Wednesday, May 27, 2009

So long, HSPA+: AT&T "likely" moving straight from 7.2Mbps to LTE

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/27/so-long-hspa-atandt-likely-moving-straight-from-7-2mbps-to-lt/

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.

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So long, HSPA+: AT&T "likely" moving straight from 7.2Mbps to LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 May 2009 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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