Well somehow this skipped our radar yesterday but apparently T-Mobile laid out “aggressive” plans to deploy 7.2 Mbps HSPA through all 3G spectrum by year’s end. Even more noteworthy is T-Mobile’s continued discussion regarding an HSPA+ rollout in 2010 that would be a “fairly broad scale” rollout. T-Mobile continued to emphasize 3G coverage will expand to 200 million pops before the end of 2009 with 240 cities currently covered. This contrasts to the AT&T and Verizon plans to launch LTE in the coming 2010-2011 timeframe which allows for a competitive environment as the initial LTE launches will compete with HSPA+ for speed. T-Mobile is apparently emphasizing that it will not have to pour “tens of billions of dollars behind to achieve” these speeds and can do so with a relatively easy upgrade to HSPA+. Still, we know T-Mobile has plans for 4G but the HSPA+ speeds give them some leeway in rolling that out. Customers will see other carriers progressing with technology still, hear that “4G” phrase and assume other companies have better, faster service. It’ll be up to T-Mobile to disprove that.
Combined with this announcement was the release of the T-Mobile JET, the second USB broadband modem in the magenta arsenal. For customers still looking to hop on that contract bandwagon this little goody will cost you zero, zilch to pickup and $49.99 to run monthly. Want to run sans contract, $150 dollars will net you the Jet with that promotional $49.99 offering running through mid-January.
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That's just freaking awesome, it would be neat to see how long it took AT&T to deploy their 3G network or even their new LTE network upgrades. I think tmobile has been moving at a pretty good pace so far.
I could not agree with you more if i tried oh wait i can i agree
Already getting 7.2 here in SoCal. Its actually pretty fast, most pages load in under a second.
This is great & all but most areas near me are still GPRS let alone EDGE even so when are we going to feel the love? I've asked TMo CS reps quite a few times about all the dead zones we got since the roaming agreement with ATT was not renewed so we can have ANY service at all & am always told there are no service updates scheduled for our area any time soon, likely not even 2010.. I've actually had reps tell me to switch back to ATT if I want service.. ;(
You know how you can tell a T-Mobile spokesperson is lying? His lips are moving. They don't even have 3G in some of the largest US Cities (am I right, Cincinnati?). I don't believe a word I hear from them anymore.
NO 3G in Cincinnati is pissing me off!
Now I need a big screen Android device and I'll be all set!
That’s right why not put the iphone in it’s place once and for all with the hd2 for ANDROID! !
Sigh. It's T-Mobile on EDGE while everyone else is rolling out 3G all over again. I think they're making a mistake in the long term.
The EDGE t-mobile is speaking of will allow them speeds up to 21Mbps. Just and FYI.
How about you give us more coverage first…
How about you give us more coverage first…
more empty promise of a better tomorrow
T-Mobile, I love you thanks for all you do even if the “HATERS” don't always! ; D
I agree, that will be Nice when it finally happens.
Wow…bad business for T-Mobile for sure. Unbelievable!!!
This is not even close to being the same. Edge speeds aren't meant for today handsets…or even handsets of 2 years ago. 3G offers speeds that should satisfy handsets for several years. 3G is currently set to have a max speed of 84 Mb/s. Even if handsets catch up to current computer systems, 84Mb/s will handle anything a handset could possibly want to do including video calling, tv streams, and online gaming. Also, the work T-Mobile has to do for HSPA+ is some of the same work they would have to do for LTE anyway such has getting fiber to each cell site. The difference is, with HSPA+, T-Mobile gets a return on the investment more quickly and actually offers faster speeds than the competitors can for a year or two.
Well i hope so because in my city, 3G on t-mobile is an utter disappointment. Its clocking 500-600kbps which is about a third of what AT&T clocks in.
man, that's awesome. I wonder when they're going to be upgrading around PHX.
