Broad Speed

Dec 17, 2009 (LBO) - Mobitel, a unit of fixed access provider Sri Lanka Telecom said it has successfully tested and launched a high speed broad band technology that will double peak download rate that can be offered on its mobile network. The upgraded high speed packet access (HSPA) technology uses multiple antennas in both the network and handset to split the signal into several streams, the company said.

The multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) technology will boost peak download speeds to 28.8 Megabits per second (Mbps) from its current highest 14.4Mbps bandwidth, Mobitel said.

"Sri Lanka became the first country to launch 3.5G in South Asia now marks yet another first in the region with Mobitel's HSPA+ deployment," chief executive Suren J Amarasekera said in a statement.

"We firmly believe that keeping up with the latest technologies is necessary to meet the challenge of transforming our country to an infocom powered 'i-Sri Lanka'."

Mobitel chairperson Leisha De Silva Chandrasena said the MIMO deployment will push technology edge in mobile broadband telecoms here. The technology trials were done with support from Huawei, a Chinese equipment supplier, the firm said.