Telus just announced that they’re making a significant upgrade to their network which will include some HSPA+ technology only deployed on Australia’s Telstra network so far. They claim that using this new HSPA+ Dual Cell network, Telus will be able to achieve data speeds of up to 42 Mb/s. “Up to” are the key words here, as these things always look better on paper as they pan out in the real world.
So what is Dual Cell? Telus says it’s a way of combining the bandwidth from two networks, presumably leveraging their existing CDMA network for use on GSM handsets (which have only been made available relatively recently). Although Telus makes sure to point out that this all a part of their grand scheme to get LTE up and running, I’m really happy to see carriers squeezing more out of 3G while the stage is being set for 4G. I’m curious what devices will be available to take advantage of the new tech, but I have a feeling that it will be mostly mobile broadband stuff rather than smartphones, sadly.
Telus had completed Dual Cell tests last month, and are aiming to complete deployment by the first quarter of 2011, so sit tight.