AT&T Aiming To Double 3G Speeds for iPhone
AT&T, the exclusive wireless carrier for Apple’s iPhone in the U.S., is working to double its 3G speeds. AT&T officially completed the build-out of its 3G network in June and is aiming for speeds of 3.6 megabits per second, Scott McElroy, AT&T vice president of technology realization, told Telephony Online.
Currently, AT&T offers 3G speeds of 700 Kbps to 1.7 Mbps for a typical download and 500 Kbps to 1.2 Mbps for an upload using High-Speed Downlink Packet Access/Universal Mobile Telephone System (HSDPA/UMTS) technology.
McElroy said AT&T is conducting trials of the upgraded 3G network in two markets and plans to expand the changes across the entire network once the tests are completed. The move is expected to be AT&T’s last change to the existing HSPA network. AT&T plans to switch to HSPA+ later this year, which could triple peak speeds on the network.
Not only is AT&T adding capacity through upgrades, it’s also including HSPA carriers at various cell-phone sites. McElroy said it’s being done on a market-by-market basis and second and third carriers will be added based on demand.
In order to deal with the increased data traffic from its network upgrades, AT&T is upgrading its backhaul network wherever possible, according to McElroy.
Increase Necessary
The carrier first launched its 3G network in 2005, supporting 1.8 Mbps. Over the past few years, AT&T has upgraded to support 3.6 Mbps. Most mobile devices, including smartphones, laptops and Apple’s iPhone, have the ability to use more capacity.
AT&T is now in the midst of certifying 7.2-Mbps devices on its two test networks, McElroy said.
AT&T’s upgrade is necessary as both the carrier and Apple have been under fire for misleading consumers on the power of the network. Both have been sued for delivering data to the iPhone at slower speeds than…
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