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AT&T readies HSUPA network
U.S. carrier moves to boost image as a provider of mobile broadband services.
All the hoopla around the potential for a WiMAX joint venture between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire left the other three national cellular carriers in the U.S. asking, "what about me?" AT&T demonstrated progress in its bid to boost mobile broadband speeds by announcing that it has installed High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) in 275 markets across the US with an estimated 350 readied by year-end. Services using the sparkling new network are expected to reach consumers by mid-year.
HSUPA is part of the High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family of wireless protocols specified by the 3GPP standards development organization. The protocol builds on the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) effort, which boosted speeds of content from online servers to subscriber devices. HSUPA increases subscriber uplink data speeds - those associated with sending data from the device to the network -- to 500-800 Kbps per user. Those rates are similar to the average 3G downlink data speeds witnessed today over ED-DO rev.A offerings from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel. Downlink speeds on the new network peak at 1.4 Mbps. Typical downlink performance for Mobile WiMAX networks is between 1-2 Mbps depending on the provider's offering.
AT&T is the first U.S. mobile carrier to roll-out an HSPA network. The timing of this launch is important for AT&T, who has received increased awareness in the last year due to its exclusive relationship with Apple for the EDGE-based iPhone handset. Apple is rumored to be launching a 3G version of the device mid-year. HSUPA support would alleviate many of the Internet performance bottlenecks that users have experienced with the outdated EDGE network that added analog modem data speeds to the GSM network.
AT&T has also pledged support for the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, which is due to be fully documented by the end of this year. Given the near-term investment in HSPA, it is unlikely that AT&T will throw that away and crank up LTE services quickly. The HSPA evolutionary path can enable LTE speeds in a similar amount of spectrum over the coming years.
By Jeff Orr
ORR Technology, LLC
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