2007. Initial upload speeds are up to 1.46 Mbit/s.

Singapore

* Starhub announced 1.9 Mbit/s HSUPA Service as part of its new MaxMobile plan on 1 August 2007.

Slovakia:

* Orange has launched HSUPA @ 1,46 Mbit/s from UMTS on 7 November 2007

Slovenia

* Mobitel is planning to introduce HSUPA in 2007.

South Africa

* Vodacom is planning to introduce HSUPA in 2007.
* MTN (South Africa) is planning to introduce HSUPA in 2007.

South Korea

* KTF launched HSUPA in June 2007 in major cities including Seoul, Busan, Daejeon, Gwangju and Daegu with nationwide service available by October 2007.
* SK Telecom is planning to build an HSUPA network in Busan in June 2007 and plans to launch the service with USB devices in October 2007.

Spain:

* Movistar offers 7,2 Mbit/s download and 2 Mbit/s upload speeds in several mayor cities. 3,6 Mbit/s download speeds are available in towns with 100.000 or more inhabitants plus 180 relevant villages.
* Vodafone and Movistar are upgrading to 7,2 Mbit/s download and 2 Mbit/s upload speeds to replace the current 3,6 Mbit/s download and 384 kbit/s upload speeds in several mayor cities. Speeds of up to 14,4 Mbit/s will be available later this year.

Sweden

* 3 introduced HSUPA in September 2007

Switzerland

* Swisscom is planning to introduce HSUPA in 2008.

United Kingdom

* Vodafone started HSUPA in September 2007.

United States

* AT&T Mobility launched HSUPA in November 2007 with The Sierra Wireless 881 PC Card being the first to feature HSUPA.

Kuwait

* Zain started HSUPA in September 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

List of HSDPA networks

A

Argentina:

* Movistar has upgraded to HSDPA in July 2007.

Aruba:

* Setar launched a UMTS and HSDPA network in December 2007.

http://www.cnebay.com/en/products.asp?class1id=17

Australia:

* Telstra has replaced their CDMA-EVDO network with a HSDPA network, known as Next G, which commenced operation on 6 October 2006. It reaches more than 99% of the Australian population and operates at 21 Mbit/s peak. It is geographically the world's largest 3G 850MHz network, covering over 2 million square kilometres of landmass. The network was built in 10 months by utilising and upgrading both the existing CDMA infrastructure, and rolling out many new cellular sites and associated transmission. In March 2009, Telstra announced the availability of their 21Mbit/s HSDPA service with a new Sierra Wireless modem - alongside the return of their "world's fastest national mobile network" advertising campaign.

* 3 has rolled out HSDPA across its entire 3G-2100 footprint in Australia completing the rollout in March 2007. The network currently runs at up to 3.6 Mbit/s peak. Upgrades are currently underway to increase speeds to 7.2 Mbit/s peak.

* Optus is deploying a nationwide HSDPA network, branded 'yes'G, to compete directly with Telstra's NextG mobile service. The network currently covers over 96% of the Australian population with plans to reach 98% of the Australian population by 2010 to cover a total of over 1 million square kilometres of geographic area. The rollout began in 2007, delivering services in the 2100MHz - and later, 900MHz - bands. The Optus HSDPA network currently offers speeds of up to 7.2 Mbit/s, after the network was upgraded to support 7.2 Mbit/s in 2008.

* Vodafone Australia first activated HSDPA coverage in selected areas of Sydney and Melbourne on 20 October 2006, with speeds peaking at 1.8 Mbit. Vodafone is currently expanding their HSDPA network to match their existing GSM coverage, using spectrum in the 2100 MHz and 900 MHz bands. The network now reaches most mainland capitals and some regional centres, delivering downstream speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s.

Austria:

* T-Mobile started HSDPA deployments in fall of 2005, opened the network upgrade for public use in March 2006 and finished upgrading the entire network by April 2006.

* Mobilkom Austria launched HSDPA on January 23, 2006.

* One launched HSDPA on June 19, 2006.

* 3 launched HSDPA for phones and computers in 2006, offering maximum download speeds of 3.6 Mbit/s.

B

Bahrain

* MTC-Vodafone introduced 3.5G in Bahrain in May 2006 as a trial service in a small area only (in Seef District) and announced that they are planning to make Bahrain the first country with 100% 3.5G coverage in the world. This is because Bahrain is a small country and doesn't need many upgrades since it already has 100% 3G coverage.

Bangladesh:

* Ericsson Bangladesh Limited introduce 3G technology for the first time in Bangladesh on a trial basis on 10 August, The 3G spectrum will be available for commercial use in Bangladesh very soon. It is also expected to start in 2009.

Belgium

* Proximus launched HSDPA in 8 cities on 15 June 2006. More than 80% of the Belgian population are able to benefit from 3G Broadband coverage and a maximum download speed that will exceed 3.6 Mbit/s (15 May 2007).

Brazil

* Claro introduced HSDPA on November, 2007 in some selected cities from states: Federal District, Ceará and Pernambuco. In December, 2007 the system was available in several other important cities like São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre. Claro's current HSDPA deployments use the 850 MHz band, but coverage will be expanded to other (non-850 MHz) areas using recently acquired 2.1 GHz spectrum (Dec. 2007). Current data plans include 500kbit/s and 1Mbit/s rates, and 2Mbit/s is planned for the near future.

* Vivo introduced HSPA on November, 2007 in Belo Horizonte, state capital of Minas Gerais. This 3.5G deployment replaces Telemig's older AMPS and TDMA networks on the 850 MHz band. There are plans to expand coverage beyond the country using recently acquired 2.1 GHz spectrum.

* TIM launched its 3.5G network on May 1, 2008 using 2.1 GHz and 850 MHz (in different cities), with no plans to launch a full 2.1 GHz network available across the country.

Brunei

B-Mobile Communications Sdn Bhd and DST Communications are the only two mobile service providers in Brunei Darussalam .

* B-Mobile Communications Sdn Bhd launched the first 3G network in December 2005 in Brunei Darussalam and on April 2008 Bmobile launched its 3.5G network under the name Bmobile Zoom!.

* DST Communications launched its first 3G/3.5G network on 1 May 2008 under the name DST Go! Broadband.

Bulgaria

* M-tel introduced HSDPA on March 6, 2006 with full coverage in the capital city Sofia. After April 2007 M-tel offers HSDPA access everywhere in the country.

* Globul launched HSDPA on September 25, 2006 with full coverage in the capital city Sofia and 3 of the other major cities.

* Vivatel launched HSDPA in May 2007 with full coverage in the whole country.

C

Canada:

* Rogers Wireless launched their HSDPA 1900 network on November 2, 2006 covering the Greater Toronto Area/Golden Horseshoe in Ontario, with expansion planned for mid-2007. Rogers currently offers a PC Card wireless card, the Samsung A706 handset, the LG TU500 handset, the LG TU515 handset, the LG TU720 Shine handset, the Palm Treo 750, the Motorola RAZR2 V9, the Motorola Q9h, and the HTC TyTN, more UMTS/HSDPA phones are planned for Q3 and Q4 2007. Download rates currently range from 2-3 Mbit/s. As of November 2007, Rogers Wireless expanded their HSDPA network to cover the 25 largest metropolitan areas in Canada. With this expansion, Rogers now offers Video OnDemand, XM satellite radio, Mobile TV, and many other features on their HSDPA mobile devices. Fido, a subsidiary brand of Rogers Wireless, offers similar services with largely similar pricing.
* In October 2008, Telus and Bell Canada announced plans to upgrade their shared CDMA network to the HSPA standard.

Chile:

* Entel PCS introduced HSDPA in Santiago on December 13, 2006, with the commercial name "3.5G", which rapidly expanded to other cities.

* Claro Chile introduced HSDPA in Santiago and several other cities on November 2007.

* Movistar introduced HSDPA in all major Chilean cities on December 2007.

Croatia:

* VIPnet launched HSDPA network on the WinDays on April 26, 2006 @ 1.5 Mbit/s ( available in Zagreb, Rijeka, Split, Koprivnica, Opatija, Osijek, Zadar, Slavonski Brod, Pula, Karlovac, Sesvete, Varaždin, Velika Gorica, Bjelovar, Zaprešić, Samobor, Solin, Čakovec, Trogir, Poreč, Podstrana, Višnjevac, Tenja, Duga Resa, Kaštel Sućurac, Nova Mokošica, Kaštel Lukšić, Kaštel Kambelovac, Nedelišće, Kaštel Gomilica, Hvar, Matulji and Dubrovnik). Current speed is 7.2 Mbit/s with coverage same as UMTS networks provided by VIPnet.
* T-mobile launched HSDPA network on November 30, 2006 at speed of 1.8 Mbit/s with coverage same as UMTS network provided by T-mobile (most cities in Croatia including some towns)

Czech Republic:

* T-Mobile UMTS TDD with HSDPA from IPWireless as "4G Internet" from 1 October 2005.

* Eurotel UMTS FDD (classic UMTS) with HSDPA from 1 May 2006.

D

Denmark:

* 3 deployed HSDPA 3.6/1.8 Mbit services in all of Denmark in 2007, and covers around 80% of the population.

* TDC deployed HSDPA 1.8 Mbit in January 2008.

* Telia deployed HSDPA 3.6 Mbit in December 2007 and delivers outdoor coverage in the 4 biggest cities.

* Sonofon deployed HSDPA 3.6 Mbit in January 2008.

