Rogers Wireless has announced that it is launching its HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) service in nine major markets (covering the Golden Horseshoe area in Ontario) with additional coverage to follow in 2007. HSDPA allows for data transfers up to 1 megabit per second (Mbps) but Rogers expects to increase that to 14.4 Mbps in the future.
At this time, the service only works using the PCMCIA Sierra Wireless AirCard 860 (available for $49.99 CAD with a three-year term or $349.99 CAD with a one- or two-year term). Rogers cellphones offering HSDPA are expected in early 2007.
HSDPA is an enhancement to the Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) protocol, allowing faster transfer rates by using different modulation and coding techniques as well as multiple antennas.