AT&T Finishes Greasing Up Its 3G Network

Making its already snappy 3G data access even quicker, AT&T will soon finish deploying HSUPA technology, which allows upload speeds of up to 800 Kbps, in all of its more than 275 U.S. 3G markets.

After dumping more than $20 billion into upgrading its networks over the last three years, AT&T’s roll out of High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technology to its entire 3G network is almost complete. Once finished, users of 3G phones in every one of AT&T’s more than 275 3G-equipped  markets will be able to hit upload speeds between 500 and 800 Kbps.

Only six existing markets still need to be upgraded with HSUPA, and AT&T says all of its new markets will come with the technology as well. That’s significant news, considering the company plans to hit 350 3G markets by the year’s end.

“The ability to quickly upload large files from a laptop is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity," said Kris Rinne, senior vice president of Architecture and Planning for AT&T’s wireless operations, in a statement. "By fully deploying HSUPA across our 3G footprint, we not only meet the current needs of our customers but also lay the path for our continued evolution to even faster wireless broadband capabilities.”

The enhanced upload speeds complete the 3G download capabilities already available on every network, which allow download speeds up to 1.4 Mbps.