T-Mobile HSPA+ to hit 19 cities with new modem

T-Mobile's HSPA+ service should get a major expansion in just over a week, including a new netbook to match, if a tip this evening is accurate. The 21Mbps access would reach 19 new coverage areas on July 21, ranging from major cities in Ohio and Texas to the island of Hawaii and cities such as Baltimore, Kansas City, Portland and Washington, DC. It would represent one of the largest expansions of the faster 3G since it launched.
BGR hears the new network's activation would be met by the new webConnect 2.0 modem, which improve the overall design and add Mac support. Dell's subsidized Mini 10 will also make an appearance, although here it would come with a USB webConnect modem rather than have HSPA+ built-in.

T-Mobile currently has the fastest available cellular Internet access in the US as Sprint's 4G doesn't peak beyond 10Mbps in real conditions. AT&T is only just starting its HSPA+ deployment and will top at 14.4Mbps, and Verizon's 4G will be faster but won't be commercially available until the end of the year.

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T-Mobile to get 21Mbps 3G; Android at 10K apps

T-Mobile USA told those at the Mobilize conference yesterday that the carrier plans to ramp up its 3G speeds significantly in the next year. Although it began its 3G deployment much later than its GSM rival AT&T, T-Mobile's chief technical officer Cole Brodman expects to have its 7.2Mbps HSPA service online by the end of 2009. He now additionally expects the firm to introduce HSPA+ service at 21Mbps at some point in 2010.

The approach potentially gives T-Mobile a temporary edge over AT&T. While HSPA+ was once in the latter's roadmap, the company now says it will likely skip the format and move directly from 7.2Mbps 3G to its first 4G service when that becomes commercially available in 2011. T-Mobile also plans to move to 4G in a relatively close timeframe.

In addition to the network changes, Brodman updated the audience on the performance of Android and noted that there are now almost 10,000 apps available through Android Market in the less than a year the OS and online store have been available. Users on at least T-Mobile's network have also typically downloaded 40 apps, or about eight times more than Blackberry owners that often have few or no apps. By comparison, the iPhone's App Store has over 75,000 programs, though there aren't recent estimates for the number of apps downloaded per person.

The catalog and the adoption rate are both expected to go up in the near future following Google's redesign of Android Market to better advertise apps, especially paid titles, as well as the adoption of more non-HTC Android phones like the Motorola Cliq.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/09/11/t.mobile.plans.21mbps.hspa.in.2010/

Rogers to launch 21Mbps HSPA+ network

Rogers on Tuesday became the first North American cellular carrier to start deploying HSPA+ on its 3G network. A gradual rollout will bring the Canadian provider's network up to the standard's peak download rates 21Mbps, or about three times the speed of its existing 7.2Mbps network. While unstated, the network should also provide upstream speeds of up to 5.76Mbps in peak conditions.

The combined speed is enough that performance on the improved 3G should feel more like a home landline connection, Rogers claims. Actual speeds will likely be significantly lower but should still be within the multi-megabit range in both directions.

HSPA+ will be available in August but comes first to Rogers' largest market, the greater Toronto area. It should move "quickly" to other larger cities in the next few months. Rogers hasn't said whether it will increase the data caps for these users, but a change may be necessary as the company's most expensive service offers just 5GB for $80 per month; a more typical plan provides just 1GB for $30.

In the US, AT&T has promised HSPA+ sometime this year but has yet to signal that it's getting close to this deployment. The move mostly requires a software upgrade but may depend on finally adding 850MHz 3G to major cities like New York and San Francisco, where heavy iPhone activity has rendered the much narrow 1,900MHz 3G spectrum all but unusable. Such an upgrade may not be completed for several months.