GSM-HSPA technology has continued to penetrate throughout the western hemisphere, with more than 100 million new connections in 2008, the third year in a row the figure has been surpassed, a 3G Americas report revealed.

North America, Latin America and the Caribbean dominate the market share. With 525 million subscriptions in the region, the Americas account for 70 percent of GSM users worldwide, according to Informa Telecoms & Media statistics. GSM-HSPA stands for Global System for Mobile Communications-High Speed Packet Access.

The Americas have also expanded the use of third generation wireless mobile Internet technology, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UTMS), with nearly 25 million UTMS-HSPA subscriptions at the close of 2008. This figure is more than double the 9 million subscriptions of the same time a year earlier, according to 3G Americas, an industry trade association.

"The success of GSM in the Americas since the first 3 million subscriptions were recorded in December of 1998 has been phenomenal when you look at the 525 million connections counted at the end of 2008," said Chris Pearson, President of 3G Americas. "We are seeing not only continued growth for GSM in terms of increasing penetration and market share, but operators who continue to invest in their 3G networks and beyond. The value in HSPA mobile broadband is evident with increased voice capacity and the rise in data revenues due to enhanced applications."

Globally, GSM dominates the market with an 89 percent share of the four billion mobile subscriptions, with a total of 3.5 billion subscribers.

Third generation wireless technology has also continued rapid global dissemination. At the close of 2008, across 278 networks in 121 countries there are now 290 million UMTS-HSPA users, mounting to more than 100 million new 3G subscriptions from the 186 million the preceding year.

According to Informa's forecast this number is expected to increase to 455 million connections by 2010.