Huawei Promises 56Mbps wireless broadband

Network equipment maker Huawei has promised to launch equipment next year that could double the top speed of mobile phone providers’ networks, taking them to 56Mbps, using HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus).

The upgrade to its 3800 series base station, demonstrated last week in Beijing, will use MIMO (multiple-input-multiple-output), a technology already used in Wi-Fi equipment, that uses multiple beam-paths created by reflections, to multiply the number of data channels.

“Advances in mobile broadband, particularly record breaking data speeds and capacity of HSPA networks, have had a profound impact on the telecom industry and demonstrate the enormous potential of UMTS/HSPA,” said Wan Biao, president of wireless at Huawei, in a statement.

Huawei has already deployed over 10 commercial HSPA+ network contracts, including five networks with Japan Emobile, Singapore StarHub, Vodafone Turkey and Hong Kong PCCW, which offer downlink speeds of up to 21Mbps.