Dominican Republic:

* Claro (mobile phone network) is the first in the country to launch the 3G UMTS/HSDPA on August 7, 2007 and offers 3.5 Mbit/s downlink.

E

Estonia:

* EMT launched their HSDPA network on (24 April 2006). It is second in the Nordic Countries and first in Estonia. The solution is provided by Ericsson, service is provided soon in whole EMT 3G network. EMT homepage
* Tele2 Eesti, part of the Tele2 AB, has HSDPA in all major cities. Tele2 Eesti homepage.
* Elisa Eesti, part of Elisa Oyj, has HSDPA in all major cities. As of (29 September 2008) Elisa Eesti, has announced their plan to cover 100% of Estonia with HSDPA in 3 years. Elisa Eesti homepage.

Egypt:

* Etisalat Egypt’s first 3.5G Mobile operator, has launched 3G services (1 May 2007)
* Vodafone has launched 3G services (13 May 2007)

Ecuador:

* movistar Ecuador launched their HSDPA network and service on July 2009. They marketed it as "Internet Móvil 3.5G de movistar" (movistar's 3.5G mobile internet).

F

Finland:

* Elisa Oyj launched (6 April 2006) the first commercial HSDPA network in the Nordic Countries. The solution, provided by Nokia, is implemented in the whole of Elisa's 3G network in Finland and Estonia. In January, 2007 its HSDPA infrastructure was upgraded to 3.6 Mbit/s.

* Sonera launched (1 April 2007) its HSDPA service with speeds of up to 3,6 Mbit/s.

* DNA Finland launched (1 February 2007 its HSDPA service with speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s and planned to upgrade this to 10 Mbit/s in 2008. The network was supposed to cover 70% of Finland's population by the end of 2007.

Fiji:

* Vodafone FJ launched (1st Oct, 2008) the first commercial HSDPA network in the Oceania Region. The solution, provided by Ericsson, is implemented in the whole of Vodafone Fiji's 3G network in Fiji, supporting speeds up to 14.4 Mbit/s, with a full end-to-end IP network Infrastructure covering 80% of the population.

France:

* Orange introduces its HSDPA service in 2006.

* SFR operator introduced its HSDPA service by July 1, 2006. Aim is 38% population covered by September 1, 2006.

G

Germany:

* T-Mobile officially introduced its HSDPA service at the CeBIT 2006 (9 March - 15 March 2006).

* Vodafone also launched the service at CeBit 2006

* O2 launched HSDPA on December 1, 2006

* E-Plus plans to launch HSDPA in 2008

Ghana:

* MTN officially introduced its HSDPA service in May 2007 in the cities of Accra,Tema and Kumasi

* Zain Ghana also has launched it's 3G network

Greece:

* Cosmote officially announced HSDPA network support on June 6, 2006. HSDPA services are available as of June 27, 2006. In October, 2006 its HSDPA infrastructure was upgraded to 3.6 Mbit/s. Cosmote claims service availability to 75% of the population and this figure (without official data) is coming to almost complete overlap of Cosmote's GSM footprint which covers 99.9% of the population. Cosmote announced it will soon be upgrading its network with HSUPA and HSDPA access up to 7.2 Mbit/s beginning from major areas.

* Vodafone is providing HSDPA network support on all of its network whilst most of the cities covered are upgraded up to 3.6 Mbit/s

* Wind GR has upgraded all of its 3GSM network with HSDPA up to 3.6 Mbit/s.

Guatemala:

* Claro introduced HSDPA in Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala on April 16, 2008, with the commercial name "3.5G", which expanded to other cities reaching at least 40 cities, originally available with 1.8 Mbit/s.

* TIGO introduced HSDPA in Guatemala City and 64 other cities on September 2008. Originally available with 3.8 Mbit/s, was upgraded to 7.2 Mbit/s in Guatemala City and other 2 cities.

* Movistar is deploying HSDPA in all major cities, it will launch commercial services in the first half of 2009. The network is on trial on 1900 MHz.

H

Hong Kong:

* SmarTone-Vodafone officially launches Hong Kong's first commercial HSDPA service on June 6, 2006. SmarTone-Vodafone’s HSDPA network provides a data speed of 3.6 Mbit/s and flat-rate internet access services about 24 US Dollars.
* SmarTone-Vodafone on Mar 8, 2007 made available the world’s first Mobile Broadband in taxis, offering trial experience of Mobile Broadband. Passengers can plug their laptops into the USB modem and they can browse & email.
* CSL officially launched HSDPA service on September 19, 2006, together with Dopod 838pro, the first HSDPA compatible PDA based on Windows Mobile 5.0.
* 3 provided HSDPA service up to 7.2 Mbit/s
* PCCW also provided HSDPA

Hungary:

* T-Mobile originally introduced its commercial HSDPA service on 17 May 2006, for the inner districts of Budapest, but as of December 2007 it offers 3.6 Mbit/s downlink in much of the country's main areas, also offering 7.2 Mbit/s in Budapest and in 40 other towns and cities.
* Pannon, a Telenor company, offers Cat5 HSDPA USB and cardmodems and by March 2008 it has covered Budapest and 155 other towns and cities with 3.6 Mbit/s connection.
* Vodafone launched its commercial HSDPA service on 1 June 2007 and it is available in 111 towns and cities (including Budapest). Vodafone Hungary's network has a theoretical maximum download speed of 7.2 Mbit/s.

I

Iceland:

* Novator started deploying HSDPA in Iceland late 2006.

India:

* MTNL DOLPHIN has started 3G Services under the brand name of 3G Jadoo where Jadoo means Magic in Hindi. While BSNL has launched 3G services with speed up to 2 Mbit/s at 11 Indian Cities on 27.02.2009

Indonesia:

* Excelcom, or XL, introduced HSDPA deployment on 21 September 2006, with more than 100 HSDPA spots across the country.

* Indosat, the first HSDPA network in Indonesia which is supported by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei mostly in major cities.

* Telkomsel has HSDPA technology around the country, mostly in major cities.

Ireland:

* Vodafone launched an HSDPA service on 14 November 2006 which currently covers 59% of the country's population .

* O2 offers HSDPA nationwide since July 2007.

* 3 will deploy their HSDPA network from January 2007, aiming to cover 85% of the population by February 2007 . A HSDPA datacard was introduced on December 15, 2006.

* Meteor, the mobile communications arm of eircom is in the final stages of testing its 3G and HSPDA services. Their networks are currently on-air in Dublin and Cork and a public pilot trial for mobile broadband is underway with a group of prepay GSM customers. They were expected to have a full commercial launch by Q3 2008 for both contract and prepay customers. But it still has not come in February 2009

Isle of Man:

* Manx Telecom

* Cloud9

Israel:

* Cellcom has by now completed deployment of HSDPA in more than 80% of the populated areas of Israel.

* Partner, the second largest Israeli GSM provider, has announced (March 8, 2006) deployment of HSDPA and will offer phones and computers with built-in HSDPA capability. According to Ynet from October 2006 Partner completed deployment of HSDPA in 70% of the populated areas.

* Pelephone has completed deployment of HSDPA network in 2009.

Italy:

* 3 launched nationwide HSDPA service (25 main cities) in March 2006

* Vodafone (all the UMTS network, about 70% of population, converted to HSDPA) in June 2006

* TIM in July 2006

* WIND part of its 3G network is upgraded to HSDPA since 2007

J

Japan:

* SoftBank Mobile (formerly Vodafone Japan) introduced HSDPA services in October 2006.

* NTT DOCOMO introduced HSDPA at 3.6 Mbit on August 31, 2006. 70% of the population will be covered by March 2007. . up to 7.2 Mbit on April 2008. 100% of the population covered by December 2008.

* EMOBILE Launched HSDPA service on April 28, 2007.

Jersey:

* Jersey Airtel launched an HSDPA network in June 2007.

K

Kuwait:

* Wataniya introduced HSDPA on December 4, 2006. The service was implemented in most of Kuwait, however areas like Yarmouk and Qurtoba should be covered by January 2007.

* Zain Launched the service Commercially in September 2006. nowadays all Kuwait even desert is covered by 3.5G HSDPA 7.2 Mbit/s

Kenya:

* Safaricom Now supports HSDPA since early March 2007 and has launched several services that offer internet services available in all 3G enabled areas of the country.

L

Latvia:

* Bite launched HSDPA service in 2006 covering 10 major cities

Liechtenstein:

* Telecom FL launched HSDPA service in June 2007.

Lithuania:

* Omnitel launched its HSDPA service in May 2006.

* Bite has been commercially deploying 3.5G services based on a nationwide network since June 2006.

Luxembourg:

* The three mobile network operators currently active in Luxembourg (VOX, Tango and Luxgsm) have progressively deployed HSDPA in major agglomerations since late 2006/early 2007.

M

Malaysia:

* Maxis Communications (Maxis Broadband) announced in April 2006 that it has fully integrated HSDPA into its 3G network and anticipates HSDPA services by September 2006. Maxis officially launches its HSDPA services on 26 September 2006, delivering broadband Internet access to residential customers in Kuala Lumpur. The service is delivered through a specially designed low-cost HSDPA modem, a world's first.

* Celcom (www.celcom.com.my) has integrated 3.5G into its current 3G network, and plans to fully cover peninsular Malaysia with 3.5 G by the end of year 2007. Major towns and many high-traffic sites (e.g. Shopping malls) in Peninsular Malaysia are already HSDPA-enabled. The current deployment of HSDPA provides download speeds of up to 1.8 Mbit/s.

