AT&T boosts 3G data network speeds ahead of 3G iPhone launch – 1.7Mbps/1.2Mbps HSDPA
By Will Park on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 12:27 PM PST In AT&T, Announcements, Services
Is AT&T (NYSE: T)’s newly launched HSUPA data network upgrade leaving you feeling unimpressed? Well, worry not, fellow 3G network surfer, AT&T’s got the just the thing to help quench that wireless data fiend within all of us.
Just a handful of days before Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Steve Jobs is scheduled to showcase the next-generation iPhone on the WWDC Keynote stage for all the world to see, AT&T has announced that they’ve boosted their new 3G HSPA network data speeds by a solid 20%. As a welcomed side-effect of AT&T’s new HSUPA network upgrade, the No. 1 US wireless carrier’s new HSPA (HSDPA and HSUPA) data network is now capable of 700Kbps to 1.7Mbps speeds on the downlink (HSDPA) – a nice little boost from 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps data speeds prior to the speed-increase. Customers will also benefit from uplink data speeds (HSUPA) of 500Kbps to 1.2Mbps, up from 500Kbps to 800Kbps.
The move echoes AT&T’s move to upgrade their EDGE data network ahead of the iPhone’s initial US-based launch. Out hats go off to AT&T for not only getting the first fully HSPA network up and running in the US, but also for making it just that much faster for 3G iPhone-toting customers. Next step, HSPA+ with 20Mbps downlink speeds next year – right, AT&T?
Nice. Now all we need is the 3G iPhone
Boo and Yay. Not that I don’t want HSDPA to be faster, but I was having a ball having 3G practically all to myself while the hordes of iPhone users fought over the splinters of bandwidth on the EDGE network that they clogged.
Oh well. Maybe I’ll have to give in and get an iPhone when the 3G is out.