Telstra boasts it's got the first live HSPA+ Dual Carrier network

It may not be the fastest live HSPA network today, but Telstra -- a carrier with a history of world's firsts -- is touting that it's now the first operator on the face planet to flip the switch on HSPA+ Dual Carrier, the very same tech that Ericsson has been demoing recently. That means that customers will be able to expect about double the peak 3G speeds they get today (so Telstra claims) once they latch onto Sierra Wireless' new modem, expected to be available "later this year." The fun doesn't end there, though: Telstra says this is just the first stop on a wild ride up to 84Mbps once MIMO is added into the mix with expected commercial availability in 2011, cutting deeply into the territory enjoyed by first-gen LTE networks. Any chance we could have the modem in something besides Smurf Blue? No worries if not, Sierra; just figured we'd ask.

[dannyboi79 Posted Feb 22nd 2010 12:58AM]

I don't think first generation LTE networks will be even remotely close to offering similar speeds.

Even Verizon Wireless expects LTE average download speeds near 8 Mbps assuming they have enough backhaul in place.

HSPA + operators have an opportunity to really shine this year if they quickly implement the service with the proper backhaul in place.

I don't care if it's called 4G or 3G. Whatever works fastest and most reliable in my area is what I will gravitate too.

I believe T-Mobile US will have HSPA + in my area of coastal Cali this year.

[Peter F Posted Feb 22nd 2010 1:31AM]

@dannyboi79
Does this improve latency though? 2G to 3G had a HUGE improvement in latency, from about 2 seconds to 200 milliseconds. I think LTE is supposed to cut that down even more.

[zephxiii Posted Feb 22nd 2010 8:54AM]

@Peter F HSPA+ plus does indeed make a big improvement in latency in comparison to regular HSPA.

[JKL Posted Feb 22nd 2010 2:00PM]

Sprint should have scrapped their NEXTEL network and converted it to a similar WCDMA 3.5G network. Such a new network would have allowed sprint to compete directly with AT&T and given them access to a range of awesome international handsets.

Now they are stuck with a dying CDMA network, an iDen network and a 4G network that barely covers more than a handful of cities, yet delivers speeds that are nowhere near this 3.5G network.

Hopefully T-Mobile will covert their network to similar speeds. Won't even bother mentioning at&t as they are useless with these things. While Telstra has covered vast amounts of Australia with this network, at&t cannot even properly roll out 7.2mb in a city.