Surrey, UK, March 21, 2006 (XTVWorld.Com) -- Argogroup, the leader in user experience optimization for mobile services, has announced the industry's first HSDPA testing capability as part of its award winning Monitor Master range of products. HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) is a software upgrade to 3G promising data speeds similar to those of fixed-line broadband networks or the equivalent of four times today's 3G theoretical maximum.

The first HSDPA phones are expected to appear on the market in mid-2006 from handset vendors including Samsung and Ben Q. Live networks in Europe should appear later this year. All operators already have test networks running.

Monitor Master's new capabilities assist mobile operators and handset vendors around the world to provide the best possible user experience to HSDPA customers before and beyond the launch of new services.

According to Thomas Renz, senior VP of the Quality of Service Business Unit at Argogroup, service testing has become a real source of competitive advantage for operators.

"HSDPA has potential to take off in a way that 3G didn't because of its much faster download speeds and lessons learned from the 3G experience," said Renz. "3G operators are already looking to grow data revenues as fast as they can. HSDPA offers the chance to improve services that are little more than novelties under (WCDMA) 3G - particularly those built around point-to-point video or streaming."

"While the technology may be new, the old business rules still apply," Renz continued. "The quality of the user experience under HSDPA powered networks will remain the only differentiator between operators when users choose which premium data services to buy. Unless operators get this right, they will struggle as far as revenue, profit and customer churn are concerned."

The news of the industry's first HSDPA testing capabilities being offered in Argogroup's Monitor Master products comes hot on the heels of the company's acquisition of ACTeSys, provider of hardware-based solutions for end-to-end network and service testing. Today's announcement sees Monitor Master technology already integrated onto the ACTeSys hardware and available to customers.

Contact:
http://www.argogroup.com