T-Mobile first to blanket UK in HSUPA
by Chris Ziegler 
posted Jul 3rd 2008 at 10:06PM
What's the first network to claim a true, full HSPA across all of the United Kingdom? Vodafone? Orange? 3? Nope -- try T-Mobile, which has just flipped the switch on its HSUPA upgrades nationwide to bring upload speeds to a blazing 1.4Mbps (theoretically, anyway). The figured they'd commemorate the occasion by giving download speeds a little boost, too, so those are now up to 7.2Mbps, making Great Britain an absolutely fabulous place to do a little mobile computing right now. Oh, and hey, T-Mobile USA, you could seriously learn a lesson or two from your counterparts across the Atlantic here.[Via Tech Digest]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alex @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:59PM
Hey, that's great, now if only T-Mobile USA could do the same...
PSM @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:44PM
At first glance I read it wrong and thought it said US instead of UK. I was like "whhhhaaaaaattt???" I knew that was just too crazy to be true.
Firtch @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:47PM
It's probably a bit easier than the US rollout
1) Smaller country
2) Established hardware on the 2100MHz band and most popular protocol for 3G
Jamar @ Jul 4th 2008 12:21PM
Just 'cause it's smaller doesn't mean it's easier. Or am I overestimating the difficulty of fully rolling out HSUPA in the Scottish Highlands? I always thought that was all mountains; fully blanketing that must be quite a challenge.
derX @ Jul 4th 2008 11:31PM
Umm, yeah, the size difference is substantial making it a hell of a lot simpler. Superimpose a map of the UK on top of a map of the US and you'll see the difference. The US has rugged terrain, as well; I'm not really getting your point.
Amongst other reasons (and there are several), the size of the US has limited its technological cellular advances.
Jamar @ Jul 6th 2008 10:45PM
The difference is that apparently T-Mobile UK has successfully covered this rugged area in 3.5G when the American equivalent is (as far as I know) still on 2G, maybe even analog.
RC @ Jul 4th 2008 12:00AM
By the time T-Mo puts HSUPA on this side of the pond, we'll be oohing and aahing at LTE's successor.
mingkee @ Jul 4th 2008 12:35AM
put Robert Dotson down, and it will be
Joseph Singer @ Jul 4th 2008 11:49AM
If you're counting on T-Mobile USA to be in the forefront of what's going on with 3G, 4G or whatever comes down the pike you're going to be sorely disappointed. T-Mobile has thus far shown themselves to be basically the "value" carrier. They don't have as much as the big boys Verizon or AT&T, but then again they didn't have the 13 year head start that those "cellular" carriers had either. T-Mobile will always be at a disadvantage being limited to PCS 1900. The only possible way that T-Mobile could leap to the front is if they bought either AT&T or Verizon. The likelihood of that happening is practically nil. This is part of the same reason why T-Mobile's selection of phones is so dismal as well.
Colin Birkett @ Jul 4th 2008 12:12PM
the current network maximums expected should be connection speeds in the region of 4.5Mbp/s.