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Nokia Siemens makes multi-carrier HSPA+ hurtle at 336Mbps
It's easy to shrug off technical achievements like this while real-world data speeds still lag so far behind. Nevertheless, the adrenalin junkies at Nokia Siemens Services insist their latest HSPA+ platform will be commercially available to carriers by the end of next year and, to prove it actually works, they've been demoing at PT Expo Comm in Beijing. The technology uses the latest 3GPP standardization to hog eight 42Mbps frequency channels at the same time, delivering a peak throughput of 336Mbps. Sure, it doesn't come close to the 1Gbps speeds we've seen from Ericsson with LTE-Advanced, but if it gets here first we'll have it. [Thanks, Alan]
Ericsson does HSPA+ plus some, achieves 168Mbps downloads
Back in 2009, we squealed like giddy schoolgirls when the hotshots over at Ericsson crushed standard HSPA+ speeds with 56Mbps downloads, but even then we wondered if the standard would last much longer. Two years later, HSPA+ is still around and Ericsson is still crushing records -- three records, to be exact. At a recent demonstration in Stockholm, the company showed off multi-carrier HSPA with 168Mbps downlinks and 24Mbps uplinks, dual-carrier HSPA with peak speeds of 84Mbps, and single-carrier HSPA sporting 42Mbps. We'll admit, we're impressed, but considering Korean researchers have hit speeds of 600Mbps on LTE, we're afraid we won't be busting out the Cristal for this one. Ericsson expects to roll out single-carrier HSPA with 42Mbps and dual-carrier HSPA with 84Mbps sometime later this year.
Ericsson's new mobile broadband modules: one for Oak Trail tablets, one supports remote kill
You may not expect a company like Ericsson to be making ways at Intel's Developer Forum, but that's exactly what's going down today in the City by the Bay. First up is the second generation F3307 mobile broadband module, which was designed to bring the goodness of 3G to upcoming Oak Trail tablets. It'll come pre-certified with the planet's largest HSPA networks, and we're told that it's engineered to sip (read: not gulp) energy while regaining connections just moments after a device snaps out of sleep mode. More interesting, however, is the October-bound F5521gw, which is hailed as the world's first embedded mobile broadband module "specifically designed for notebooks and other consumer electronics to support 21Mbps HSPA Evolution networks." The real kicker, however, is that it's interoperable with Intel Anti-Theft Technology, which enables an encrypted SMS to remotely disable the host machine... even when the OS isn't running. Hit the source links for all the nitty-gritty, or hop on past the break for the highlights. %Gallery-102171%
Telus launching North America's first 42Mbps dual carrier HSPA+ network (update: Bell, too)
Australia's Telstra already claimed the title of World's First on this one, but Telus up in Canada isn't far behind, becoming the first carrier in North America to push HSPA+ up to 42Mbps through the magic of dual carrier technology. The concept, of course, is nothing new -- remember those "Shotgun" two-line 56k landline modems back in the day? Dual carrier isn't much different, employing two HSPA+ connection simultaneous to get an effective max theoretical throughput of 42Mbps. Telus has already wrapped up lab trials, but it expects to offer the blazing speeds to customers some time in the first quarter of 2011 with the launch of the first compatible devices -- USB modems at first, we'd presume -- and since Bell shares the network with Telus, we'd imagine that they're in cahoots on this as well. Rogers, ball's in your court. Follow the break for the full press release. [Thanks, Zach] Update: Bell reached out to us to let us know that they're in the thick of testing dual carrier HSPA+ as well with trials on real-world cell sites kicking off this month, and that "no one's ahead of Bell in testing this technology." As we mentioned before, Bell and Telus are in bed with each other for their HSPA airwaves, so it makes perfect sense.
AT&T cries foul over T-Mobile's 'HSPA+ is 4G' talk
No matter how much T-Mobile wants to pretend, HSPA+ is not on the same upload / download pay grade as LTE and WiMAX. Still, that isn't stopping the company from calling its new technology rollout "4G speeds," much to the dismay of another major HSPA+ supporter, AT&T. Cue Ma Bell spokesman Seth Bloom, who recently told Fierce Wireless, "I think that companies need to be careful that they're not misleading customers by labeling HSPA+ as a 4G technology." Of course, AT&T itself is rolling out that technology as an intermediate step between current 3G and LTE, and we know they want to reserve the 4G nomenclature for the latter's unveiling. Hey guys, can we just label it 3.95G and call it day?
