RIYADH, 21 June 2007 — Mobily has doubled broadband mobile Internet speed on its network, the company said in a statement yesterday, noting that HSDPA speed is now 3.6 Mbps.
It had also introduced a new specialized connection device for new subscribers — the USB Connect — which can be used to connect to high-speed Internet through any personal computer’s USB port.The new device is available at Mobily stores for SR1,000 and a minimum commitment of three months to Mobily’s unlimited Internet bundle.
“We want to present our commitment to the market and customers seeking the latest technologies to the worldwide web, and as such, doubled speed within weeks of launching the technology and our high value packages,” Khalid Al-Kaf, Mobily’s CEO, said.
“We will continue to increase broad mobile Internet speed toward the end of the year. We want to give people the freedom of staying connected to the global village, regardless of where they are,” he added.
Mobily launched Broadband mobile Internet, based on HSDPA (short high-speed downlink packet access), a 3.5-generation mobile technology, followed with aggressively priced bundles last month, among them an unlimited bundle — a first for the Middle East. Download speed started with 1.8 Megabits/second when the service first launched last month.
Some 19 cities are covered with HSDPA hotspots across the country. Areas with no HSDPA access have 3G coverage with speed averaging 384 kilobits/second, while areas with no 3G coverage give Mobily subscribers access to the Internet based on EDGE, a 2.75 generation mobile technology. Last month, Mobily announced it was investing SR1 billion into the 3.5G expansion of its network, the largest such project in the region.
Mobily offers three data bundles: an unlimited data bundle for SR350 a month, a 5GB bundle for SR200 and a 1GB bundle for SR100.
Among examples of devices that can be used to connect are Mobily’s connect card, based on Huawei E620, Nokia N95 and 6120 Classic, Motorola RAZR2 V9 and RAZR V3xx and Sony Ericsson Z750i.