* iZZi (http://www.izzi.com.my/) has introduce and provide a new alternative mobile wireless broadband service to the Malaysia public. employing the "iBurst" technology which has been proven successful in other countries, among them are, Australia, South Africa, USA, Canada, Norway and Lebanon since early 2004.

* U Mobile (http://www.u.com.my/) has introduce "Suft with U" mobile wireless broadband service to the Malaysia public on 2008.It's Malaysia’s newest 3G service provider and was founded in 1998 as MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd. U Mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of U Television Sdn Bhd which was formerly known as U Telecom Media Holdings Sdn Bhd and MiTV Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Malta:

* GO Mobile (www.go.com.mt) launched 3G and 3.5G (HSDPA) services on 26 April 2007 with nationwide coverage in both Malta and Gozo. GO Mobile was the first mobile operator in Malta to launch a nationwide mobile broadband network, with download speeds up to 1.8 and 3.6 Mbit/s depending on the client device, both outdoor and indoor (in most parts of the country) thus enabling customers to experience true broadband speeds while on the move.

Mauritius

* Emtel (www.emtel-ltd.com) introduced both HSDPA (at 1.8 Mbit/s) and WiMAX in 2007. Emtel was also the first to launch a 3G network in Africa in 2004.

Mexico:

* Movistar (http://www.movistar.com.mx) Movistar provides 3G service.
* Telcel (www.telcel.com) Is the official carrier of the I-Phone 3G.
* Iusacell (http://www.iusacell.com.mx/) Iusacell was the first to provide 3G service in Mexico.

As a note: Regardless of the company, don't forget to hire a Unlimited Data Plan, also put attention to any Speed limit after certain download amount, even in unlimited plans, some providers limit drastically the 3G speed after a few GB. In spanish: No olviden contratar un Plan Ilimitado, independientemente del proveedor. Pongan atención a las velocidades de descarga después de ciertos días de descarga, inclusive con planes ilimitados. Algunos limitan la descarga después de algunos GB.

Moldova:

* Moldcell (www.moldcell.md) launched 3G and 3.5G (HSDPA) services on 1 October 2008 with both download and upload speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/s.

* Orange (www.orange.md) launched 3G and 3.5G (HSDPA) services on 1 November 2008 with download speed 14.4 Mbit/s and upload 7.2 Mbit/s.

Morocco

* Maroc Telecom (www.iam.ma) Morocco's Maroc Telecom has commercially launched a 3G/HSDPA service in the country's main cities. The company was originally awarded a 3G license in May 2006, along with competitors, Medi Telecom and Maroc Connect.

* Wana (www.wana.ma) The third phone operator in Morocco is the first to launch 3G products. "Wana Moov" is the first 3G service in North Africa.

* Meditel (www.Meditel.ma) The first 3G services arrive at Meditel in 2007. Meditel has a good support service.

Source: (www.CasaAnnonce.ma)

N

Netherlands:

* T-Mobile has launched the HSDPA service half April 2006, which covers 50% of the Dutch population. In April 2008 OPTA (Dutch Telecom Regulator) tested the network with 98% coverage and 93,1% at a satisfactory service level.

* Vodafone launched its HSDPA service October 2006, which then reached about half of the population. In April 2008 OPTA (Dutch Telecom Regulator) tested the network with 100% coverage and 99,33% at a satisfactory service level.

* KPN also launched its HSDPA service in October 2006, starting in The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. It was upgraded two months later, a move that extended coverage to about 70%. In May 2007, that percentage is scheduled to rise to 85%. In April 2008 OPTA (Dutch Telecom Regulator) tested the network with 100% coverage and 99,67% at a satisfactory service level.


New Zealand:

* Vodafone launched a national 3G/W-CDMA network in mid-2005. This was followed by a network upgrade to HSDPA which was launched on 12 September 2006. The HSDPA network however currently covers less than 40% of the population 2.1GHz. Coverage of the original GSM/GPRS network covers some 97% of NZ's population. 900MHz coverage over 97% of populated areas by June 2009, claimed by Vodafone NZ. 900MHz UMTS upgrade was completed in June 2009 with the intention to provide the same coverage area as the existing 2G GSM network.

* Telecom New Zealand The network was available to the public June 2009, 850MHz coverage nationwide. Supplementary 2.1MHz in cities, HSPA+. Promoted as the XT Mobile Network.

* 2degrees has a network operating with HSPA+ on their own cell cites in Auckland Christchruch and Wellington. With a sharing agreement with Vodafone NZ, nationwide coverage may be available when the network is launched to the public around September 2009.

Norway:

* TeliaSonera/NetCom (Norway) launched HSDPA in April 2007.

O

Oman:

* Nawras launched HSDPA in November 2007.

P

Panamá:

* Movistar deployed a UMTS network by November 2008. This was the very first 3G network in the country. It offered broadband data services from the start by means of HSDPA technology.

Paraguay:

* CTI Móvil introduced HSDPA in November 2007. Rebranded as Claro in March 2008.
* Personal

Peru:

* Claro has upgraded to HSDPA.

Philippines:

* Globe Telecom was the first in the Philippines to use its 3G and HSDPA facilities during the 23rd SEA Games in 2005 with public demonstrations to international media. It is also the first telecom company in Asia-Pacific to commercially deploy HSDPA service and is among the first 20 worldwide on March 30, 2006 through its "Visibility" product. Visibility is the ultimate in mobile internet providing 3G/HSDPA, EDGE/GPRS through an HSDPA capable datacard for unlimited laptop internet connectivity, as well as unlimited Wi-Fi and Dial-Up access. Recently, it demonstrated its next generation HSDPA network breaking the 2 Mbit/s. barrier as well as the country's handset-based HSDPA service with the Samsung Z560, another milestone possibly in the South East Asian region.

Also, Globe Telecom is the official carrier for the iPhone 3G in the Philippines

* Smart Communications has the first HSDPA ready network. It launched its commercial HSDPA-enabled 3G network on May 1, 2006.

* PLDT offers HSDPA wireless internet through their PLDT WeRoam Plus service. The WeRoam Plus service uses the Smart Communications infrastructure. Users connect to the WeRoam Plus service through the Option Globetrotter 3G PCMCIA card.
* Sun Cellular offered 3G Data plans in mid-late 2007 with HSDPA being deployed in key cities of Metro Manila with speeds of 2Mbit/s. Their offer is the most competitively priced to date at $17/month unlimited.

Poland:

* PTC/Era is the first operator in Poland who launched their network-wide HSDPA service commercially, on October 30, 2006. Era was also the first operator in Poland to present HSDPA operation in its network during March 2006 Intertelecom trade fair held in Łódź. This operator has the widest HSDPA coverage out of all 3G operators in Poland.

* Polkomtel/Plus GSM has announced commercial availability of HSDPA in Warsaw on October 23, 2006 and currently (June 2007) provides HSDPA in the regions of Warszawa, Katowice, Gliwice, Zabrze, Kraków, Częstochowa, Zakopane, Bielsko-Biała, Białystok, Kielce, Lublin and Rzeszów. Polkomtel coverage map

* Centertel/Orange on November 9, 2006 has announced availability of HSDPA on their Node B base stations in Warsaw and Katowice. On November 14 the operator has updated the announcement, stating he will make HSDPA available network-wide on December 1, 2006. The deadline was not met, though - a further announcement delayed network-wide availability to "beginning of 2007" and claimed that "by end of 2007, 30% of country population will have access to HSDPA". However, as of December 1, 2006, HSDPA was commercially available in Warsaw and Katowice only.

Portugal:

* TMN since 5 April 2006 at maximum speed up to 7,2 / 1,4 Mbps.

* Vodafone since 5 April 2006 at maximum speeds up to 21,6 / 5,7 Mbps.

* Optimus since 5 April 2006 at maximum speed up to 21,6 / 5,7 Mbps.

Since 5 April 2006 that the three operators offer this service, coverage includes the main cities and most important towns at speeds up to 21.6 Mbps (Vodafone and Optimus) and 7,2 Mbps (TMN), generally 3.6 Mbps in most cities. At main cities the three operators have also HSUPA enabled.

Puerto Rico:

* AT&T Mobility

Q

Qatar:

* Qtel launched HSDPA in January 2008 initially covering Doha, Wakrah, Rayyan, Mesaieed, Al Khor and Ras Laffan.

R

Romania:

* Vodafone Romania launched 3.5G on 6 October 2006, with initial coverage restricted only to Bucharest. Current coverage includes 23 cities.

* Orange Romania announced the launch of HSDPA in 10 cities by the end of June 2007, starting at speeds of 3.6 Mbit/s.

* Zapp Mobile launched services on its Romanian 2100MHz network at the end of June 2008. The platform is based on UMTS/HSDPA solutions provided by ZTE and is mainly be used for offering high-speed wireless data services across Romania. At launch, the network was already operational in 19 major towns and cities, including Bucharest, Timisoara, Iasi, Cluj, Brasov, Craiova and Constanta.

* DIGI.Mobil was from his birth in December 2007 a 3G+ service using HSDPA. Unfortunately they don't offer yet a mobile broadband internet connection despite they have the infrastructure (July 2009).


Russia:

* MegaFon supports HSDPA with speeds of 72. Mbit/s.

S

Saudi Arabia:

* AlJawal has announced that it will introduce its 3.5 G service by the summer 2006.

