Both T-Mobile USA and Nokia Siemens are pitching Long Term HSPA Evolution to the 3GPP for standardization. T-Mobile, who has been very busy pushing its HSPA+ network as a “4G” network, says that continued development of HSPA will also aid in the development of LTE and LTE advanced. Both T-Mobile and Nokia Siemens also claim that Long Term HSPA Evolution can deliver data rates of up to 650Mbps.
Fierce Mobile Content reports:
“We strongly believe in continued HSPA evolution in parallel to the further development of LTE and LTE Advanced,” said Neville Ray, chief technology officer, T-Mobile USA. ‘’Long Term HSPA Evolution will allow us to enhance our 4G mobile broadband network beyond its current and planned near term capabilities, and provide room for considerable growth and speed enhancements. As customer demand for wireless data increases, we are well positioned to compete based on the speed, breadth and evolution path of our mobile broadband service.”
Again, T-Mobile believes that it is all about speed. The carrier also believes that Long Term HSPA Evolution can be a genuine competitor to LTE Advanced as a true 4G technology. Nokia Siemens’ RAN – or Radio Access Network – is already prepared for Long Term HSPA Evolution. Apparently, the networks would be more than capable of handling increased data traffic and that the transition to the new technology would be seamless.
It’s also noteworthy that the new networks would be backwards compatible with current WCDMA and HSPA handsets.
Given T-Mobile’s push for standardization of this technology, it seems less likely that the carrier will be building out or adopting LTE in the near future. The carrier has already stated that HSPA+ is capable of speed increases which can be doubled at every advancement (i.e. 21Mbps, 42, 84, etc.) and had plans to do so next year. Will Long Term HSPA Evolution become ratified as a true 4G technology?
[Via: Fierce Mobile Content]