I do not dispute that HSPA+ will be adequate in the relatively short term. My point was that eventually T-Mobile will be stretching an aging standard while other carriers have already migrated to the more cutting edge standard, which is very similar to the 3G catch-up T-Mobile played (and is still playing, one could argue). The problem comes when T-Mobile hits the HSPA+ ceiling and other carriers already possess the technology to increase their speeds. In order to keep up, T-Mobile will have to move to the newer standard, but the delay in implementing the newer standard will put them behind the carriers who have already gone that route. And it's not realistic to say that HSPA+ will be enough because the standard's theoretical maximum seems high by today's measurements. First of all, theoretical maximums rarely translate so neatly in practice. Second, data consumption continues to rise and will continue to do so. Perhaps not tomorrow but eventually, HSPA+ will not be fast enough. That's the critical point.
Great. Now how about just getting plain old 3g here in Louisville (16th largest U.S. city). Still on EDGE here!
30th
My thoughts exactly Ed. Its time they worked on getting 3G in the midwest.
Promises…Promises….Promises. It would be great news if we could depend on where it's coming from. We can always anticipate in the coming days, weeks or hours an announcement of a delay from T-Mobile. HSPA+ would indeed give T-Mobile a competitive edge but the lack of competitive devices takes the wind out of their sails.
This edge isn't going to be showcased in second or third rate devices (myT3G/Cliq/9700/BH2), they need more than those to make customer hang around or switch. I'm really hoping the lineup of phones for 2010 are a million times better than the weak showing of 2009. For argument sake I'm going to keep a tally of phones of all carriers next year to see how they differ. I'm really hoping T-Mobile will have improved by end of year.
Parts of Ann Arbor, MI have TMo 3G but go a couple miles in any direction & down to GPRS you go. A few miles further & you get patches of NO signal at all (they used to roam on AT&T). Granted you're “in the country” but come one you see towers all over & all the other carriers got signals. Sad really & TMobile should be ashamed. Still pisses me off they killed the roaming before they got their own coverage.
I’ve had great luck with the 3G service in A2. I will agree that I have pretty crappy GPRS in once you get north or south of town but that’s why I have a wifi router at home. So that I can get speeds I couldn’t normally get anyway, even if I was on 3G.
The biggest problem T-Mobile will have is still the same problem they always have. Marketing. HSPA/HSPA+ will serve them well for the next couple of years but they need to overcome the inpending hype of 4G. If they can take their marketing to the next level and bring in a real game changing phone then more people will see just how good T-Mobile really is.
Yeah there IS decent 3G IN Ann Arbor but heck just go to coverage map & enter 48105, click data (so it shows 3G) then zoom out once or twice. If they distinguished EDGE & GPRS 2/3 of the “EDGE/GPRS” area is actually GPRS. AT LEAST. And check out the dead zones! Yup I get to drive through those all the time and what stinks is they used to work by roaming on ATT until the agreement wasn’t renewed. Luckily TMobile has repeatedly comforted me that at least I can call 911 in those areas.
Yeah wifi helps if you are stationary but not much help on the road or away from wifi.
Yeah the hype of 4G could be ugly. I say TMobile should call their HSDPA+ 5G and leapfrom em. lol
Anyway, if I ask people I know why they don’t have TMobile 95% of the time it is bad coverage especially the dead zones. For most of the people I know phone selection is pretty low on their list but then again coverage is #1 with most people who live in the “sticks” vs a city area.
I should add that the map is pretty much a lie too. Or at least a huge exaggeration of the truth anyway since coverage is nowhere near what they show especially when there are leaves on the trees. In other words ‘fringe’ areas along the edges or ’spotty’ areas that show coverage pretty much have no coverage. Using a GPS there are TONS of spots where TMobile’s map shows coverage but any phone I try shows searching and same phone with ATT SIM shows many bars. I realize all the cell companies exaggerate the coverage so it’s not just TMobile. Anyway, yeah if you are along the expressway or in the City of Ann Arbor you get good coverage. Go more than a couple miles off the XWay & GPRS or no signal in many well populated areas where the other 3 carriers all have coverage.
