In a recent press release from T-Mobile and Nokia Siemens, it has been announced that T-Mobile’s “4G” HSPA+ network will have its speed cap raised in the future. While their competitors have been riding on the LTE/WiMAX 4G connections, T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network (which is basically an improved version of 3G) will be able to reach speeds of 650Mbps. If you take into a account that current LTE speeds max out at 300Mbps to 400Mbps, with speeds as high as 650Mbps you wonder why other carriers are even bothered with more “advanced” networks. And when you factor in the backwards compatibility of HSPA+ (it can work with 3G phones of the past) it looks like we have a winner on our hands. But don’t expect T-Mobile’s networks to be upgraded anytime soon, 2013 has been the targeted date for commercial deployment. How fast do mobile phone data speeds need to be before consumers are satisfied?
