T-Mobile USA is moving full steam ahead with its HSPA+ deployment. According to the blog BoyGeniusReport, the carrier is set to launch 19 more HSPA+ markets July 21, bringing its total HSPA+ footprint to 44 markets. The new markets include Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas; Baltimore, Md. and Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore., Kansas City, Mo., Birmingham, Ala.; Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Honolulu, Hawaii.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Louisville, Tenn.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; and Wichita, Kan.
T-Mobile also is expected to release a new WebConnect Rocket USB data stick and a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook. However, the netbook won't have built-in 3G connectivity so users will have to purchase the WebConnect data stick to get wireless connectivity.
A T-Mobile spokeswoman declined to comment.
T-Mobile plans to cover 100 major metropolitan areas--185 million people--with HSPA+ by year-end. The company reportedly is also getting ready to launch an HSPA+ Android-based smartphone from HTC in September. The device likely will be the first HSPA+ smartphone offered by the operator, and likely will be the first HSPA+ handset sold anywhere in the world.
In an interview last month with FierceWireless Mark McDiarmid, director of engineering and operations at T-Mobile USA, said the carrier's existing 15 HSPA devices will benefit from the HSPA+ upgrade even though they are not HSPA+ devices because these devices will be able to take advantage of faster backhaul speeds. The company has upgraded its backhaul in select markets using a combination of copper, fiber and some microwave backhaul. McDiarmid added that T-Mobile's core network has an all-IP infrastructure that lets the firm efficiently scale capacity. "Some of our competitors are still working with ATM and TDM and those technologies don't scale well," he added.
For more:
- see this BGR post
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