Italian operator 3 and Swiss operator Swisscom Mobile are announcing launch plans today for mobile broadband offerings based on Ericsson's commercially available HSDPA solution. Mobile broadband is now breaking new ground in Europe and operators can offer high-speed mobile broadband and new

The 3 launch in Rome, the Swisscom Mobile announcement and mobilkom austria's introduction of high-speed mobile broadband in Vienna at the end of last month are recent examples of operators going live with their HSDPA mobile-broadband offerings.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericsson, says: "We are pleased to provide these operators with our advanced HSDPA technology. Ericsson has once again proved that it can enable operators to be first in the market with such a powerful end-user offering. We will see a large number of Ericsson customers introducing HSDPA during 2006 and we are confident that today's demand for mobile broadband, advanced services and a true mobile office are paving the way for HSDPA in Europe."

Mobile broadband and new data services are increasingly becoming a crucial part of European operators' offerings to both consumers and enterprises. In Spain, Telefónica and Amena demonstrated its mobile broadband network on a wide scale in Barcelona during last week's 3GSM World Congress, allowing visitors to try mobile broadband
services with high speeds in a mobile environment.

There are more than 10 commercial HSDPA deployments being carried out in different countries around Europe, based on commercial HSDPA hardware and software delivered by Ericsson. This - in combination with the need for higher bit rates, more advanced services and the possibility of a true mobile office - are paving the way for several
HSDPA launches across Europe this year.

Ericsson's HSDPA solution is offering bandwidth similar to ADSL and will enable peak download speeds of 14.4 Mbps. The advanced technology offers operators more than double the system capacity of WCDMA and dramatically shortens response times for interactive services, drastically improving the end user's experience when using broadband services. With Ericsson's solution, operators can deploy HSDPA within their existing WCDMA frequency carrier and offer continuous HSDPA coverage throughout their entire networks.

PC cards are available today and handsets will be available later this year.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.