As reported by sites such as Engadget and Electronista, AT&T announced this past Friday that while it is still working on next generation LTE 4G technology for some point in the future, in the interim it plans to give a speed bump to its current 3G service by rolling out something called HSPA+ to 250 million Americans by the end of 2010. AT&T currently supports HSPA in many markets which can theoretically give you speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. HSPA+ will double that to a theoretical maximum of 14.4Mbps.
Theoretical maximums are interesting but somewhat irrelevant for end users who rarely see anything close to that. But Gizmodo reported earlier this year that HSPA+ is deployed by T-Mobile in Philadelphia, and tests show real world speeds of up to 6Mbps, which is pretty darn fast for 3G. The iPhone 3GS supports HSPA, so perhaps the next iPhone will support HSPA+ and see much better 3G performance. (Indeed, this past March, Electronista reported that Apple was looking to higher people with HSPA+ experience.)
HSPA+ could help current iPhones too. A PC Magazine article on the T-Mobile HSPA+ network in Philadelphia reported this past February: “HSPA+ improves ordinary 3G
devices, too. I saw speeds on a T-Mobile MyTouch 3G triple when I entered the HSPA+ area (from around 600
kbps to 1.8 mbps). A T-Mobile WebConnect modem rated for HSPA 7.2 got
2.57 megabits down in the HSPA+ zone, but only 431 kilobits down in the
rest of Philadelphia.”
I don’t pretend to understand all of the ins and outs of 3G technology, but I’m happy to learn about AT&T working to improve the speed of its 3G network. I look forward to seeing what this all means for the iPhones of today and tomorrow.
I wonder if the increased bandwith will really lead to an improved user experience. I would think the relatively limited processors in mobil devices are the limiting factor.