* Mobily also announced that it will introduce its 3.5 G service by the summer 2006.

Serbia:

* Telenor
* MTS

Singapore:

* MobileOne , through its joint agreement with Nokia, offers HSDPA based "portable broadband" connecting laptops via a pager sized modem as well as enabled handsets - to M1's network. The speeds peak at 3.6 Mbit and coverage is available throughout the country. (Dec 2006)

* SingTel launched its HSDPA service in May 2007, supporting a maximum speed of 3.6 Mbit/s. 7.2 Mbit/s is available in select locations since Oct 2008.

* StarHub offers HSPA, for mobile subscribers using exclusive data packages, supporting maximum download speed of 7.2 Mbit/s. This service was launched by StarHub in August 2007.

Slovakia:

* Orange has launched HSDPA @ 3,6 Mbit/s from UMTS at August 23, 2006. September 1, 2008 upgrade to HSDPA @ 7,2 Mbit/s. October 2, 2008 upgrade to HSUPA @ 1,46 Mbit/s. coverage map: http://www.orange.sk/private/coverage/index.jsp?locale=sk

* T-Mobile launched HSDPA @ 3,6 Mbit/s on August 22, 2006. Covers now regional capitals Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Košice and highly populated area around Bratislava. In 2009 rest of the regional capitals of Slovakia are expected to be covered (Žilina, Trenčín, Banská Bystrica, Prešov and probably Poprad). coverage map: http://www.t-mobile.sk/sk/!pages.get?id=1285

* Telefónica O2 no coverage yet

Slovenia:

* Mobitel has commercially launched HSDPA in October 2006 with speeds up to 3,6 Mbit/s.
* Si.mobil (Vodafone)(Slovenia) has commercially launched HSDPA in September 2007 with speed up to 3,6 Mbit/s.

South Africa:

* Both MTN and Vodacom, two of South Africa's leading GSM operators have already announced their deployment of the fast HSDPA service delivering theoretical downlink speeds of 1.8 Mbit/s after introducing UMTS 3G services more than 14 months ago. MTN launched their HSDPA service on the 22 March 2006, hot on the heels of Vodacom's announcement that their service would go live on 2 April 2006. Both offer 7.2 Mbit connections and 2 Mbit upload as of 2008.

South Korea:

* SK Telecom launched commercial HSDPA service for phone on May 15, 2006 in 25 cities of South Korea, which expecting to be up to all 84 cities by the end of 2006, and it's the world first HSDPA service that using USIM card for mobile phone device, Samsung's SCH-W200 which support DBDM (Dual Band Dual Mode) that covers 2G,3G and 3.5G service.

* KTF launched commercial HSDPA service for phone by June 30, 2006 in 40 cities of South Korea, which expecting to be up to all 84 cities by end of year 2006.

Spain:

* Orange became the first Spanish operator to offer HSDPA service in Spain. Starting in Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Burgos and Pamplona on 19 June 2006 (29% population). They started offering 1,8 Mbit/s download speeds.
o Tests started at Barcelona's 3GSM World Congress in February 2006.
o By the end of 2007 they covered more than 73.6% of Spain's population with 3G.
o By February 2008 they offer as maximum speeds 3.6 Mbit/s download and 1.4 Mbit/s upload.

* Movistar started to test HSDPA services in April 2006.
o Movistar offers 7,2 Mbit/s download and 2 Mbit/s upload speeds in several major cities. 3,6 Mbit/s download speeds are available in towns with 100.000 or more inhabitants plus 180 relevant villages.

* Vodafone started tests in the city of Salamanca in March 2006.
o By the end of 2006 they covered more than 68% of Spain's population with 3,6 Mbit/s download speeds.

* Vodafone and Movistar are upgrading to 7,2 Mbit/s download and 2 Mbit/s upload speeds to replace the current 3,6 Mbit/s download and 384 kbit/s upload speeds in several mayor cities. Speeds of up to 14,4 Mbit/s will be available later this year.

* It's still unknown when Yoigo will deploy their HSDPA network. For now UMTS (3G) is their fastest offer.

Sri Lanka:

* Airtel Sri-Lanka launched the HSPA service in January 2009 and it is being used now.

* Dialog Telekom launched HSDPA in August 2006. As of 2008 the HSPA service has been put to operation and it is being used. They are boasting about widest HSDPA coverage and 7.2 Mbit/s downlink speed, their HSDPA network is very much superior to other 2 operators and the speed is very very fast and stable.

* Mobitel Lanka introduced HSPA service (HSDPA+HSUPA) in December 2007. The service, branded M3, offers up to 14.4 Mbit/s downlink and has 60% of landmass covered as of March 2008. As of 2008 March, Sri Lanka is the only country in South Asia region to deploy commercial HSPA networks.

Sweden:

* 3 launched HSDPA service on 8 November 2006. The network is provided by Ericsson and initially it has downlink speed of 3.6 Mbit/s. In the second quarter of 2007 it was upgraded to 7.2 Mbit/s, and now also has 1,4 Mbit HSUPA support.

* Tele 2 launched HSDPA service in 2006. The network now has downlink speed of 7.2 Mbit/s and has HSUPA 1,4 Mbit support.

* Telenor launched HSDPA service in May 2007. The network has downlink speed of 3.6 Mbit/s.

Switzerland:

* Orange

* Swisscom

Syria:

* SyriaTel launched 3.5G/HSDPA service in August 2008. With a maximum downlink speed of 7.2 Mbit/s. Covered areas include Damascus, Aleppo, Lattakia, and Palmera.

T

Taiwan:

* Chungwa Telecom
* FarEastone
* Taiwan Mobile Com
* VIBO Telecom

Thailand:

* AIS have rolled out HSPA in Chiang Mai, May 2008.

Turkey:

* Turkcell (A)
* Vodafone (B)
* Avea (C)

The services were launched at the end of July 2009.

U

Ukraine:

* Utel from November, 1 2007

United Kingdom:

* 3 UK currently has the highest level of 3G coverage in the UK and went live with HSDPA in September 2007. 3 currently has HSDPA coverage in most of the 3G areas they cover.

* O2 launched their HSDPA services across the UK in the third/fourth quarters of 2007 following an extended trial period, during which compatible devices were introduced. Coverage extends to most of O2's 3G footprint. Initial download speeds are 1.8 Mbit/s (peak), increasing to 3.6 Mbit/s (along with HSUPA) in June 2008.

* Orange UK announced the initial launch of HSDPA services to the 5 top UK cities in February 2007. Orange UK has now expanded this to over 30 cities and is continually rolling-out the service over 2008. Initially launched at 1.8 Mbit/s Orange UK has now increased this to 3.6 Mbit/s and plans an evolutionary process regarding the speeds of HSDPA services. When not in an HSDPA-enabled area Orange UK will transfer devices seamlessly to 3G, EDGE or 2G services, albeit at a slower speed and are one of the only UK network to offer such flexibility along with O2.. Orange has announced that this speed will be increased to 7.2 Mbit/s in the top 30 UK cities and 14.4 Mbit/s in the top 5 cities, this will be rolled out over 18 months.

* T-Mobile UK launched their HSDPA network across the UK on 1 August 2006. Download speeds are 3.6 Mbit/s in 2007, 7.2 Mbit/s in 2008, 10 Mbit/s in 2009 and 20 Mbit/s by 2011.
o T-Mobile UK released (on 9 May 2006) a quad band HSDPA data card for notebook computers to wirelessly access the internet through T-Mobile's HSDPA network. However, T-Mobile has come under intense criticism from potential customers due to their policy to ban the use of VoIP applications such as skype with the data card (a policy many believe is made to protect the revenues from their mobile phone business, although T-Mobile says it is because VoIP is not quality assured and might impact other network users). Due to consumer pressure, in October 2006, T-Mobile UK unveiled new Web 'n' Walk data tariffs for their HSDPA service, eliminating VoIP use restrictions on their "Max" tariff and easing restrictions on their other data tariffs.

* Vodafone launched HSDPA services during the summer of 2006. Vodafone released their HSDPA laptop data card on 22 June 2006 and have speeds of up to 7.2 Mbit/s in central London and some airports

United States:

* AT&T is operating a 3G/HSDPA network, called BroadbandConnect, currently in most metropolitan markets. Speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/s are available in most markets. Areas that use UMTS instead of HSUPA as the uplink protocol are limited to 1.8 Mbit/s speeds.

* T-Mobile USA is currently rolling out a 3g network in the 1.7/2.1 GHz band. Currently T-Mobile USA has rolled out in most of their 29 top markets and over 120 cities by the end of November 2008 with their 3.5G 7.2 Mbit/s network.

V

Venezuela:

* Movistar is currently adopting an 3.5G/HSPDA network for cellphones and wireless modems.
* Digitel is a Hsdpa network in de band of 900 Mhz but only for wireless modems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Huawei E220

Huawei E220

The Huawei E220 is a Huawei HSDPA access device ( 'modem' ) manufactured by Huawei and notable for using the USB interface (USB modem).

Technically it is a modem, USB and (due to the CDFS format) virtual CD-ROM device.

Launched on 21 June 2006, the device is used for wireless Internet access using 3.5G, 3G, or 2G mobile telephony networks. It supports UMTS (including HSDPA), EDGE, GPRS and GSM.

