CSL switches on dual cell HSPA+ tech

Hong Kong operator CSL on Thursday launched what it claims is the world’s first commercial network based on the extended acronym LTE/DC-HSPA+. This is a combination 4G LTE network featuring Dual Cell HSPA+ technology. In layman’s terms, CSL can boost the quality of experience for users, particularly useful in poor coverage areas, by allocating two carriers for HSPA, effectively doubling the available bandwidth.

CSL can increase capacity and speed in order to hit peak downlink speeds of 100Mbps with low latency, although there are plenty of real world factors that could, and would, affect this. DC-HSPA+ has already been deployed by CSL’s parent Telstra and Indosat in Indonesia, but the CSL deployment is the first to complement an LTE environment.

Corporate services and plans are available already from CSL with mobile office, mobile HD video conferencing, mobile real-time monitoring, mobile interactive marketing and advertising, and mobile real-time imaging for tele-healthcare on the menu alongside cloud computing.

Consumer services will be commercially available in the first quarter of 2011, when devices start entering in the market, with a focus on 3DTV, interactive gaming and e-learning applications.

Telecoms.com met Tarek Robbiati, chief executive of CSL and CTO Christian Daigneault, earlier this year, where they said: “CSL’s data traffic has increased by 40 times since the launch of its next generation network in March 2009, it is clear that there is a strong need for LTE in Hong Kong to continue to provide a superior customer experience.”