Toshiba and Ericsson partner on mobile broadband

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Toshiba to put integrated mobile broadband in its notebooks thanks to deal with Ericsson.

Toshiba has announced that its business range of laptops will feature integrated HSPA mobile broadband modules from Swedish supplier Ericsson.

HSPA (High Speed Packer Access) refers to a family of enhanced 3G networks with HSDPA variant used in the UK, offering theoretical download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.

Upload speeds on this are limited to 384Kbps, but T-Mobile just announced that it is launching HSUPA, taking upload speeds as high as 1.4Mbps. Toshiba says the Ericsson modules will support up to 2Mbps uplink.

"Toshiba and Ericsson complement each other very well," said Thomas Teckentrup, general manager Toshiba Computer Systems Division Europe. "While Toshiba has a strong position in the business laptop market, Ericsson has a lot of experience in the mobile broadband business." Mats Norin, vice president Mobile Broadband Modules for Ericsson, said: "With the integration of our Mobile Broadband Module into Toshiba's business laptops, we are supporting Toshiba's vision of offering real mobile broadband connectivity to business users".

The module will also offer an integrated GPS module bringing potential for location based services.

Toshiba said that it intends to release the Ericsson module equipped laptops in the second half of 2008 into the EMEA region.

This continues the trend to move from external 3G modules to embedded solutions. In May, Dell announced that it was offering integrated 3G modules into its next generation notebooks, following a similar announcement from Lenovo.

Benny Har-Even
Benny Har-Even

Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.