Earlier this week, AT&T announced plans to upgrade its 3G network to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology, to deliver peak speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.
HSPA 7.2 is part of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies, which include GSM and UMTS. Emerging LTE technology is also part of the 3GPP technology roadmap, enabling AT&T’s network to offer backward compatibility, or the ability for users with qualifying devices to seamlessly switch among 4G LTE, 3G and 2G service areas to maintain the fastest-available connection. This availability will be critical for customers in the early years of LTE deployment across the industry, when access to LTE service will be geographically limited.
At the same time, the company increase its network capacity by doubling the wireless spectrum dedicated to 3G in most metropolitan areas. This should also improve in-building reception.
The upgrade will begin later this year and is expected to be completed in 2011. AT&T will make local announcements as the upgrades are completed.
AT&T also announced plans to begin LTE (Long Term Evolution) trials in 2010. Deployment would follow starting in 2011. LTE will offer significantly improved data throughput (with the potential for download speeds as high as 173Mbps).
Is it a coincidence that AT&T made such an announcement only days before Apple is expected to unveil a new iPhone that will support 7.2Mbps HSPA connectivity?