One time on a trip I was driving through southern Alabama on my way to Florida. I have t-mobile, my girlfriend has AT&T, and her dad has Verizon. I was the only one with service for about 20 minutes in Alabama! Take that…lol
Just getting 3G up isn't going to be a simple task, they have to wait for the local agencies to remove themselves from their frequency, and towers/upgrades all depend on the local agency (have to get approval for a new tower, or from whoever owns the property where they want to build it).
Speeding up what they already have will be nothing but GOOD for everyone. They obviously are making the process snappy, but from what it seems there are roadblocks.
I can't wait for Seattle, WA to bump up to HSPA speeds soon.. A tmousa tech rep told me they should be doin work out here right now.. but his notes didn't tell him “what” kinda work
Are these guys on Crack ?? T-mobs 3g network is non-existent, except in the 5 mile radius around each tower and they only have like one 3g tower in each major city. Who cares about the speed when there is no coverage ??
“T-mobile continued to emphasize 3G coverage will expand to 200 million pops before the end of 2009 ” — Where are they getting this information ??? They are lucky if they have 20 million people covered.
Some of the users are still believing that Tmo has been slow to role out their 3g because of public use of airbands —- That is a completely untrue at this point in time. The bands have been free for almost 2 yrs now.
What are u talking about? Here in Atlanta tmo has a larger 3g footprint than at&t. Tmo covers about 90% of thw entire metro area while at&t covers about 75% of the Atlanta metro area. If u live in some rural town of course its going to take longer to get 3g, if u get it at all.
i believe that t-mobile should improve alot of spotty talk coverage while also improving data coverage
T-Mobile has no clue! I'm suppose to be in a 3G area, at least according to their coverage map. Yet I can't get a 3G signal 2.5 miles inside what their map says is the outer edge of the 3G signal. Their own corporate store which is 5 miles inside the outer edge can't demonstrate 3G because THEY CAN'T GET THE SIGNAL EITHER! I wish they'd fix their 3G coverage before adding speed to something I can't get. Maybe they need to send a tech out to make a phone call and ask “can you hear me now?”
Can you here me now, o how bout now. O wait let me accept to roaming on sprint first. What a crock o sh#t. Verizon has crap service in my area if ur not a left or right coaster their service aint all that. So tired of verizon fanfreaks, makes me puke, my area is almost total sprint or us cellular roam. Give tmo a chance as the. Dorks that are ur usa or local guvment won’t vacate the damn spectrum. When they do the germans (TMo) are coming and in time a whole lot of att, verizon, will be forced to suckit on hspa+ good luck with lte and the billions that will take. Cmon TMOB crush the f#cks under the weight of the + please and I’m not a fanboy just a realist, verizon where I live is 50% roaming, and their rate plans OMFG!! FUGETABOUTIT att and verizon will bleed u dry with those rates!!
'Cuz you're the expert, right??? There are still cities that can't turn up certain towers because the DOD, DHLD, and other Gov't agencies are still using the 1700MHz band for their microwave communications. All T-MO can do is request the users to abandon the band, but that takes time and money. Money some of those agencies may not have an abundance of to change bands on mwave equipment.
you are so right. it is a joke that they can't use 3g in thier own stores. i had the same experience. if i wasn't so cheap i would dump it. but im cheap.
thats good for T,
and take this new comment system down, this one sucks!
G1v2 comin soon
T-mobile stepping up to the plate, alright. though i will nag about this, they still need to incorporate UMA in their phones. Man would that sell phones. i know i know but still. Hey wouldn’t it be nice if they did give an option or somethin. i had a G1 as my first phone and loved it but had to get a blackberry non touchscreen phone when i found out i had no service near my area or in my home for that matter. been asking them service request multiple times. we shall see.
UMA is not big on 3G phones now because it is not supported. You can’t handover from 3G to UMA and back. So until that’s resolved they will not pay for the UMA handsets.
I am sure they know, but again I am sure it is much more complicated than what a user understands when it comes to how a phone “should” work.
Does anyone know when 3g is coming to cincinnati?
Phonescoop is reporting that TMO is saying 21Mbps by mid-2010. That would be terrific. Now if they can only get 3G to LOUISVILLE, that’s spelled LOOAVL.
