T-MOBILE YEARS AWAY FROM LTE

T-Mobile is sticking with HSPA+ for the long haul, Bloombergreports — or at least for another few years. While major competitors build out LTE and WiMAX 4G networks, T-Mobile will continue to focus on its HSPA+ 4G network. T-Mobile has already stated that it intends to double the theoretical limit on the download side of its HSPA+ network from 21Mbps to 42Mbps in 2011. That speed increase and possible subsequent improvements to the carrier’s HSPA+ gear will have to suffice for “a few years” according to T-Mobile executives.

T-Mobile’s data network does not yet have to deal with the congestion seen on other networks, so high-speed HSPA+ is more than sufficient for the carrier at the moment. Other more congested networks have a more urgent need to deploy LTE and WiMAX, which can accommodate a greater number of simultaneous data connections with less of an impact on performance.