Report: AT&T may be capping Motorola Atrix, HTC Inspire upload speeds

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) may be capping the data upload speeds of its newer HSPA+ smartphones, according to tests conducted by PC Magazine.

The issue has been discussed in online Android forums, with users--particularly those of the Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) Atrix 4G--complaining that their uplink speeds on AT&T's HSUPA network have been capped at roughly 300 Kbps. The network can support uplink speeds of up to 1 Mbps, according to past tests conducted by PC Magazine using AT&T USB modems.

The publication conducted six tests using Ookla's SpeedTest app, and connected an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4, a Motorola Atrix and an HTC Inspire 4G to the same server. The tests showed that the iPhone had consistently higher data upload speeds and that uploads speeds for the Atrix and Inspire did not crack 300 Kbps.

AT&T said in a statement that it has "a number of HSUPA devices today and we will have more HSUPA-enabled devices in the future--new devices and updates to existing models." An AT&T spokeswoman confirmed that the USB modems PC Magazine tested are HSUPA-enabled but did not confirm that the devices were HSUPA enabled.  She added that the data included in the PC Magazine article did not seem correct based on other testing the carrier has seen.

This is not the first time AT&T has faced questions about HSUPA speeds on its network. In July the carrier issued a patch to fix an Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ:ALU) software bug that affected some users' data upload speeds. The problem, which slowed some users' data uplink speeds to around 100 Kbps, only affected HSUPA service and only in markets served by Alcatel-Lucent equipment.

For more:
- see this PC Magazine article
- see this Android Community post

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AT&T: Alca-Lu software bug affected uplink speeds