E220 works well with Linux, as support for it was added in Linux kernel 2.6.20, but there are workarounds for distributions with older kernels (eg for Debian etch's 2.6.18). The card is also supported by Vodafone Mobile Connect Card driver for Linux, and it is possible to monitor the signal strength through other Linux applications.

Most 3G network operators bundle the device with a contract, with some operators simlocking the device . Unlocked and unbranded modems can also be bought from independent suppliers.

A colloquial name for the modem is 'soap on a rope'.

Features

The device contains not only the cellular antenna but also about 22MB (10 MB on older versions) of storage memory accessible to the operating system as a USB mass storage device formatted with CDFS, thus emulating a CD-ROM drive. In this memory, E220 devices supplied by mobile operators may contain 3G dialer software written by the operator, while Huawei-branded devices contain Huawei's original firmware. Huawei's firmware and updates for it are also available for flashing from Huawei's website, or the firmware for 7.2 Mbit/s from Mobile Broadband Rocks (in reality 'flashing' this device means writing a firmware image to its internal flash memory). Flashing the firmware of this device doesn't change the memory used for their operator's software, therefore connection settings (such as APN) will be retained. The software loaded on the device may start automatically through Windows's autostart facility, which can be bypassed by pressing the Shift key while inserting the USB cable of E220. Currently newest known firmware 11.117.10.03.99 for E220 can be found from MobileBroadbandRocks.com on comment a from Andrew David ( for the download. WARNING: Branded dashboard included, not locked however, and installing optional).

Hardware

E220 connects to the computer with a standard Mini USB cable. The device comes with two cables, one short and one long. The long one has two USB A interfaces, one used for data and power and the other optionally only for assistance power in case the computer is not able to provide the full 500 mA (milliamperes) required for the device to work from one USB interface only. If your connection gets disrupted often or isn't really stable, consider using the two plug usb cable and supplying secondary power.

The E220 antenna is internal; the USB cable does not act as an antenna. There is a way to connect an external antenna even though there is no antenna connector. Together with a high gain antenna like an LPDA or an OMNI booster antenna and an adapter, signal strength can be considerably improved. There is also a way to open the modem, remove the small internal antenna, and solder a umts-antenna cable onto the board. You will invalidate the guarantee, but it can be a cheap and functional way to connect an external antenna.

Software

Huawei E220

Huawei E220 includes its own Windows software in its internal memory, self-installs through the Windows's auto-start feature and can be flashed (overwritten) by the end user. The standard software by Huawei is called Mobile Partner and is indicated by the code UTPS, as it is found on the manufacturer's download site.

Some network operators selling E220, however, replace Huawei's software with their own, which often is software-locked (albeit not SIM-locked) to work only with the operator's own network. End users can use either third-party software such as MWconn (freeware) or alternative operating systems (eg Debian GNU/Linux) to circumvent this and use their E220 with any SIM, or flash their device with Huawei's original software.

The following operator(s) are known to replace Huawei's software with their own:

* Vodafone puts on its E220 (Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem) its Windows Vodafone Mobile Connect Lite software, which is a lighter version of Vodafone Mobile Connect. In Windows it uses the excutable VodafoneUSBPP.exe. This device is also supported in Linux, using Vodafone Mobile Connect Card driver for Linux, which can be downloaded from Vodafone Betavine.
* BASE eplus (Germany)
* MTS (Russia)
* Orange (Austria)
* T-Mobile (Austria)
* Mobilkom (Austria) - uses software from Austrian speicalist software vendor mquadr.at for both its brands A1 and Bob
* Drei (Austria)
* Three (Australia, UK)
* BT Business (UK)
* Play (PL)
* Optimus (PT)
* Movistar (Spain, Argentina)
* Telkomsel (Indonesia)
* Nawras (Oman)
* Dialog GSM (Sri Lanka)
* Zain (Sudan)
* Sun Cellular (Philippines)
* MTN (Uganda)
* MTN Dialog Telecom (Sri Lanka)
* MTC (Namibia)
* Mobily (Saudi Arabia)

Operating systems

* Microsoft Windows XP & Vista
* Mac OS X v10.2.6 Jaguar or higher
* Linux 2.6.20 or higher. One can use wvdial with this modem in Linux.
o Debian, Ubuntu and gnuLinEx
o openSUSE
o Fedora
o Debian Linux
o Arch Linux
o Ark Linux
o Gentoo Linux
o Xandros Linux
o Sabayon
o Mandriva
o PcLinuxOS
o Slax
o Linux Caixa Mágica

Compatibility Issues

A number of software compatibility issues are known to exist with the E220 USB modem. This is mainly related to CD Writing software, software that creates virtual CD-ROM drives and with Microsoft ActiveSync. Also early versions of the firmware and vodafone connect software are incompatible with Microsoft Windows Vista. This has been remedied in later updates.

Availability

E220 is available in the following countries:

* Afghanistan (Afghan Wireless)
* Algeria (ATM Mobilis)
* Angola (Unitel)
* Argentina (Claro, Movistar, Telecom Personal)
* Australia (3 Mobile, Vodafone, Optus, Virgin Mobile, iPrimus, Soul)
* Austria (A1, Orange, TeleRing, Drei, Yesss)
* Bahrain (Batelco), (Zain)
* Belgium (Proximus), (unofficially works with Base.be service)
* Bolivia (Tigo)
* Brazil (TIM), (Claro), (Oi)
* Brunei (B Mobile)
* Bulgaria (M-Tel)
* Chile (Entel, Movistar)
* Colombia (Tigo, Comcel, Movistar)
* Croatia (VIPnet)
* Cyprus (Cyta-Vodafone)
* Czech (Vodafone), (T-Mobile)
* Denmark (3, Telia, TDC, SkyLine)
* El Salvador (Tigo)
* Estonia (EMT, Elisa, TELE2)
* Egypt (Vodafone), (Vodafone-eg) Etisalat Egypt
* Finland (Saunalahti, Elisa, DNA, TeliaSonera)
* France (SFR, Orange (brand))
* Germany (O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus, Base DE)
* Guatemala(Claro,Tigo)
* Greece (Cosmote, Vodafone, Wind)
* Honduras(Tigo)
* Hong Kong (Smartone-Vodafone, 3-3G)
* Hungary (Vodafone, T-Mobile, Pannon)
* Iceland (Nova, Vodafone)
* India (Vodafone)
* Indonesia (Indosat, Telkomsel, XL)
* Ireland (Vodafone, O2, Meteor, 3)
* Italy (Vodafone, Tim, Wind, H3G)
* Jamaica (Claro)
* Japan (Emobile)
* Kenya (Safaricom,Zain,Orange,Econet)
* Kuwait (Zain)
* Latvia (LMT, Tele2, Bite)
* Lesotho (Vodacom LS)
* Lithuania (Omnitel)
* Luxembourg (Tango Vodafone, Vox Mobile, Luxgsm)
* Malaysia (Maxis, Celcom, DiGi)
* Mauritius (Emtel)
* Moldova (Moldcell)
* Montenegro (Promonte, T-Mobile)
* Namibia (MTC Namibia, Telecom Namibia)
* Morocco (Meditel, Maroc Telecom)
* New Zealand (Vodafone)
* Netherlands (Capestone (without sim-lock!), KPN, Vodafone, Telfort)
* Norway (Netcom)
* Nigeria (Zain, Visafone, Multi-Links Telkom, MTN, Glo)
* Oman (Nawras)
* Pakistan (Warid Telecom)
* Paraguay (Claro, Telecom Personal)
* Philippines (Sun, Globe Telecom)
* Poland (Era, Plus GSM, Orange Polska, Play Mobile)
* Portugal (PT - TMN & Sapo, Vodafone PT, Sonaecom - Optimus& Clix)
* Qatar (Qtel)
* Russia (MTS, Megafon, Beeline)
* Romania (Orange, Vodafone)
* Saudi Arabia (Mobily)
* Serbia (Telenor, Telekom Serbia)
* Singapore (M1, Singtel, Vodafone)
* Sri Lanka(Dialog GSM, Mobitel (Sri Lanka))
* Slovakia (T-Mobile, Orange)
* Slovenia (Mobitel)
* South Africa (Vodacom, MTN, Telkom SA)
* Spain (Vodafone, Movistar, Orange, Simyo,Yoigo)
* Sweden (Tele2, Telia, 3,)
* Switzerland (Sunrise, Swisscom)
* Syrian Arab Republic (Syriatel
* Taiwan (Chunghua Telecom, FarEastone)
* Tajikistan (Babilon-M)
* Tanzania (Vodacom, Zantel)
* Uganda (MTN)
* United Arab Emirates (Etisalat,du)
* United Kingdom (Vodafone, 3, T-Mobile)
* United States of America (not available; but will work on AT&T)
* Uruguay (Ancel, Claro)

Similar modems

* HSDPA:
o ZTE MF620
o VigSys VM10
* HSUPA:
o Novatel Ovation MC950D
o Huawei E270

http://en.wikipedia.org/

High-Speed Uplink Packet Access

High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) is a 3G mobile telephony protocol in the HSPA family with up-link speeds up to 5.76 Mbit/s. The name HSUPA was created by Nokia. The 3GPP does not support the name 'HSUPA', but instead uses the name Enhanced Uplink (EUL).

The specifications for HSUPA are included in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Release 6 standard published by 3GPP. – "The technical purpose of the Enhanced Uplink feature is to improve the performance of uplink dedicated transport channels, i.e. to increase capacity and throughput and reduce delay."

