Archive for: 3.5G
- November 23, 2010 10:32 am
U.S. GSM Carrier T-Mobile announced today 8 new markets that can take advantage of their super speedy HSPA+ network.
- Lafayette and South Bend, Indiana
- Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia
Living in a small town myself, it’s nice to see cities such as South Bend, Indiana make the cut before quite a few other, much larger cities. With that said, I invite T-Mobile HSPA+ users new and old to post their speedtest screenshots in the comments. Let’s see what T-Mobile is really giving us.
What better way to spend a Friday morning than oogling over Verizon’s LTE spec sheet currently making it’s way through Big Red retail training channels? As you can see, VZW is boasting quite loudly how their upcoming LTE network will be many times better than both Sprint’s WiMax or T-Mobile’s HSPA+ networks. And with speeds of 5-12Mbps down and 2-5Mbps up, I’d hop aboard the “bash the competitor’s network” too.
But there’s a problem here…
First it was Verizon. Now it’s T-Mobile. AT&T just can’t stay happy, can they? Instead of Christmas cheer, raindeer, and dudes with glowing noses mocking Big Blue, it is T-Mobile ruffling a few of AT&T’s stiff feathers. The reason for distress: AT&T is unhappy with T-Mobile labeling their HSPA+ rollout as offering “4G-like speeds”.
Boo hoo…
At first, it seemed like Dell’s ambitions with Android were lackluster at best. So far, what they’ve shown us was drawing nothing but yawns on my end. However, the tides changed quite drastically today with the unveiling leak of the Android-powered “Thunder”. A cousin of the Windows Phone 7 “Lightning”, the Thunder aims to usher in the next generation of Android on all new, classy looking hardware. And yes, the body the Thunder is rocking is helluva sexy.
But as much as we like them, looks aren’t everything. And that’s perfectly fine as far as the Thunder’s concerned…
T-Mo is getting fast and in more ways than one. Network upgrades are a bittersweet thing for carriers. On one hand, they get to entice more customers to stay on/sign up, offering better coverage and enhanced speeds. But, rolling out a network in the right way takes a considerable chunk of change. Apparently T-Mo is up to the challenge.
Not only will their HSPA+ 21Mbps network be blazing fast as it is rolled out, but the actual rollout itself will be faster than what many would call possible. In total, 2010 will see over 100 HSPA+ markets for T-Mo with over half of those markets getting lit up by mid-2010 — yes, that’s this year. So the rollout is fast and the actual network itself will be fast. How much better can it get?
While not true 4G, HSPA+ should keep many a geek occupied until those next gen networks start cropping up.
Gizmodo
- December 16, 2009 6:44 am
Here we are thinking that some big money making corporate machine such as AT&T was going to launch the first HSPA+ network in the states. It takes money to put up and support all of the physical and digital mojo behind such a network which is why the obvious default to the countries largest GSM provider was a given — or so we thought. Thanks to BendBroadband, a central Oregon cable company, the US does now in fact have the sweet, speedy waves of HSPA+ blanketing the fortunate few. Those lucky enough to have found themselves in central Oregon and also a customer of BendBroadband will find their mobile browsing speeds somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-8Mbps down.
Wondering if you’re covered?
- North to south coverage: From Madras to La Pine.
- East to west coverage: From Prineville to Sisters.
What’s nice for central Oregon users eying a possible switch to BendBroadband is that the region in the northwest and even far west as a whole isn’t exactly a wireless hotbed. I mean, coverage on any carrier isn’t as bullet proof as the maps show for central and eastern residents of the US. (Anyone care to chime in?)
One thing is for sure, the added competition that just popped up in Oregon is a god send to the area. If any central Oregon natives were feeling down because of a lack in carrier selections or mobile broadband speeds, they can now feel exponentially better about themselves. They’ve just gone from the back of the pack to the front in no time flat.
Now if only BendBroadband would go national…
**Update: As mentioned below by Frank, the service is for fixed routers or USB modems.
**Update 2: Unlocked devices in the AWS spectrum are game as well!
Cellular-News
It looks like the days of the iPhone monopoly are about to end in Canada as the Jesus Phone is coming to both Telus and Bell. Until recently, Rogers was the only game in town for iPhone action. But word on the street is that the change will be announced Tuesday or Wednesday. Conincidentally this potential release will conincide very well with the launch of Telus and Bell’s launch of their new 21 Mbps HSDPA+ network.
For those of you who keep track of network types and speeds, you might remember that both Telus and Bell are new to GSM/EDGE/HSPA networks but they have been burning the midnight oil to roll out their new high speed network in time for, most likely, the Vancouver Olympics (can you say roaming charges?) and certainly the holiday season. Now to spice things up Bell is contending that their network version is more advanced because it is utilizing the latest network standard, HSPA + ,while Rogers is still slowly rolling HSPA+ out beyond the intial 5 cities they have already blanketed: Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
So what do you think? The idea of having 21 Mbps a tempting morsel for a move to the land up north? Or how about having more then one carrier offering the same phone? Sound off below.
Courtesy of 9to5Mac
- September 23, 2009 6:51 am
The back and forth movement of T-Mobile USA’s statements in regards to their 4G plans is enough to give most people whiplash. First they’re holding off, instead employing HSPA+ as a nice speed bump along the way. Next minute they’re (their parent company, Deutsche Telekom more precisely) making deals to light 4G services with Clearwire and Metro PCS. Clearwire whom has been cited saying that they needed more money to continue the rollout of 4G services, would have most of their current monetary problems solved with a $2 billion donation from their new friend, Deutsche Telekom. That is if they can manage to keep negotiations and agreements straight.
Worries of available spectrum can be put to rest however as Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow when interviewed by Giga OM’s Om Malik stated that they (Clearwire) “have plenty of spectrum and are flexible enough for new partners and adaptations”. Does T-Mobile’s recent Philliy dwelling, 21Mbps HSPA+ service enough to satisfy your mobile needs for now or are you ready for 4G? Leave your impressions inside.
Giga OM
Image Source
- September 18, 2009 8:02 am
CDMA users often feel left out when it comes to cool phones and such as their GSM brethren are often first to get all the coolest geeky stuff. This fall Verizon is looking to spruce up their offerings a tad with two promising contestants both coming from HTC land. The first up, the HTC Imagio will bring Big Red their first tasting of WinMo 6.5 come early October packing a 3.6-inch WVGA touchscree, 528MHz Qualcom core, 512MB/256 ROM/RAM, 5 megapixel shooter w/ auto-focus and anti-shake features, and GSM/GPS/CDMA/EVDO radios. Certainly something to look forward to no? That is until we get a more revealing spec sheet of the HTC Predator which will supposedly come to Verizon in late October packin’ Android under the hood. The fall season looks like it’s heating up quite well. Heck, I’m even excited to see how the Imagio turns out. Thoughts?
Source: BGR
