RSST-Mobile to bring 21 Mbps HSPA+ to US this year
By Tim Conneally | Published January 5, 2010, 5:37 PM
T-Mobile may not be the exclusive carrier of the Nexus One, as was previously expected, but the wireless carrier had another big announcement up its sleeve: HSPA+.
T-Mobile has been testing the "3.5G" network technology in Philadelphia since mid-2009, and the company today said it will have the technology deployed across its network by mid-2010.
HSPA+ has a max downstream speed of 21 Mbps, and about 10% of all operators with HSPA networks support the upgraded technology, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA.) Last month, wireless technology company Ericsson announced that HSPA+ speeds will eventually reach up to 42 Mbps.
Betanews will be sitting down with Ericsson at CES later this week to talk about the evolution of the technology, and the adoption of HSPA and HSPA+ across the world.
That's great, considering that AT&T is sort of upgrading to 7.2 Mbps in a few locations.
When will T-Mobile's 3G/3.5G network expand to include more areas?
Score: 0
|Despite our pathetic fixed-line broadband offerings, it is impressive that Australia is so far ahead when it comes to mobile broadband. 21Mbps 3.5G has been available here since 2008, and Telstra is currently testing 42Mbps on a live network. It is truly a world-class mobile broadband network. The catch is until the rest of the world catches up, there are very, very few devices capable of exploiting the high download and upload speeds - especially when you're talking about phones.
The other problem is the how hideously expensive the Telstra wireless network is. $60/month for 1GB of downloads AND uploads? And you thought AT&T wanting to charge for tethering an unlimited connection was bad. :P
Score: 1
|Someone has to pay for that network, even if their employees are the only people using it.
Score: 0
|so with only 10% of operators that can support the upgrade, what's the practical use? and how long will it take to be 100% supported?
Score: 0
|The article is a bit vague but they are referring to 10% HPSA operators worldwide. That certainly not universal but it does mean that there are a lot places around the world that you can already take advantage of HSPA+. Here is a link to a new story from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association site from September.
http://www.gsacom.com/news/gsa_281.php4
If T-Mobile rolls out HPSA+ as quickly as they claim you won't be waiting very long to take advantage of the faster speeds if you live in an area is covered by T-Mobile. Given T-Mobile rather quick roll out of the HSPA 7.2 I wouldn't be surprised if they have the new equipment on the majority of their towers by summer time.
Score: 0
|