T-Mobile's HSPA+ network goes live in New York City
Manhattan is in need of as much wireless love as the nation's carriers can give it -- and shy of WiMAX or LTE, the next best thing is some good, old-fashioned HSPA+ with theoretical speeds going all the way up to 21Mbps. T-Mobile was the first American carrier to aggressively pursue a national HSPA+ rollout (though AT&T has revisited its upgrade strategy more recently and decided to hit it on the way to LTE, too), and the goods have finally hit the New York City metro area. That means that Gothamites can now buy the webConnect Rocket USB stick that's been rolling out market by market over the past few months -- and while we can guarantee you that you won't see anything close to 21Mbps in practice, it's probably among the fastest wireless data solutions in town for the time being. Don't go running any web servers on it now, y'hear?
T-Mobile lighting up tons of fiber-powered backhaul 'within the next few weeks'
Realistically, most Americans won't have a chance to enjoy the full spoils of T-Mobile's shiny new 21Mbps HSPA+ network any time soon, but hey, at least they appear to be making solid progress. In a recent chat with GigaOM, T-Mobile's VP of engineering Dave Mayo has said that the requisite software for HSPA+ service is already rolled out to cell sites along the California coast and in major cities between Washington, DC and Boston, but like AT&T, it's not the software that's the concern -- it's the width of the backhaul pipe. The company says that it's got 20Mbps fiber connections to just 7 percent of its cells presently but plans to rapidly expand that to around 25 percent "within the next few weeks." Ultimately, that's going to be the key for every carrier around the world that's deploying 3.75 to 4G networks -- the cells themselves might be easy, but getting enough data piped to them is another story altogether. [Thanks, Burnside]
3 Scandinavia first out of the gate with 84Mbps HSPA
LTE? Who needs stinkin' LTE? The 3GPP's HSPA roadmap still has plenty of runway to get faster, interestingly -- enough runway, in fact, for just about any practical application you could throw at it shy of hosting Engadget's back-end operations. Historically, Australia's Telstra has had a track record of staying on top of the HSPA tech path, but just a few months after it demoed 42Mbps service, 3's Scandinavian branch is hard at work with Ericsson to deploy an 84Mbps network -- up from 21Mbps before -- through a combination of backhaul and equipment upgrades plus the addition of a new 900MHz carrier. It'll become the world's fastest HSPA network at launch, with the rollout starting in Denmark and parts of Sweden this quarter -- and hey, do us a favor and let us know if you come across any 84Mbps handsets, alright?
Sierra Wireless adds 2-in-1 HSPA+ AirCards to a lineup already fraught with action and danger
Sierra Wireless has just announced five new AirCard data cards and USB modems, including devices supporting HSPA+ frequencies. The AirCard 503, AirCard USB 308, and AirCard USB 309 all support peak download speeds of 21Mbps, with the former being a 2-in-1 PC card / ExpressCard device and the latter two being basically the same USB modem (except the first one supports 850MHz, 1900MHz, and 2100MHz frequencies, while AirCard USB 309 limits you to 900MHz and 2100MHz bands). If the raw excitement and glamor of HSPA+ speeds are more than you (or your budget) can handle, the company is also introducing a couple plain ol' HSPA cards with respectable peak downloads of 7.2Mbps and peak uploads of 5.76Mbps. The AirCard USB 301 supports 850MHz and 2100 MHz bands, while the AirCard USB 302 does its thing in the 900MHz and 2100MHz range. Scheduled to begin shipping in the fourth quarter of this year for prices to be announced. PR after the break.