Description

HSUPA uses an uplink enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) on which it will employ link adaptation methods similar to those employed by HSDPA, namely:

* shorter Transmission Time Interval enabling faster link adaptation;

* HARQ (hybrid ARQ) with incremental redundancy making retransmissions more effective.

Similarly to HSDPA, HSUPA uses a packet scheduler, but it operates on a request-grant principle where the UEs request a permission to send data and the scheduler decides when and how many UEs will be allowed to do so. A request for transmission contains data about the state of the transmission buffer and the queue at the UE and its available power margin. However, unlike HSDPA, uplink transmissions are not orthogonal to each other.

In addition to this scheduled mode of transmission the standards also allows a self-initiated transmission mode from the UEs, denoted non-scheduled. The non-scheduled mode can, for example, be used for VoIP services for which even the reduced TTI and the Node B based scheduler will not be able to provide the very short delay time and constant bandwidth required.

Each MAC-d flow (i.e. QoS flow) is configured to use either scheduled or non-scheduled modes; the UE adjusts the data rate for scheduled and non-scheduled flows independently. The maximum data rate of each non-scheduled flow is configured at call setup, and typically not changed frequently. The power used by the scheduled flows is controlled dynamically by the Node B through absolute grant (consisting of an actual value) and relative grant (consisting of a single up/down bit) messages.

At Layer 1, HSUPA introduces new physical channels E-AGCH (Absolute Grant Channel), E-RGCH (Relative Grant Channel), F-DPCH (Fractional-DPCH), E-HICH (E-DCH Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel), E-DPCCH (E-DCH Dedicated Physical Control Channel) and E-DPDCH (E-DCH Dedicated Physical Data Channel).

E-DPDCH is used to carry the E-DCH Transport Channel; and E-DPCCH is used to carry the control information associated with the E-DCH.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Solaris Mobile

Solaris Mobile

Solaris Mobile is a joint venture company between SES Astra and Eutelsat Communications to develop and commercialize the first geostationary satellite systems in Europe for broadcasting video, radio and data to in-vehicle receivers and to mobile devices, such as mobile phones, portable media players and PDAs.

The services to be developed include video, radio, multimedia data, interactive services, and voice communications. The primary aim is the delivery of mobile television any time, anywhere, and SES Astra and Eutelsat – both successful European satellite operators, providing TV and other services from geostationary satellites to millions of cable and direct-to-home viewers – have so far invested €130m in the venture. Services are expected to start in 2009.

The agreement to set up Solaris Mobile was reached in 2006 with the company formed in 2008. Its headquarters is in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland.

Applications

The EU Telecoms Commissioner, Viviane Reding, has commented, "Mobile satellite services have huge potential: they can enable Europeans to access new communication services, particularly in rural and less populated regions."

Solaris Mobile primarily intends to provide mobile TV and interactive services to handheld and vehicle receivers. For in-vehicle use, the mobile satellite receivers could also double as web browsers providing full Internet access, and deliver interactive services such as online reservations, emergency warnings, or toll payments.

Solaris claims the technology brings a "fully-fledged TV experience" to mobile television, unavailable with purely terrestrial systems, delivering high-quality live TV, viable at high vehicle speeds, dozens of TV channels per country, and universal coverage.

The coverage across Europe will also enable the system to be used for situations when other means of communication are not possible, such as gathering data (traffic, weather, pollution) from moving vehicles, and support for emergency and rescue services in isolated regions, under extreme conditions or when terrestrial networks have been compromised.

Technology

The Solaris Mobile services use DVB-SH technology to deliver IP based data and media content to handheld and in-vehicle terminals using a hybrid satellite/terrestrial system with satellite transmission serving the whole of Europe and beyond, and terrestrial repeaters for urban and indoor penetration.

The S-band frequencies used (2.00 GHz) are reserved for the exclusive use of satellite and terrestrial mobile services, and sit alongside the UMTS frequencies already in use across Europe for 3G terrestrial mobile phone services, allowing the reuse of existing cellular towers and antennas, and the simple incorporation of Solaris services in mobile handsets.

Handsets equipped with the first DVB-SH chipsets were successfully demonstrated live at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2008.

Solaris was intended to first use the Eutelsat W2A satellite at 10° east, which contains an S-band payload, and was scheduled for launch in early 2009. However, following the successful launch on April 3, 2009, the S-band payload was found to show "an anomaly" which has put in doubt the payload's capability to provide mobile satellite services for Solaris.

Further testing of the satellite was undertaken to establish its future in the Solaris programme. Investigation of S-band payload has confirmed significant non-compliance from its original specifications. On 1 July 2009, Solaris Mobile filed the insurance claim. The technical findings indicate that the company should be able to offer some, but not all of the services it was planning to offer.

Regulatory

On June 30, 2008 the European Parliament and the Council adopted the European’s Decision to establish a single selection and authorisation process to ensure a coordinated introduction of mobile satellite services (MSS) in Europe. The selection process was launched in August 2008 and attracted four applications by prospective operators (ICO, Inmarsat, Solaris Mobile, TerreStar).

In May 2009, the European Commission selected two operators, Inmarsat Ventures and Solaris Mobile, giving these operators "the right to use the specific radio frequencies identified in the Commission's decision and the right to operate their respective mobile satellite systems". EU Member States now have to ensure that the two operators have the right to use the specific radio frequencies identified in the Commission's decision and the right to operate their respective mobile satellite systems for 18 years from the selection decision. The operators are compelled to start operations within 24 months from the selection decision.

Although the EU’s decision was announced days after the apparent failure of the payload intended to serve Solaris, the company remains confident of "its ability to meet the commitments made under the European Commission selection process".

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Ricochet (Internet service)

Ricochet (Internet service)

Ricochet Networks was one of the pioneering wireless Internet service providers in the United States, before the advent of widespread Wi-Fi, 3G, and broadband services were available to the general public.

History

Service began in 1994 in Cupertino, California and was quickly deployed throughout the Santa Clara Valley by 1995, the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area by 1996, and to other cities throughout the end of the 1990's. By this time, the original network had been upgraded, via firmware improvements, to almost twice its original throughput, and was operating at roughly the speed of a 56 kbit/s dialup modem; in addition, Ricochet introduced a higher-speed (nominally 128 kbit/s, in practice often faster) service in 1999; monthly fees for this service, however, were more than double those for the original service.

At its height, in early 2001, Ricochet service was available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City and surrounding New Jersey, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Over 51,000 subscribers paid for the service. In July 2001, however, Ricochet's owner, Metricom, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shut down its service. Like many companies during the dot-com boom, Metricom had spent more money than it took in and concentrated on a nationwide rollout and marketing instead of developing select markets.

Aftermath

After bankruptcy, in November 2001, Aerie Networks, a Denver based broadband firm, purchased the assets of the company at a liquidation sale. Service was restored to Denver in August 2002, and to San Diego in November 2002. Aerie sold Ricochet to EDL Holdings in 2003, who then sold it to YDI Wireless in 2004. YDI Wireless changed its name to Terabeam Inc., and Ricochet then operated as a subsidiary of Terabeam. Terabeam pursued a less ambitious strategy for Ricochet and announced no plans for expansion. In this phase of the technology's life, there were about 8,000 subscribers between the two markets. During the bankruptcy, ownership of the Ricochet radio transmitters had reverted back to the municipalities where the radios were installed, so any expansion would have required Ricochet to renegotiate agreements with the cities or counties in question. In the meantime, wireless data services carried over the cellular telephone network had become increasingly popular (and available in most population centers worldwide), making the value of Ricochet technology unclear.

Ricochet notified its Denver customers on March 28, 2008, that service would cease the next day.

Technology

The technology, deployed by Metricom Inc., worked as a wireless mesh network: packets were forwarded by small repeaters (typically mounted on streetlamps, for the use of which Metricom negotiated agreements with municipal governments) and might "bounce" among several such units along the path between an end-user's modem and a wired internet access point; hence the name of the service. The wireless ISP service was an outgrowth of technology Metricom had developed to facilitate remote meter reading for utility companies. It was originally inspired by amateur packet radio, but differed from this technology in many respects: for instance, Ricochet used spread spectrum (FHSS) technology in the low-power "license-free" 900 MHz ISM band of the RF spectrum. In addition to the eavesdropping resistance offered by FHSS, modems offered built-in encryption, but this was not turned on by default.

Throughput was originally advertised as equivalent to, and in practice was often somewhat better than, that of a standard 28.8 kbit/s telephone modem. In addition, Ricochet could be treated as an "always-on" connection (in the sense that, once connected to the network, it could stay connected even when not in use without tying up scarce resources, unlike a dialup connection), much the way broadband is today. It was also marketed for a flat monthly fee (the original Ricochet service was $29.95 a month, less than the cost of dialup plus a second phone line). As a result, a significant number of users in the Ricochet service area adopted it as their primary home Internet connection.

Ricochet's main draw, however, was that it was wireless; at the time, there were almost no other options for a wireless Internet connection. Cellular phones were not as prevalent as today, and wireless data services such as GPRS had not yet been deployed on US cellular networks. It was possible to use specially adapted dialup modems over cellular connections but this was slow (typically topping out at 9.6 kbit/s), expensive (per-minute charges applied), and often flaky. In contrast, Ricochet was fast, flat-rate, and very reliable.

