Ericsson equips Cingular Wireless for industry's first commercial EDGE launch
"Ericsson's EDGE network infrastructure, now delivering commercial service in Indianapolis, triples the speeds at which Cingular customers can access mobile data," said Cingular Wireless chief technical officer Bill Clift. "We rely on vendors like Ericsson to deliver the technology that drives our business, and we look forward to continuing our 3G rollout with Ericsson at our side."
EDGE is a 3G technology that delivers broadband-like data speeds to mobile devices. It allows consumers to connect to the Internet and send and receive data, including digital images, web pages and photographs, three times faster than with a GSM/GPRS network. With EDGE technology, Cingular Wireless can offer higher-speed mobile data access, serve more mobile data customers, and free up GSM network capacity to accommodate additional voice traffic. Cingular Wireless' EDGE network will support peak data rates up to 170 kilobits per second with average data rates of 75-135 Kbps.
Ericsson has played a key role in building out Cingular Wireless' existing GSM/GPRS network with EDGE-ready equipment, supplying core network and radio access infrastructure, operation and maintenance systems, and installation and integration services. Ericsson will continue to support Cingular Wireless as it introduces EDGE throughout its network.
Ericsson's EDGE-capable GSM/GPRS infrastructure, which has been deployed extensively throughout the world, offers operators a simple upgrade path to EDGE. As the first vendor to supply commercial EDGE infrastructure, Ericsson offers a unique combination of market expertise and cutting-edge technology to operators as they migrate to 3G.