T-Mobile starts 21Mbps HSPA+ rollout in Philadelphia, nationwide in 2010
T-Mobile USA's really kicking things into high gear, coming from behind (way behind, actually) on its 3G launch to become the first to bring 21Mbps HSPA+ here -- and possibly the only one to do it, considering that its closest GSM rival is leapfrogging from 7.2Mbps HSPA to LTE. Speaking at 4G World in Chicago, T-Mobile's Neville Ray has gone on record saying that its 3G footprint will be blanketed by HSPA+ next year and is actually already up and running in parts of Philadelphia; amusingly, he was apparently a little weirded out by AT&T's earlier comments at the show that it'd have 90 percent of its 3G coverage upgraded to 7.2Mbps by the end of 2011, suggesting that was slow (we'd agree, but then again, considering how far behind T-Mobile still lags in raw 3G coverage, we're not sure they've got room to talk just yet). If we had to guess, this huge push for mega-fast data has to do with investor discontent on the Deutsche Telekom side of things, so you can bet there are some crossed fingers out in Bellevue as this stuff lights up; now, just give us the world-class phone selection to match and we'll be good to go. [Via Phone Scoop]
Rogers expands 21Mbps footprint to more towns, HSPA+ Rocket modem available this month
Residents of some of Canada's biggest cities are now sitting on near-LTE speeds thanks to Rogers' continued rollout of 21Mbps HSPA+, a technology it proudly boasts is "replacing 3.5G" and stands a fighting chance of offering real-life double-digit speeds. That's pretty amazing when you consider that a lot of people are still using 768kbps or 1.5Mbps DSL lines in their homes -- ten years ago, we doubt anyone would've predicted that practical wireless speeds would be running neck-and-neck with some of the fastest wireline broadband ISPs have to offer -- but we're certainly not complaining. In addition to Toronto, service is now available in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal, with a new modem cutely named HSPA+ Rocket coming to take advantage of those speeds on the 28th of the month. Interested parties can preorder now, though: $199.99 or $74.99 on a two-year data contract. [Via Howard Chui]
eMobile claims it has Japan's first commercial HSPA+ network
How many Japanese carriers would have guessed already have 100 percent HSPA+ coverage? 3? 5? 17? Believe it or not, the answer was a big, fat goose egg until up-and-comer eMobile stepped up to the plate and upgraded its back end in recent days. Customers with properly-equipped hardware are now cruising along at up to 21Mbps (well, theoretically, anyhow), which should be more than enough to take 'em into the LTE-based next phase of their plans for world domination. It's said that since garnering its spectrum license back in 2005, eMobile has already managed to capture some 15 percent of Japan's HSPA market -- an impressive stat, considering they've got to go head-to-head with giants NTT DoCoMo and SoftBank Mobile -- and HSPA+ certainly won't hurt their cause.
Telstra keeps pushing, moves to 5.8Mbps on the uplink
Want to run a Miley Cyrus fansite over a data card? We might recommend you emigrate to Australia, where Telstra has just upgraded its already-impressive HSPA+ network to a whopping 5.8Mbps on the uplink, which it estimates means that customers could see speeds as high as 3Mbps in real-world use. In conjunction with the upgrade, the carrier's also letting customers know that its Turbo 21 USB modem can be updated to take advantage of the higher data rate, which refreshingly means you won't have to plunk down for any new hardware. Cheers to that.
So long, HSPA+: AT&T "likely" moving straight from 7.2Mbps to LTE
At Mobile World Congress, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega had mentioned to us that AT&T was "better off" than Verizon thanks to 3GPP Release 7's capabilities to extend existing HSPA infrastructure through to 21Mbps and beyond by using the wonders of HSPA+ before the company would need to bite the bullet and get moving on LTE. We're not sure whether Big Red's aggressive LTE plans have AT&T rethinking its strategy or if it just wants to save time, money, and energy by avoiding yet another interim rollout, but we're now being told by a company spokesman that "it's likely that timelines for LTE standards will lead us directly from 7.2 to LTE." He mentions that HSPA+ is "still an option," but at any rate, this is a markedly different tone than we've heard in the past -- even as late as last month -- and if this means we're getting LTE even a single day sooner, we're all for it.
