GWJamaica

I hope my signal don’t drop, can you hear me now? Good.

AT&T today announced a software upgrade at 3G cell sites for faster speeds, but should they be thinking about speed or coverage? AT&T’s deployment of the HSPA(High-Speed Packet Access) 7.2 technology is the first of multiple initiatives to provide customers with the best possible mobile broadband experience, and again “coverage”. This software upgrade also prepares the network for faster speeds and increases network efficiency. How much time must it be said; RAISE THE DAMN BARS.

AT&T is in the midst of this second initiative to dramatically increase the number of high-speed backhaul connections to cell sites, primarily with fiber-optic connections, adding capacity from cell sites to the AT&T backbone network. The combination of HSPA 7.2 technology and enhanced backhaul will support theoretical peak maximum speeds of 7.2 megabits per second, though as with any mobile broadband network, actual speeds will be lower than the theoretical maximum and will vary due to a number of factors.

In addition to the HSPA 7.2 software, initial deployment of backhaul is already underway in the six U.S. cities announced in 2009 as initial HSPA 7.2 markets – Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami, with capabilities being turned up on a site-by-site basis beginning last month. Further backhaul deployment will continue in these markets and begin in additional markets across the nation. We anticipate that the majority of our mobile data traffic will be carried over the expanded fiber-based, HSPA 7.2-capable backhaul by the end of this year, with deployment continuing to expand in 2011.

These efforts have resulted in AT&T continuing to deliver the nation’s fastest 3G network, and in delivering 3G national call retainability of 98.92 percent, meaning that only 1.08 percent of calls are dropped nationwide, based on 3G-specific, internal data.