UMTS Technology Comparison wITH oTHERS

The primary way of comparing wireless technologies is based on coverage area and throughput performance. Today, more areas in the world are covered by GSM /EDGE than any other wireless technology. Data rates on EDGE-enabled devices on AT&T's wireless network provide data throughput to typical rates of 75 to 135 kbps. UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA increases data rates significantly, with typical downlink throughput rates of 700 kbps to 1.7 Mbps and typical uplink throughput rates of 500 kbps to 1.2 Mbps.
Wi-Fi technology, including technology based on IEEE 802.11a, b, g standards, offers high throughput rates, up to 54 Mbps in bursts and 20 to 30 Mbps on average with 802.11a or 802.11g. However, coverage areas are extremely small compared to cellular, with a maximum range of about 100 meters. Operators, including AT&T, are increasingly offering Wi-Fi in public areas. The broadband nature of Wi-Fi is highly attractive where available, but overall, hotspot and municipal coverage areas constitute only a tiny fraction of the coverage offered by cellular networks. The following table compares the different wireless data services offered by AT&T.

EDGE	UMTS/HSDPA	Wi-Fi Hotspots
Suitable for most communications-oriented applications	Suitable for nearly all communications-oriented applications, including multimedia	Well suited for transfer of large amounts of data
Typical throughput rates of 70 to 135 Kbps	Typical throughput rates of 400 to 700 Kbps	Typical throughput rates of 5 Mbps
Nationwide footprint	Available in major markets in 2006	Available in specific hotspot locations such as airports, hotels, and limited areas in cities
Consistent service from a single service provider	Supports both stationary and mobile users	Supports stationary users only

APN Support in the AT&T UMTS/HSDPA Network

At this time, the UMTS/HSDPA network supports the general-purpose APNs named "public" and "proxy," as detailed in the following table. Custom APNs are not currently available.

APN	PROXY	PUBLIC
Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Name	WAP PDP service (GPWAP)	Public IP PDP Service (GPPUBLIC)
IP Addresses	Private	Public
Who Provides IP Addresses	AT&T	AT&T
Static IP Address	No	No
Dynamic DNS	No	No
Allow Mobile Terminated Data	No	No
Access to Web Optimization	Yes	Yes
Access to Dedicated Fixed-End System Connections	No	No
Access to Internet	Yes	Yes
Usage	Most commonly used APN for consumer data plans; required for MEdia Net.	Only used when the customer's application requires a public IP address

UMTS/HSDPA compared to EV-DO

UMTS/HSDPA offers a number of advantages over CDMA2000 EV-DO. Here are some of the most important ones.