Nokia Siemens completes first CSoHSPA call, promises better battery life
If you've never heard of CSoHSPA, we can't say we blame you, but the concept is surprisingly simple, the benefits are pretty clear, and odds are good the technology's coming to a network near you. Short for Circuit Switched over HSPA, the standard -- part of 3GPP Release 7 which covers HSPA+ -- seeks to improve handset battery life and significantly boost network capacity (something many carriers desperately need) by moving voice from the traditional circuit switched voice channel found on legacy GSM networks to packet data. This means that all forms of connectivity your phone exchanges with the network get treated as the same payloads of bytes -- the same concept employed by any VoIP system and the strategy employed by LTE, WiMAX, and some EV-DO networks -- so the old-school voice channel can be repurposed for pure data. Long story short, phones end up running longer on a charge, networks end up with more capacity, and everyone sleeps a little easier. Nokia Siemens and Finnish carrier Elisa have just completed the world's first CSoHSPA call, which is a nice landmark on the road to wide-scale HSPA+ deployment; the technology is essentially a software upgrade for a lot of existing infrastructure, so we'd expect this to get rolled out all over the place as long as handsets support it in kind.
Ericsson squeezes out 56Mbps from HSPA+
And here we were envious of the 21Mbps HSPA+ service currently offered by Telstra in Australia. Now we hear that Ericsson will be demonstrating its 56Mbps HSPA multi-carrier MIMO technology at CTIA (using a router, not handset) later this week with scheduled deployment set for 2010. By the end of 2009, Ericsson claims that it will support 42Mbps commercial deployments. All this assumes that carriers hold steady with HSPA and don't jump straight to LTE or WiMax... ok, LTE.
Austria gets HSPA+ thanks to mobilkom and Ericsson
The Aussies are laughing all the way to 21Mbps, sure, but where's a denizen of the Old World supposed to get their fix? Austria's mobilkom has officially become the first European carrier to launch HSPA+ service, using Ericsson-sourced equipment to offer peak data rates up to the same 21Mbps offered by Telstra. What's more, Ericsson says they'll hit 28Mbps "in the course of the year," so the only challenge left on the table is getting a whole bunch of devices that can take advantage -- USB sticks and ExpressCards are a forgone conclusion, sure, but where are our blazing handsets with five-minute battery lives? [Via SlashPhone]
T-Mobile likely to skip HSPA+, head straight to LTE
When you know what's just around the bend, biting on the best the world has now is that much more difficult. Just ask T-Mobile International, who told Unstrung at the World Telecoms Conference in London that it would probably bypass the whole HSPA+ thing and look straight to LTE. More specifically, CTO Joachim Horn noted that "if I need to invest into more hardware, I think it's better to start early [with LTE]. LTE is a more future-oriented technology." He did admit that T-Mobile would "deploy HSPA as long as there is no hardware replacement necessary," but that means the current 3G network would only ever hit 14.4Mbit/sec (at most). Interestingly enough, Horn also showed interest in TD-LTE, which China Mobile is currently backing as a migration path from TD-SCDMA. At any rate, T-Mob users should probably hope LTE gets here in a hurry, particularly now that you know what you're waiting for.[Via Electronista]
Telstra on track to roll out HSPA+ upgrade by end of year
Making good on a promise delivered at MWC earlier this year, Telstra has announced that its customers will be "the first in the world" to experience 21Mbps of blazing download speed when it launches the first phase of its HSPA Evolution network by the end of 2008. We don't have any particularly good reason to believe it'll be the iPhone 3G that's experiencing those ridiculous data rates, but by the same token, Telstra has yet to announce exactly what hardware it'll be offering at retail to go along with the service. If we had to guess, the first round will see a data card or two.
3G iPhone to support 42Mbps Evolved HSPA data?
Get this. Australian site ChannelNews claims that a "senior executive of Telstra" is the latest 3G iPhone bean spiller. They quote the exec as saying the following:"We know what is coming we have seen the new device and it will be available on our network as soon as it is launched in the USA. By Christmas this phone will be capable of 42Mbps which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest iPhone on any network in the world." Interesting. We know that Telstra's Next G HSDPA network has been capable of 14.4Mbps since 2007. At GSMA Mobile World Congress, they even committed to 21Mbps before the end of the year and 42Mbps using HSPA+ (aka, Evolved HSPA, HSPA Evolution) technology in 2009... not Christmas of 2008. Hard to say if this is just industry blow-harding or actual insider info. June 9th: T-minus 17 days and counting.[Thanks, Paul S.]Read -- Telstra 42Mbps HSPA+ in 2009Read -- Telstra 3G iPhone rumor
