T-Mobile announced that it will suspend all development of HSPA+ after 42 Mbps, as the company plans to focus on its LTE deployment instead. This plan to build a 4G LTE network using the AWS spectrum came about right after the United States government told AT&T to kick rocks. T-Mo decided to smartly use the spectrum gained from the botched acquisition, and roll out the new service in 2013.
Before the change, the wireless provider said that it would be moving to 84Mbps on its HSPA+ network, which would’ve required some restructuring of the 2G spectrum in the 1900MHz PCS band — that is no longer the case. T-Mobile USA also noted that it wouldn’t be selling any more handsets that don’t support 3G; this means that the total 2G load on the network will cut over time. Don’t worry, this reduction in 2G capacity is a move that no one will notice.
Bottom line is, it’s about time for the fourth largest phone carrier to move into LTE, as this represents the wave of the future when it comes to wireless. I like that the company is actually investing the billions of dollars it received from AT&T, rather than hoarding the cash for its executives and shareholders. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to T-Mo from here though, will it stay independent, or will it merge with another company.
[via The Verge]