About three quarters of global telecommunications operators with 3G mobile phone networks have agreed to install an upgrade that makes their networks three to five times faster, a survey, quoted by a Reuters report said.
A faster version of the 3G networks, called HSDPA, is already commercially available on 14 networks in countries including Austria, Finland, Bulgaria, Germany, Israel, Kuwait, Portugal, South Africa and the United States, the GSM Association said in a market update for the end of March, the survey said.
The GSM Association represents the world's mobile telecoms operators which use GSM mobile phone technology, as well as its 3G successor technologies W-CDMA.
The Reuters report said the GSM Association noted that 79 of a total 105 W-CDMA networks in 43 countries have been or will be upgraded to HSDPA, an increase of 60% in five months.
In ideal circumstances, HSDPA networks currently allow mobile phone users to download data at 1Mbps to 3Mbps, equivalent to fixed line broadband speeds, the report said.
Operators are keen for their subscribers to use their 3G networks because the technology can squeeze more phone calls and data traffic in the available radio spectrum, enabling them to serve more customers, the report said.
They also hope sales from data services will offset falling prices for voice calls.