T-Mobile stepping up their 3G network to surpass AT&T with 21 Mbps HSDPA by 2010

posted by John V. / Sep 11, 2009, 8:18 PM

This article contains unofficial information.

T-Mobile stepping up their 3G network to surpass AT&T with 21 Mbps HSDPA by 2010

Maybe being last to the 3G party might not be too much of a bad thing with T-Mobile? For some time, all the other major carriers were basking in the fast goodness of 3G speeds; T-Mobile though was the last to enter the race. Launched late last year with the release of the T-Mobile G1, the fourth largest carrier in the US had some catching up to do. T-Mobile's Chief Technology Officer, Cole Brodman, detailed some exciting details about their 3G roll out for the rest of the year and 2010. They're eying on matching AT&T's 7.2 Mbps HSDPA with their own by the end of this year. The surprising thing though is that they plan on overtaking AT&T with a 21 Mbps HSDPA starting in 2010. This gigantic project probably coincides with Deutsche Telekom's plan to invest tons of money into the US for T-Mobile's rise to the top. Even with this enormous undertaking, it's still unclear as to whether or not T-Mobile will jump on the LTE wagon for their 4G network. In the mean time though, we're glad to see them up their game with this move.

via dslreports

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19 Comments

1. iTony523

Posts: 36; Member since: Jul 31, 2009

Good Job T-mobile! The only reason people are even on At&t is because of the iPhone. If the iPhone went to Verizon, or Sprint or T-mobile then At&t would be the carrier with the least subscribers. Trust me. Keep it up T-mobile! p.s - Can't wait to own the Motorola Cliq!

posted on Oct 20, 2010, 1:43 AM 0

8. Hlorri

Posts: 40; Member since: May 07, 2008

Hogwash. AT&T has many more customers (like me) who loathe the iPhone. I'm with AT&T for three reasons: * Technology/frequency. Only AT&T and T-Mobile use GSMA standards, and only AT&T uses 3G frequencies supported by most top-of-the-line unlocked phones (such as the Nokia N-Series). That of course changes now with the N900... * Coverage. T-Mobile is pretty spotty, and has no coverage at my home. * Data plan. Unlimited data at AT&T is $15/month, with T-Mobile it is capped at 1GB for $20. I'm very intrigued now though that more interesting devices (such as the N900, the Sony Ericsson CS8, the Motorola Cliq) are now destined for T-Mobile -- seems that they are much more up to date with their phones than the others (AT&T and Verizon in particular seem to be stuck in the 1990s). Hopefully this emphasis on faster 3G networks also means that they are interested in expanding overall coverage...

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 1:59 AM 0

13. Mr.Bozodic

Posts: 13; Member since: Mar 30, 2009

AT&T service is a joke. Their network is overloaded because of the iphone and unlimited data use per customer. I hope T-mobile and Sprint knock AT&T and Verizon off their thrones.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 3:37 PM 0

17. Galen20K

Posts: 559; Member since: Dec 26, 2008

Right on, ATT is a complete MESS and they know it. Boz you are so right.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 11:38 PM 0

2. Galen20K

Posts: 559; Member since: Dec 26, 2008

I heard this News Earlier, see T-Mobile always had this in mind when they bought their new Spectrum. So I had no worries. Great Job Tmobile! I love you.

posted on Sep 11, 2009, 10:40 PM 0

3. knuckleballer34

Posts: 119; Member since: Jul 27, 2009

I'm glad to see T Mobile upgrade their 3G network. Hopefully it expands as quickly geographically as it does in terms of quickness. I find their 3G network to be pretty good when I use it. Big deal with the I Phone, what's the use of a 3G device that reverts to EDGE all the time anyway?

posted on Sep 11, 2009, 11:33 PM 0

4. behold--me

Posts: 679; Member since: Jun 22, 2009

i think that t-mo has what it takes to make it far like past sprint and close to at t just its that at t is incredibly slow (so i heard) and i thing 3G on t-mo is really good my phone holds 3G really well and wherever it doesn't it gets EDGE at least. so its a really good network, just not very long on the 3G type signals

posted on Sep 11, 2009, 11:45 PM 0

5. baldilocks

Posts: 1428; Member since: Dec 14, 2008

No, more people are on AT&T because their network is MUCH larger. T-Mobile doesn't even have coverage where I am. T-Mobile needs to expand their network into many more areas before it ever becomes a serious thread to AT&T.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 12:00 AM 0

6. Galen20K

Posts: 559; Member since: Dec 26, 2008

Ahahaahahaa Really! Ridiculous! *shakes head*** ; D

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 12:22 AM 0

9. Hlorri

Posts: 40; Member since: May 07, 2008

Care to clarify? baldilocks is spot on BTW. Certainly the case for me.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 2:01 AM 0

12. shimmyx20

Posts: 280; Member since: Mar 03, 2009

Agreed. That's the reason I switched from T-Mo. They may be cheaper, but I'd rather have a phone that I can get signal on.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 2:44 PM 0

16. Galen20K

Posts: 559; Member since: Dec 26, 2008

Really, I travel everywhere and I always have a 3G signal so take your lies elsewhere please.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 11:37 PM 0

7. VZWfangirl

Posts: 71; Member since: Jul 25, 2009

Honestly other networks are already developing their 4G network so wouldn't it make more sense to focus on their 4G and skip 3G?

