8:20 AM -- HSPA is the fastest adopted mobile technology ever, according to the GSM Association (GSMA) . By the end of September, the industry group claims, there will be more than 150 million HSPA connections. (See GSMA Boasts 3G Takeup.)

The group released the latest connection figures for the 3G mobile broadband technology, which has peak downlink speeds anywhere between 1.2 Mbit/s and 21 Mbit/s.

The Asia/Pacific accounts for 50 million HSPA connections and is expected to have more than 56 million by September; Europe has nearly 50 million connections and will grow to almost 60 million by the end of September.

The U.S. has almost 32 million HSPA connections, which is expected to increase to 37 million by September; and the Americas region will have around 4 million connections by September.

And based on the GSMA's findings, mobile broadband appears resilient so far to the current global recession in terms of the rate of growth in 3G connections. "It's not slowing down as a result of the economic climate," says Dan Warren, director of technology at the GSMA. "[HSPA connections] are on target or ahead of where we thought we would be."

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Unstrung