RIYADH: Mobily announced yesterday the official launch of high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA) on its network, after months of testing, bringing its network up to 3.75G status.

HSUPA offers higher uplink speeds, making it ideal for users who send e-mail using Microsoft Outlook, those who play online games and web designers, who have large volumes of data they eagerly want to bring online.

Furthermore, users who limit their Internet activities to browsing the web will experience a noticeable improvement in performance, according to Mobily’s CEO Khalid Al-Kaf.

“What HSUPA does is it brings more balance to the mobile broadband experience, as the increase in uplink speeds starts to match the downlink speeds on high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) segment of the connection,” Al-Kaf said.

The new technology will initially be available in principal areas of the Kingdom, with expansion to other areas within the coming few months, as Mobily has set aside SR1 billion for the project.

On May 19, 2007, Mobily launched the Kingdom and region’s first unlimited Internet package based at that time on HSDPA to the masses in an innovative manner and prices affordable to the masses, as part of its commitment to increasing broadband penetration in Saudi Arabia.