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 1:55 AM 0

10. yongone

Posts: 6; Member since: Aug 29, 2009

yea. that shut everyone up.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 9:16 AM 0

11. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

fangirl. vzw is first out of the gate w/ lte because vodaphone, their parent company, helped develop it. granted, i cant wait for LTE to hit the streets where i live, just for the data card services, but companies like tmobile end up catching up in the end. they wait for the price of the technology to come down substantially as it always does and buy it at a discount, so they can keep their lower priced plans. I've worked for tmo and vzw, and while vzw's coverage map is by far superior, you also pay for the advanced techs they develop and impliment first. so its a game of "do you want it now at a premium, or can u wait 3 - 5 yrs to get it at a discount?"

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 2:15 PM 0

15. Galen20K

Posts: 559; Member since: Dec 26, 2008

Obviously the only reason it took so long was to wait for the lovely government to evacuate it. yea shut up.

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 11:36 PM 0

18. tiredofidiots

Posts: 1; Member since: Sep 13, 2009

By the way, the 700 Mhz spectrum that the government was evacuating has been auctioned off to the wireless carriers for additional spectrum. Verizon won the spectrum for the whole US. Then there were other parts that were sections B, C, and D. Those sections of the auction cover certain areas of the US to help bolster spectrum. Tmobile has won certain areas of the smaller auctions, but not the whole US. It took so long is because Tmobile didn't have the money to invest in the US marketplace compared to other companies that are here like Verizon. By the way why do I want to wait 3 - 5 years for my network to catch up.

posted on Sep 13, 2009, 1:45 AM 0

14. Galen20K

Posts: 559; Member since: Dec 26, 2008

Obviously T-Mobile's Network is Much Newer Technology and also very little has to be done for 4G and will be ready around the same time as the others, see if you guys REALLY were worth your salt and could actually see past your fanboy nostalgia you'd know that. I guess its just too much to ask for Adults to actually act and be reasonable like, oh I don't know Adults! lol Oh well, not like I expect anything from the ridiculous civilization going on, so much hate. Wow! - D Peace out ya'll

posted on Sep 12, 2009, 11:35 PM 0

19. GABRIEL unregistered

CHICAGO -- 4G World -- Everyone knows that AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is planning to move to Long Term Evolution (LTE) next year, but is the operator also planning a further upgrade of its 3G network in 2011? In his keynote here on Tuesday, David Haight, VP of business development at AT&T's Emerging Devices Organization, said that if users roam off LTE, they would go to faster 3G in 2011. "The good news is that you're going to fall back to HSPA+, so you're falling back to 21 megabits, not 7.2 or 3.6," Haight told the crowd. (See 4G World: AT&T Learns Lessons From iPad.) So far, AT&T has only said that it will deploy the earlier 14.4Mbit/s upgrade by the end of this year - 2010, revealing nothing about a 21Mbit/s upgrade in 2011. So we asked AT&T what the official word on this was. "HSPA technology has a theoretical maximum speed of 21Mbps," a spokeswoman said, in an email reply to questions. "WE HAVE NOT BEGUN DEPLOYING THE TECHNOLOGY AT THIS TIME",she said that ONLY this October - then now magically they have 21 hspa??? (See AT&T Plots Widescale HSPA+ Rollout .) Nonetheless, if AT&T is interested in keeping up with GSM rival T-Mobile then HSPA+ is a logical progression. T-Mobile is currently rolling out a 21Mbit/s upgrade for 100 cities by year's end; it currently has the speed boost running in 75 cities in the US. The average download speeds offered on 21Mbit/s HSPA are in the 5 to 8 Mbit/s range. (See T-Mobile's HSPA Rivals Clearwire, US LTE Speeds.) When we are in Austin,Texas for ANDROID FESTIVAL, TMobile executives said that 42Mbps hspa will be available by last week of January or 1st week of February-2011 then AT&T will start to deploy 21Mbps hspa... I called a friend who is engineer in AT&T MOBILITY unit & he said to me that THEY STILL USE THE 7.2Mbps & some area with 14.4Mbps HSPA, NOT YET THE 21 HSPA+ (maybe next year around February-2011, he said) BEST LIAR OF ALL TIME & ALWAYS CRYING - AT&T...