BARCELONA, Spain -- Cingular Wireless said today that it has chosen Ericsson to be the major supplier and integrator to build out its 3G wireless network, called HSDPA. With the contract expansion, Ericsson will provide Cingular with UMTS (a 3G technology), HSDPA packet core and radio network equipment. Cingular was the first carrier in the world to have a commercially launched HSDPA network.

The Atlanta company, the largest carrier in the U.S., has already rolled out service in several markets and started to sell a PC data card. But it has not started selling handsets that use the new networks. Despite that, Samsung has made a big production at 3GSM about being the first to sell HSDPA phones (before they've been sold).

A look at the phones at Samsung's booth give a peek at what's to come. The SGH-ZX20 is small flip phone and easily fits in your hand. On the outside a screen displays an analog clock. The SGH-2560 is even fancier. The flip-phone has a 2 megapixel camera and TV output, so that it can be linked to a projector or a TV.

Why would you want to do that? Maybe for a PowerPoint presentation from your phone,
Cingular said the ZX20 will come out later this year following the launch of the ZX10 -- which runs on the slightly slower UMTS network.