AT&T to Raise 3G Network Speeds to 20 Megabits/Second by 2009

On Wednesday, AT&T mobility chief Ralph de la Vaga, speaking at Morgan Stanley's annual Communications Conference, stated that the wireless carrier plans to boost the speed of its 3G wireless network to speeds of 20 megabits per second by 2009. The executive cited that engineers already have a version of its HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) 3G network up and running in the labs at speeds of 7.2 megabits per second, or approximately double the theoretical throughput of its existing network.

AT&T representatives have stated that the company plans to transition to HSPA release 7 sometime in 2009, thereby delivering speeds "exceeding 20 megabits per second." De la Vega commented that the upgrade will require few, if any, modifications to the company's infrastructure and will be a smooth transition largely focused on software upgrades.

De la Vega also said that his firm has "a clear and logical path" to 700 MHz 4G access via the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard in the 2010 timeframe. The upgrade should offer speed boosts to nearly 100 megabits per second.

"[The] steps to get there are very logical and they're all building on the same GSM technology that we've been using for a while," he explained. "LTE will allow for backwards compatibility to GSM and HSPA, which is a great benefit to customers. And our path forward to LTE allows us to get there step-by-step, with interim steps that will deliver more and more speeds everyday."

[Via AppleInsider]