3.5G is also coming
Is this 3G? Actually, HSDPA offers even faster speeds than regular 3G. To cut a long story short, HSDPA is considered by some to be a 3.5G system.
I’m confused; so what can this do? Theoretically, you can transmit data at speeds of up to 14.4 megabits per second (mbps), that is 1,024 times faster than the 14.4 kilobits per second (kbps) speed that people had on dial-up connections a decade ago and faster than almost all residential broadband connections.
And that means? At that speed, you can download an MP3 in a second and actually stream a high-definition movie straight to your TV. Who’s offering it? As mentioned elsewhere in this magazine, 3G norms have just been announced. Therefore, HSDPA networks should be in India in 2009.
—Kushan Mitra