Equipment

Ricochet equipment can sometimes be found on the surplus and used market. The consumer equipment uses license free 1W 900 MHz FHSS encrypted radio modems which respond to standard Hayes "AT" commands. They include a packet-based mode of operation called "star mode" and it is possible to create a point to point connection or even a small independent network with data speeds greater than 256 kbit/s. Some of the infrastructure equipment used 900 MHz for the link to the consumer and used 2.4 GHz for the backhaul link. (A third option, the licensed 2.3 GHz WCS band, was used only in heavily loaded parts of the network and is seldom mentioned in literature.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Novarra Inc.

Novarra Inc.

Novarra is a mobile internet software company founded in 2000 and based in Itasca, IL, USA. It creates web-based services such as web internet access, portals, videos, widgets and advertising for mobile devices. Novarra provides access to the internet and other services through wireless handsets, PDAs and laptops and sells directly to operators, mobile handset manufacturers and internet brand companies.

History

Novarra started in 2000 and launched its first wireless web software application in 2002 to enable mobile workforce users with Palm (PDA), BlackBerry, Symbol and Windows Mobile devices to access corporate applications through carriers’ wireless networks.

In 2002, Novarra’s first handset manufacturer contract was to supply a browser to Palm, Inc. for Tungsten (handheld) PDAs (branded WebPro).

In 2004, Novarra’s first mobile network operator deployment with U.S. Cellular marked the launch of the BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) version of its browser platform and the first US mobile operator to allow open internet access on all handsets.

In 2005, the company released its first Java Platform, Micro Edition browser which was later adopted by several of Hutchison 3G Group's operating companies. It was branded as www3 in Italy and 3Xplorer in Hong Kong.

In 2007 Novarra secured venture capital from Qualcomm and other investors to expand into Asia. Also, their streaming internet video service was launched with 3 Hong Kong and Vodafone United Kingdom utilized Novarra for an update to Vodafone Live! that included an integrated portal, search and open internet access service for all phones. As a first of its kind, this service received much criticism from mobile developers.

In 2008, Novarra took steps to provide guidance for mobile developers when deploying a similar service at Verizon Wireless and is a member of the World Wide Web Consortium Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group.

Products

Novarra Vision Mobile Internet & Multimedia Platform may include any of the components below:

* Mobile Browser for feature phones, smartphones, or emerging market phones
* On-device Portal
* Content Transformation Server
* Video & Multimedia Transcoding
* Widgets
* Mobile Broadband Optimization
* Advertising and Analytics

Market Adoption

Mobile internet access services based upon the Novarra Vision mobile internet and multimedia platform have been deployed in the US, Europe and Asia by service providers including Yahoo, Vodafone, Verizon Wireless, Turkcell, Hutchison 3G, Sprint Nextel, US Cellular and others on mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs from Nokia, LG Group, Samsung Mobile, Motorola Mobile Devices, Palm (PDA), Research In Motion, ZTE Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Kyocera Wireless, and other manufacturers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Nokia Business Center

Nokia Business Center (NBC) is a mobile e-mail solution by Nokia, providing push e-mail and (through a paid-for client upgrade) calendar and contact availability to mobile devices.

The server runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

As of August 7, 2006, the current version of NBC Server is 4.0.2.1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

NetHope NetReliefKit

The NetReliefKit from NetHope is a wireless Internet router that provides data and voice connectivity via satellite in remote locations. Developed by Cisco and Inmarsat, the device was deployed to useful effect after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

NetHope

NetHope is a consortium of NGOs that seeks to bring IT and communications capabilities to NGOs. Its members include (among numerous others) the Ashoka Foundation, CARE, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Nature Conservancy, Oxfam, Save the Children, and World Vision. Its financial support comes primarily from Accenture, Baker & McKenzie, Cisco Systems, and Microsoft.

NetHope was the idea of Ed Granger-Happ, the CIO of Save the Children.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Wireless modem

Wireless modem

A wireless modem is a type of modem which connects to a wireless network instead of to the telephone system. When you connect with a wireless modem, you are attached directly to your wireless ISP (Internet Service Provider) and you can then access the Internet.

Types of devices used

Wireless modem

* Mobile phones, smartphones, and PDAs can be employed as data modems to form a wireless access point connecting a personal computer to the Internet (or some proprietary network). In this use the mobile phone is providing a gateway between the cellular service provider's data network technology and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) spoken by PCs. Almost all current mobile phone models support the Hayes command set, a standard method of controlling modems. To the PC, the phone appears like an external modem when connected via serial cable, USB, IrDA infrared or Bluetooth wireless.

* Wireless FireWire, USB and Serial modems are also used in the Wi-Fi and WiMAX standards, operating at microwave frequencies, to give a laptop, PDA or desktop computer an access point to a network. The modems may be as large as a regular cable modem to as small as a WiFi dongle/USB-stick. If combined with VoIP technology, these computing devices can achieve telephony capability to make and receive telephone calls.
* PCMCIA, ExpressCard and Compact Flash modems are also used. These card-modems can also have GPS included.

History

While some analogue mobile phones provided a standard RJ11 telephone socket into which a normal landline modem could be plugged, this only provided slow dial-up connections, usually 2.4 kilobit per second (kbit/s) or less. The next generation of phones, known as 2G (for 'second generation'), were digital, and offered faster dial-up speeds of 9.6kbit/s or 14.4kbit/s without the need for a separate modem. A further evolution called HSCSD used multiple GSM channels (two or three in each direction) to support up to 43.2kbit/s. All of these technologies still required their users to have a dial-up ISP to connect to and provide the Internet access - it was not provided by the mobile phone network itself.

The release of 2.5G phones with support for packet data changed this. The 2.5G networks break both digital voice and data into small chunks, and mix both onto the network simultaneously in a process called packet switching. This allows the phone to have a voice connection and a data connection at the same time, rather than a single channel that has to be used for one or the other. The network can link the data connection into a company network, but for most users the connection is to the Internet. This allows web browsing on the phone, but a PC can also tap in to this service if it connects to the phone. The PC needs to send a special telephone number to the phone to get access to the packet data connection. From the PC's viewpoint, the connection still looks like a normal PPP dial-up link, but it is all terminating on the phone, which then handles the exchange of data with the network. Speeds on 2.5G networks are usually in the 30–50kbit/s range.

3G networks have taken this approach to a higher level, using different underlying technology but the same principles. They routinely provide speeds over 300kbit/s. Due to the now increased internet speed, internet connection sharing via WLAN has become a workable reality. A particularly popular project has been the Stomp Box, which is a router which shares GPRS internet access via WiFi.

A further evolution is the 3.5G technology HSDPA, which has the capacity to provide speeds of multiple Megabits per second.

WiMax has now also been announced, which will allow internet connection sharing over WANs (being region-wide, as opposed to local with WiFi), effectively perhaps eliminating the need of wireless modems. This, of course, only in areas where WiMax is to be introduced (eg cities).

Service Providers

Wireless modem

There are competing common carriers broadcasting signal in most nations of the earth. Some of these Cellular networks and the carrier's service plans are:

North America

* Canada providers
o List of Canadian mobile phone companies
* United States providers
o T-mobile
o AT&T Mobility
o Verizon Wireless
o Sprint Nextel Corporation
o Alltel
o Cricket Communications
* Mexico providers
o Telcel
o Iusacell

Europe

* United Kingdom providers
o T-mobile
o Vodafone
o O2 plc
o Orange SA
o 3 (telecommunications)
* Spanish providers:
o Movistar
o Vodafone
o Orange (brand)
o Yoigo
* Belgian providers:
o ClearWire

Asia

* Indian providers
o BSNL
o VSNL
o Airtel
o Vodafone Essar
o Tata Indicom
o Reliance Mobile
o Virgin Mobile India
* Indonesian providers
o Indosat
o XL
o Telkomsel
o Axis
o 3
* Israeli providers
o Cellcom
o Orange Israel
o Pelephone
* P.R.China providers
o China Mobile(CMCC)
o China Unicom

Oceania

* Australia providers
o Telstra
o Optus
o 3 Mobile
o Virgin Mobile
o Vodafone

* New Zealand providers
o Telecom Xtra

Device Manufacturers

Wireless modem

* Danger
* Freewave Technologies
* HTC (includes Qtek and Dopod)
* Hewlett Packard (HP)
* Huawei
* LG Electronics
* Motorola
* Nokia
* Novatel Wireless
* Option N.V.
* Panasonic
* RIM (BlackBerry)
* Samsung
* Sierra Wireless
* Sony Ericsson
* Telit
* Qualcomm

Technologies

* GPRS (2.5G)
* CDPD
* CDMA2000
* EDGE
* UMTS (3G)
* GPRS Core Network
* IP Multimedia Subsystem
* HSDPA (3.5G)
* iBurst (pre-4G)
* HiperMAN (pre-4G)
* WiMAX (pre-4G)
* WiBro (pre-4G)
* GAN (UMA) (pre-4G)

Account hacking

In order to obtain completely free internet access anywhere in range of GPRS transmitters (of certain providers), some people have found several hacks.

For example there has been a known hack with an Airtel prepaid card. Also, some companies such as BSNL and Vodafone have flaws in their servers, allowing to use their GPRS network for free. Also, a special tactic involving the pinging of the servers of GPRS providers also allows the obtaining of an IP address which can then be used to use their network.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Mobilecast

A mobilecast or mobilcast is a podcast designed to be downloaded or streamed to a mobile phone. Listening to podcasts on mobile phones becomes more attractive as mobile data speed improves, and mobile phones themselves become more useful audio devices by adding more audio and video file formats, storage capacity and stereo capability.

