The GSA, a Market Partner in 3GPP, has published a new UMTS900 operator case study to demonstrate significant cost and coverage benefits of deploying 3G mobile broadband services with UMTS900.

The case study examines the business drivers and practical experiences of Optus, who launched UMTS900 in May 2008. It confirms the findings from GSA’s first UMTS900 case study on Elisa in Finland, and provides additional insights.

UMTS900 has given Optus the extra range and penetration to address the challenging Australian landscape. The Optus network is the largest UMTS900 network in the world. In addition to cost savings, the ability to use existing infrastructure dramatically reduced the time needed for deployment.
Optus believes that today’s broad array of UMTS900 data products, combined with the increasing availability of UMTS900-capable smartphone devices, will enhance its competitive position.

“The availability of our second operator-based case study provides further evidence of the benefits of UMTS900 in allowing operators to bring mobile broadband service to underserved areas in a more cost effective and efficient manner,” said Alan Hadden, President, GSA. “Increasing efficiencies and performance improvements from evolved HSPA (HSPA+) systems, such as increased peak data throughput rates, will be available with 900 MHz deployments equally as in other HSPA mobile broadband bands that operators use on their networks, to ensure a seamless user experience of mobile broadband services."

UMTS900 Operator Case Study: Optus is available on the GSA web site at www.gsacom.com