How many 21Mbit phones can they support with a 1.544Mbit T1 connecting the tower back to TMo?
Oh wait, they are supposed to start bonding 3 T1’s so about 4.6Mbit (actually less because of overhead but here nor there at this point) to handle the traffic. Oh yeah sounds peachy. lol So essentially they’d need 14x more back end bandwidth than the typical Tmo cell tower has now to handle EACH person. And we wonder why TMo is so far behind. 
All talk and no action. Networks are going to 4G now and Tmobile hasn’t even taken care of full 3G deployment. I am so glad to have moved to AT&T and the iPhone. Sad to see Tmobile where I was for 6 years gone to a glorified MetroPCS.
What good is a 4G network going to do when there aren’t phone mfg even making an LTE phone? They have the network but no one will be using it. That’s a good place to pour money!
How many 21 mbps capable phones are available now? Oh, right…
denver 3g is spotty. the maps are not entirely accurate. in the foothills you lose connectivity as you go from 3g to edge to nothing and back. finally saw 3g actually come on @ my house after a year with edge on the g1. clocks @ 333k… not too hot. I can wifi @ 3mb. I’ll take whatever they upgrade as soon as they can. oh yeah, was in omaha a month ago. nuttin but str8 g out there. painful. sounds like they better get places like there & cincy taken care of before they even roll out upgrades here. just sayin. maybe by when they do, i’cn afford an N900.
Without exposing more than I know and more than I should.
If T-Mo plans on ultimately achieving a goal X, it must first prepare by going to steps V, W.
If V = 3G then W=7.2 and X=HSPA+
What I am trying to say is that they are upgrading their network to prepare for HSPA+, which requires upgrading to 7.2 What does 7.2 mean? It means that it can perform UP TO 7.2mbps. In order to achieve 7.2mbps then we must have the bandwidth necessary to achieve this correct?
A typical T1 has a bandwidth max throughput of 1.5mbps. Suppose you are T-Mo for a minute. Would you go ahead and order the required T1s to support 7.2mbps? (5 T1s are needed) just to offer 7.2? I ensure you that T1s are added as usage requires it.
So, back to X. T-Mo has to upgrade their network to an IP based network. (something ATT can’t do as simply) As networks are upgraded to an IP network then you’ll start to see 7.2mbps. At this point, they’d be paying per mb and not per T1 and it would make sense to offer the advertised speeds… leading us to HSPA+ and 21mbps or more.
I assure you, T-Mo is looking in the right direction. 3G is not everywhere but they are working to get it everywhere they can and everywhere it makes sense. 3G deployment is based on return, not on newsgroup comments. If they have money to make they go there first… do you blame them? However, overall, they are doing things right. As spectrum is cleared out, you are seeing cities turn up.
This is sooo laughable! I live in one of the major cities that had Tmo 3g first. I drive all over the city and I average about 170-250 kbits! YES BITS…on a Blackberry 9700 with 3g. Tmo isn’t even NEAR 1.5mbs! (a base speed) I get basically double the speed of Edge on Tmo 3g. All this talk about 3-5 megabytes! is ridiculous! I’m getting hundreds of bits and they haven’t even reached ONE megabyte in my 3G city!
Their 3G is vastly slower than verizon, Sprint and even over worked AT&T 3G. Tmo’s here is always double the speed of edge! (that is IT). The other three companies all test near the 1000 (regularly) and I get 170 to 250 on tmo.
TOTALLY AGREE !!!!!
SO MUCH FOR SPENDING $400 for a cliq in anticipation of HSPA 7.2 !!!!
TOTAL BS … Dismal EDGE most of the time .. some very rare “3g” at 600 Kbps in my 3g city !
T mobile has great coverage in ca and I rarely ever loose a signal in l.a. or orange county….aslo it has got hella faster lately….I think the system is up and running in so cal
Never crosses 650 Kbps (thats bits, not bytes) in so.cal.
so much for HSPA by Christmas .. Bah, Humbug !