Podcasts are designed for transfer from PCs to connected portable devices, but can also be delivered on-demand to the mobile phone using "adaptive download chunking" delivery that plays back like a stream. As more people are using their mobile phones as portable audio players, some podcasts are made specifically for mobile phones. These are shorter and in many cases focused on a single topic or designed to communicate quick information like short movie and restaurant reviews, or news headlines and summaries.

Some challenges remain. High speed networks are not completely rolled out, particularly in the United States. Network speed is critical for downloading the large podcast files. MP3 files, which most podcasts are encoded as, are too large to easily download over the mobile network. This requires podcasts to be re-encoded into a mobile-friendly format like AMR and AAC+. Even in AMR a podcast longer than 20 minutes is still unwieldy to download.

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Mobile wiki

A mobile wiki is a wiki that possesses a user interface that is expressly, if not exclusively accessible and usable through a web-browsing mobile device. It is different from a wiki that is simply designed to be read or viewed from a mobile device in that a mobile wiki's user interface is designed for the typing and submission of wikitext from the mobile device.

List of mobile wikis

* PicoWiki
* Miki
* Pocket RikWik
* iTW, a mobile version of TiddlyWiki
* MobileWikiServer

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Mobile Web

Mobile Web

The Mobile Web refers to browser-based web services such as the World Wide Web, WAP and i-Mode (Japan) using a mobile device such as a cell phone, PDA, or other portable gadget connected to a public network. Such access does not require a desktop computer, nor a fixed landline connection. The total number of mobile web users grew past the total number of PC based internet users for the first time in 2008 (source: Tomi Ahonen Almanac 2009).

Mobile Web

However, Mobile Web access today still suffers from interoperability and usability problems. This is partly due to the incompatibility of the format of much of the information available on the Internet with mobile devices and partly due to the small physical size of the screens of mobile devices and other device limitations.

Standards

Mobile Web

The development of standards is one approach being implemented to improve the interoperability, usability, and accessibility issues surrounding mobile web usage.

The W3C Mobile Web Initiative is a new initiative set up by the W3C to develop best practices and technologies relevant to the Mobile Web. The goal of the initiative is to make browsing the Web from mobile devices more reliable and accessible. The main aim is to evolve standards of data formats from Internet providers that are tailored to the specifications of particular mobile devices. The W3C has published guidelines (Best Practices, Best Practices Checker Software Tool) for mobile content, and is actively addressing the problem of device diversity by establishing a technology to support a repository of Device Descriptions.

W3C is also developing a validating scheme to assess the readiness of content for the mobile web, through its mobileOK Scheme, which will help content developers to quickly determine if their content is web-ready. The W3C guidelines and mobile OK approach have not been immune from criticism. This puts the emphasis on Adaptation, which is now seen as the key process in achieving the Ubiquitous Web, when combined with a Device Description Repository.

mTLD, the registry for .mobi, has released a free testing tool called the MobiReady Report to analyze the mobile readiness of website. It does a free page analysis and gives a Mobi Ready score. This report tests the mobile-readiness of the site using industry best practices & standards.

Other standards for the mobile web are being documented and explored for particular applications by interested industry groups, such as the use of the mobile web for the purpose of education and training e.g. Standards for M-Learning Project.

Development

The first access to the mobile web was commercially offered in Finland in 1996 on the Nokia Communicator 9000 phone on the Sonera and Radiolinja networks. This was access to the real internet. The first commercial launch of a mobile-specific browser based mobile web service was in 1999 in Japan when i-Mode was launched by NTT DoCoMo.

The Mobile Web primarily utilises lightweight pages written in Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) or Wireless Markup Language (WML) to deliver content to mobile devices. Many new mobile browsers are moving beyond these limitations by supporting a wider range of Web formats, including variants of HTML commonly found on the desktop Web.

Top-level domain

The .mobi sponsored top-level domain was launched specifically for the mobile Internet by a consortium of companies including Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, and Vodafone. By forcing sites to comply with mobile web standards, .mobi tries to ensure visitors a consistent and optimized experience on their mobile device. However, this domain has been criticized by several big names, including Tim Berners-Lee of the W3C, who claims that it breaks the device independence of the web:

It is fundamentally useful to be able to quote the URI for some information and then look up that URI in an entirely different context. For example, I may want to look up a restaurant on my laptop, bookmark it, and then, when I only have my phone, check the bookmark to have a look at the evening menu. Or, my travel agent may send me a pointer to my itinerary for a business trip. I may view the itinerary from my office on a large screen and want to see the map, or I may view it at the airport from my phone when all I want is the gate number. Dividing the Web into information destined for different devices, or different classes of user, or different classes of information, breaks the Web in a fundamental way. I urge ICANN not to create the ".mobi" top level domain.

Mobile Web 2.0

An example Web 2.0 technology used on the mobile web is the blog, resulting in the term moblog. Critics point to the difficulties of transferring Web 2.0 concepts such as open standards to the mobile web. On the other hand, advocates present it as a means of pushing information up onto the web in addition to bringing information down to the user. This push to allowing offline content to popular websites empowers the user. Furthermore, many major companies see the rapidly growing demand for advanced web access via mobile phones and provide a mobile version of their site. This allows users, even with newer devices, to quickly access websites and services in a view that is customized for mobile. Some examples include American Airlines and Victoria's Secret among many others.

Seven Mass Media

Since the first ringing tone was sold on the mobile phone in Finland in 1998, the mobile has emerged as the Seventh of the Mass Media. Today a wide range of paid media content is consumed on mobile phones ranging from 9.3 billion dollars of music and 5 billion dollars of videogaming to horoscopes, jokes, news, adult entertainment, etc. Also like on all other media, advertising appeared onto mobile when a free news service launched in Finland sponsored by ads in 2000. In 2005, The Crazy Frog ringtone became the first mobile ringtone to cross over into the mainstream music charts, beating Coldplay for the Number 1 spot on the UK charts. The virtual world collided with the physical.

Advertising on the Mobile Web

Advertisers are increasingly using the mobile Web as platform to reach consumers. The total value of advertising on mobile was 2.2 billion dollars in 2007. A recent study by the Online Publishers Association reports that about one-in-ten mobile Web users said they have made a purchase based on a mobile Web ad, while 23% said they have visited a Web site, 13% said they have requested more information about a product or service and 11% said they have gone to a store to check out a product.

Limitations

Mobile Web

Though Internet access "on the go" provides advantages to many, such as the ability to communicate by email with others and obtain information anywhere, the web, accessed from mobile devices, has a large number of limitations, which may vary, depending on the device. However, newer smartphones such as the iPhone overcome some of these restrictions. Some problems which may be encountered include:

* Small screen size - This makes it difficult or impossible to see text and graphics dependent on the standard size of a desktop computer screen.
* Lack of windows - On a desktop computer, the ability to open more than one window at a time allows for multi-tasking and for easy revert to a previous page. On mobile web, only one page can be displayed at a time, and pages can only be viewed in the sequence they were originally accessed.
* Navigation - Most mobile devices do not use a mouselike pointer, but rather simply an up and down function for scrolling, thereby limiting the flexibility in navigation.
* Lack of Javascript and cookies - Most devices do not support client-side scripting and storage of cookies (smartphones excluded), which are now widely used in most Web sites for enhancing user experience, facilitating the validation of data entered by the page visitor, etc. This also results in web analytics tools not being suitable for uniquely identifying visitors using mobile devices.
* Types of pages accessible - Many sites that can be accessed on a desktop cannot on a mobile device. Many devices cannot access pages with a secured connection, Flash or other similar software, PDFs, or video sites, although recently this has been changing.
* Speed - On most mobile devices, the speed of service is very slow, often slower than dial-up Internet access.
* Broken pages - On many devices, a single page as viewed on a desktop is broken into segments, which are each treated as a separate page. Paired with the slow speed, navigation between these pages is slow.
* Compressed pages - Many pages, in their conversion to mobile format, are squeezed into an order different from how they would customarily be viewed on a desktop computer.
* Size of messages - Many devices have limits on the number of characters that can be sent in an email message.
* Cost - the access and bandwidth charges levied by cellphone networks are much higher than those for fixed-line internet access.
* Location of mobile user - if advertisements reach phone users in private locations, users find them more distressful (Banerjee & Dholakia, 2008)
* Situation in which ad reaches user - When advertisements reach users in work-related situations, they may be considered more intrusive than in leisure situations (Banerjee & Dholakia, 2008)

The inability of mobile web applications to access the local capabilities on the mobile device can limit their ability to provide the same features as native applications. The OMTP BONDI activity is acting as a catalyst to enable a set of JavaScript APIs which can access local capabilities in a secure way on the mobile device. Specifications and a reference implementation have been produced. Security is a key aspect in this provision in order to protect users from malicious web applications and widgets.

In addition to the limitations of the device itself there are limitations that should be made known to users concerning the interference these devices cause in other electromagnetic technology.

The convergence of the Internet and phone, in particular has caused hospitals to increase their mobile phone exclusion zones. A study by Erik van Lieshout and colleagues (Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam) has found that the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) used in modern phones can affect machines from up to 3 meters away. The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) signals, used in 3G networks, have a smaller exclusion zone of just a few centimeters. Surprisingly the worst offenders in hospitals are the doctors (New Scientist, 15 September 2007, pg.5).

http://en.wikipedia.org/