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Vodafone Italy has successfully made the first data connection with three and a half generation UMTS, (HSDPA, High Speed Downlink Packet Access).

Thanks to HSDPA a speed of 1.5 Mbps was reached. In the near future, this will enable Vodafone to provide new services to its customers for mobile phones and fastest internet connections.

"The positive outcome of the first HSDPA data call demonstrates the advanced state of our UMTS technology and confirms Vodafone's leadership and commitment to developing cutting-edge standards," says Didier Lebrat, Chief Technology Officer at Vodafone Italy.

The success of this operation, made with commercial Nokia network, is the latest in a series of key goals achieved by Vodafone, confirming its commitment to UMTS development.

UMTS handsets have reached 937,000 at the end of June 2005. Vodafone Italy has the highest number of 3G devices registered on its network at over 0.7 million on a proportionate basis.