The Big Apple gets the first taste of T-Mobile's new HSDPA voice and data services. But are there phones available?
T-Mobile has finally announced the activation of their long-anticipated 3G network service. The carrier had been working to move older broadcasters from the so-called AWS network on the 1700 and 2100 radio bands, and the time has finally come, at least for users in New York City. T-Mobile currently sells a few phones that will work with the new network, using the bands for slower UMTS data (though UMTS is still faster than the existing EDGE network), but the carrier says that HSDPA devices will be available in the months ahead.
T-Mobile has already made public its plans to rollout the network in more cities by the end of the year, starting with those that are already packed with customers using their data services. Currently, T-Mobile only offers EDGE networking for data, which is much slower than the new HSDPA network, but acceptable for e-mail and very light browsing. The new network should open up new possibilities for T-Mobile's multimedia devices, in addition to updated business smartphones.
The Sidekick family would be the most obvious choice for a quick network upgrade, but a lot of dominoes have to line up for a good 3G Sidekick launch. First of all, the company behind the device's design and interface, Danger, was recently purchased by Microsoft. Second, the Sidekick's main selling point, and the selling point of the company itself, has always been the cool services available on the Sidekick device. T-Mobile has opened up it's 3G network, and that will be instantly useful for business customers, but Sidekick users, and customers interested in multimedia phones, are going to expect the sort of built-in services that T-Mobile has yet to offer, like a music store or mobile video services.
Of course, if T-Mobile seems like a latecomer to the 3G party, that's definitely the case, but not the whole story. Sprint and Verizon Wireless have established 3G networks with services behind them, and both of those carriers are already looking into new network ideas. Sprint's WiMAX 4G network seems to have stumbled recently, though, while Verizon's Mobile TV service is slowly catching on. AT&T offers a competing HSDPA network, but in our own experience, coverage has been far from contiguous.
There is still quite a bit of room for growth left in HSDPA technology, and many services yet to be offered and exploited. We're glad to see T-Mobile finally flip the switch on a new, competitor technology, and hope that their upcoming handset line will reflect their ambition.
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