EDGE is not quietly walking off into the sunset as it faces competition from newer technologies like EV-DO and HSUPA. Ericsson sees EDGE as a complement to high-speed WCDMA/HSPA networks and is continuing to invest in the technology..
Ericsson promises that a software update called Evolution will increase EDGE’s speed up to 1Mbps by 2009. EDGE Evolution will boost data speeds by up to 300 percent and will significantly improve latency, coverage, and spectrum efficiency. This improved data performance in GSM will serve as an important complement to high-speed WCDMA/HSPA networks, meeting the growing demand of data bandwidth and mobility.
One question that remains is whether or not current EDGE devices will be upgradeable to Evolution (assuming you even still have the same device in 2009). It also remains to be seen how many EDGE network providers will deploy the Evolution update.