Lucent Technologies and Ericsson today announced that it has completed upgrades of Cingular Wireless' third-generation UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks in Seattle, Phoenix, and Dallas/Fort Worth to support HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. Cingular is now using the HSDPA networks to provide simultaneous voice and mobile high-speed data service for customers currently subscribed to its UMTS service in those markets.

Lucent also is upgrading additional key markets across the United States and is poised to support Cingular's initial rollout of this advanced network, which supports a wide variety of high-bandwidth multimedia services including high-quality streaming video, fast downloads of high-resolution images and other large files, and interactive services and applications such as advanced gaming in the mobile environment. When used with HSDPA capable devices, Cingular customers will receive average data connection speeds between 400-700 kilobits per second with bursts over a Megabit.

As part of Cingular's UMTS/HSDPA network deployment, Lucent is providing its end-to-end commercial UMTS solution, including Lucent's OneBTS base stations (Node Bs) - which support HSDPA - Radio Network Controller (RNC), Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), and 3G Mobile Switching Center based on the Lucent Network Controller and Lucent Network Gateway.

In the Dallas/Fort Worth market, in addition to providing radio access equipment for the market, Ericsson has provided civil site construction services and integrated the UMTS network Cingular acquired from AT&T Wireless into the operator's larger existing footprint. Because the former AT&T Wireless network has been operating commercially since December 2003, conversion, expansion and upgrades were performed on the live network.