SMART recently expanded its mobile broadband portfolio and launched two more products designed to run on SMART’s nationwide HSPA network.

HSPA, or High-Speed Packet Access, is the next step in the evolution of the GSM technology, after GPRS, EDGE, and 3G. HSPA offers download speeds of up to 5.8 Mbps – or a full-length, 3-Mb mp3 song downloaded in about half a second.

The Smart Bro-powered “Share It” is a wireless router which can connect to SMART’s HSPA network. A plug-and-play device, the broadband gadget receives HSPA signal from the SMART network and uses WiFi to connect up to five computers in a common area, such as a home, to the Internet.

Another device recently launched by SMART is the country’s first дивани netbook with built-in broadband connectivity. Smart Bro HSPA modems now come embedded in the Asus Eee PC™ 904 GO, offering a complete, ready-to-run Internet appliance straight out of the box.

These moves reinforce SMART’s advances in HSPA, which offers fast, broadband experience delivered wirelessly to laptops, desktops, celphones, modems, routers, and other mobile devices.

“From the day we opened for business 15 years ago, SMART has stayed in step with global standards. Upgrading our network to HSPA raises mobile broadband to the next level and makes it accessible to more Filipinos,” said Orlando B. Vea, SMART’s Chief Wireless Advisor and also one of its founders.

Operators all over the world have been evolving their 3G networks to the HSPA standard. Worldwide, 239 operators now offer HSPA services in 105 countries, such as AT&T in the United States, Vodafone in the United Kingdom, Telstra in Australia, KTF in South Korea, and Maxis in Malaysia.

The popularity of HSPA among operators and consumers is expected to give rise to significant economies of scale, encouraging the production and driving down prices of HSPA handsets and other devices in the medium- to long-term.

SMART’s HSPA network runs on the 850-MHz frequency band which is ideal for wider coverage, complemented by the 2100-MHz spectrum for increased capacity. This coverage-and-capacity rollout strategy adopted by SMART for its HSPA network ensured that mobile broadband would become a reality more quickly to more people in more places.

“To our subscribers, HSPA means a wider range of services, from mobile browsing to video downloads, delivered at faster speeds. It means tourists in the shores of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte can now upload and share their vacation videos via the Web, as it happens right there on the beach. It means students in public schools in Digos, Davao del Sur can now browse through virtual libraries and download volumes of learning materials. It means volunteer doctors on a medical mission in Narra, Palawan can now share high-resolution images of their patients’ cases and consult with other doctors here in Manila, in real time. These are the real benefits of HSPA,” added Vea.

“As we innovate and offer more and more services running on the most advanced technologies, we hope to advance our ‘Internet for All’ agenda, or to bring the benefits of broadband Internet to the grassroots,” ended Vea.

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