AT&T to cover about 250M people with HSPA+ by year's end

AT&T has changed its story on its 3.5G / 3.75G strategy prior to rolling out LTE seemingly countless times in the past couple years, but the good news is that the latest policy shift is a decidedly positive one: it intends to cover about 250 million Americans in speedy (well, hopefully speedy) HSPA+ by the end of 2010. The remarks came today from AT&T Operations CEO John Stankey at a Reuters event, going on to say that the company intends to "double" its theoretical 7.2Mbps maximum on HSPA; it seems almost certain that the move is in response to T-Mobile's aggressive moves into 21Mbps territory recently -- not to mention commercial WiMAX availability on Sprint and the impending launch of a handful of LTE markets on Verizon -- but realistically HSPA+ on AT&T could easily run anywhere between 7.2 and 14.4Mbps depending on market, backhaul capacity, and countless other factors. Works out well for a presumed iPhone launch, doesn't it?

[Snarf101 Posted May 14th 2010 4:43PM]

Right.....

[N900 Posted May 14th 2010 4:46PM]

@Snarf101 Yeah they said "certain cities" right? I wonder how they'll handle this in the next 6 months.

[ThundaChunky Posted May 14th 2010 5:05PM]

@Snarf101

Actually I started seeing 3G speeds at my school towards the end of the semester and my school's in Middle Bubbafuck, PA. So go AT&T! 'Bout damn time.

[phoebetech Posted May 14th 2010 6:22PM]

@ThundaChunky Yes, but according to the article they will have the slowest network out of the Big 4. I wonder how will that play out.

[Midnitte Posted May 14th 2010 10:57PM]

@phoebetech

I don't care about speed as much as I care about atleast having a single bar. ATT needs to make their network more consistent so you don't see your signal going from full 3g to searching for signal.

[melissakorpes Posted May 15th 2010 10:15AM]

@phoebetech Yep, on 2009 the consumer report suggest that its the deadlast network of all. http://j.mp/att-deadlast-carrier

[benthe1 Posted May 15th 2010 5:09PM]

@Snarf101

Yeah, lol. That's what I thought too. You see, they plan on everyone visiting major cities in December 2010 that will have HSPA+ so they could count that as "covering" those 250 million people that visit HSPA+ cities. Smart huh......... lol.

[JimmyBoy Posted May 15th 2010 6:22PM]

@melissakorpes Pc world begs to differ...read the 3g report #2 Att is on top of that report

[Sofabutt Posted May 15th 2010 8:14PM]

Nothing more than cheap publicity. Sorta like announcing tethering for the iPhone and never delivering it.

[joquarky Posted May 19th 2010 5:46PM]

@JimmyBoy

PC World has advertisers to please.

[Phucpholuc Posted May 14th 2010 4:44PM]

The Empire Strikes Back

[Lord Vader Posted May 14th 2010 4:51PM]

@Phucpholuc. Indeed, later today on Engadget
'The Empire enters alliance with AT&T, vows to change name due to similarity to AT-AT'
BREAKING

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2218/1562746292_600d2360f8.jpg

[SolidSnake Posted May 14th 2010 4:53PM]

@Lord Vader
Now THATS a merger I want to hear more about...

[Frankenstein Black Posted May 14th 2010 4:56PM]

@Phucpholuc - And there are phones that some people already have that will take advantage of the speed bump (i.e. no new device needed). Nice!!

[BrianH Posted May 14th 2010 5:00PM]

@Lord Vader

OMG

win

[bo3of Posted May 14th 2010 5:04PM]

@Lord Vader You've done well Lord Vader!

[ChristianTexan Posted May 14th 2010 5:17PM]

@Phucpholuc
Hooray competition!

& hooray beer!

[Boyo Posted May 14th 2010 5:39PM]

@Lord Vader

You've seen the picture now see the movie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP8cSetB91c

[ipaladin Posted May 15th 2010 3:09AM]

@Lord Vader Isn't Emperor Palpatine already on AT&T's Board of Directors?

[Junyor Mynt Posted May 15th 2010 1:27PM]

@Lord Vader FTW

[JonsMind Posted May 14th 2010 4:45PM]

Breaking news?.. More like about time.

[jroff Posted May 14th 2010 4:45PM]

I'll believe it when it happens.. just like I'll believe Android is coming to AT&T when they finally offer a real Android phone.

[SolidSnake Posted May 14th 2010 5:08PM]

@jroff
Nexus One.
Enjoy it, Big Red won't give it any love...

[iamlilysdad Posted May 14th 2010 5:12PM]

@jroff samsung galaxy s. But I agree. Show me the money!

[jroff Posted May 14th 2010 5:44PM]

@SolidSnake
Doesn't help if it isn't subsidized.

[SolidSnake Posted May 14th 2010 6:40PM]

@jroff
Subsidies aren't worth it most of the time.....
But consumers look at the initial price, not the long term cost of a phone.

[foxyNinja Posted May 14th 2010 7:00PM]

@jroff just sell a subsidized iPhone on eBay.

[N900 Posted May 14th 2010 4:46PM]

If it happens, bless NY with it first.

