Qualcomm and Lucent Technologies, along with O2 and its subsidiary Manx Telecom, announced plans to conduct a UMTS/high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) trial using 900 MHz spectrum. The trial will take place on the Isle of Man.
For its part in the trial, Lucent will supply its UMTS/HSDPA base station products developed for the 900 MHz spectrum band. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has signed on to provide test terminals based on the mobile station modem (MSM) MSM6280 chipset.
The group of companies hopes to prove that the use of UMTS/HSDPA technology in 900 MHz spectrum can help mobile operators cost-effectively deliver UMTS/HSDPA services. The lower 900 MHz frequency compared to 2100 MHz also is expected to allow for increased base station coverage and potentially deliver better signal penetration for in-building coverage.
"UMTS 900 may help solve the 3G coverage issues in Europe, since providing full coverage at 2100 MHz is very expensive," said Dave Williams, group Chief Technology Officer for O2, in a prepared statement. "Working with Lucent, we hope to demonstrate how UMTS 900 can complement deployments at 2100 MHz, improve coverage, lower capital expenses and improve the customer's experience."
The 900 MHz trial follows a commercial HSDPA network operating in the 2100 MHz band on Nov. 1. O2, Manx and Lucent worked together to get this network off the ground and plan to use the recently launched network as a quality benchmark for the UMTS 900 field test.