[Levi Posted May 14th 2010 4:56PM]

@N900
yes.

[Elenium Posted May 15th 2010 6:41PM]

@N900 San Diego!

[Cg006 Posted May 14th 2010 4:47PM]

And who needs a 4g (LTE) iphone right now.....

If i can even get 5mbps Down that would be awesome and will hold me over.

That Evo is tempting though...

[Mentat Posted May 14th 2010 5:18PM]

@Cg006

where did you hear about an LTE iPhone?... or are you one of those people that get 4th Generation iPhone mixed with 4G cellphone service?

[Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi Posted May 14th 2010 6:20PM]

@Mentat he is saying that when an LTE iPhone comes out....you know....in like 2-3 years....

[Cg006 Posted May 14th 2010 7:18PM]

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

well hopefully we wont have to wait so long....lol... i was guessing maybe 2011/12

Any improvement on speed is good. if i can get a constant 5mbps down on my phone i would be happy. Of course more is always better.

[Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi Posted May 14th 2010 7:23PM]

@Cg006 2011 for an LTE iPhone? I suppose that possible if VZ gets their network upgraded fast enough, I mean sure AT&T could beat them too it(since they are saying the HSPA+ upgrades they are doing are laying the groundwork for their LTE rollout) but my money is on VZ getting theirs up first.....of course I suppose T-mo could come out from nowhere and get LTE out too...but I think thats even less likely....

but yea any type of speed increase is a good one....

[AndreyATGB Posted May 14th 2010 4:47PM]

So another thing the new iPhone has: HSPA+

[Cg006 Posted May 14th 2010 4:49PM]

@AndreyATGB

I would hope so. Doesn't the Current 3gs iphone support up to 7ish mbps theoretically? too lazy to do google searches..

[AndreyATGB Posted May 14th 2010 5:01PM]

@Cg006 It does. But HSPA+ is double so it needs new hardware to support that.

[TheLondonExchange Posted May 14th 2010 5:38PM]

@AndreyATGB

Nice catch...

[kapanak Posted May 14th 2010 5:58PM]

@AndreyATGB

The 3GS on Canada's Telus already supports HSPA+

[Console fanboy Posted May 14th 2010 4:49PM]

Still getting the evo.

[Narutogrey Posted May 14th 2010 8:47PM]

@Console fanboy For an Android phone, the EVO is pretty good.

[jeffmorr Posted May 14th 2010 4:51PM]

lol. that means that Canada has 3.99g, with our 21mbps networks that actually work

[Heart0fGlass12 Posted May 14th 2010 5:04PM]

@jeffmorr Makes me wish that I lived in Canada. Telus has the iPhone AND the Droid (Milestone). HOW FREAKING EPIC IS THAT?!

[jeffmorr Posted May 14th 2010 5:26PM]

@Heart0fGlass12 lol. I'm on telus, and have the hero. But I'm mad because there are rumors that telus is getting the desire, which would be branded as the triumph

[kapanak Posted May 14th 2010 6:00PM]

@jeffmorr

Canada rules...and it helps when just about any new phone since 2009 is able to go on ANY network, as long as it is unlocked...we all support the same spectrum...except that newcomer...WIND.

My only problem with Telus is that they lock their devices beyond regular limitations...
Telus Milestone is COMPLETELY locked, not even properly rooted yet...and since we can't put custom roms on it, we are stuck with shitty Telus apps...Oh, and we have that AT&T crap, backflip or whatever...

[nino313 Posted May 14th 2010 7:06PM]

@Heart0fGlass12
I have AT&T and have a 3GS and a milestone :-)

[pissshivers Posted May 14th 2010 8:54PM]

@kapanak I'm on Wind with a Nexus One, and it's epic, unlimited data for $35. Beats the shit plan from Rogers/Telus/Bell.

It's not just WIND, there are 2 or 3 other new service providers launching this year on the same AWS spectrum (like T-Mob). So the wireless industry might actually become somewhat competitive, if we're lucky..

[Heart0fGlass12 Posted May 14th 2010 9:18PM]

@jeffmorr

Awwh, that sucks~! The Desire (Triumph) is gonna be amazing! Too bad, there's no Desire in US... I'll buy a Desire (Triumph) from ya! =D

And Telus totally crippled the Milestone? They really, REALLY should not cripple the Desire (Triumph).

@nino, how did you manage that? Got an unsubsidized one from Canada? If so, that's awesome.

And lastly, WIND is truly pissing me off. If you ask me, NO carrier should use the same frequency as T-Mobile. It's shit. Reception rarely gets through buildings, and just generally pisses me off.

[jeffmorr Posted May 14th 2010 9:55PM]

@Heart0fGlass12 I think I'm going to complain that my Hero is just too slow, its really annoying! I really with I lived in Toronto, because I would be on WIND right now, and I would of got a Nexus One, like you, @pisshivers . Montreal does have Public Mobile, but they still need a data plan. I don't think they even have 3G! What I would really want is for something the size of the Evo or the HD2 to come out in Canada, I would buy that in a heart-beat (when I save up more money cause of my iPad :D)