The Cell Phone Junkie

AT&T recently has started calling its standard HSPA network running at 14.4Mbps “4G” in its latest batch of marketing materials.  Now, until now, “4G” was a term that was reserved for LTE, WiMAX and HSPA+ networks, like that of T-Mobile’s new 21 Mbps one.  Though, with the release of the HP Veer 4G, HTC Inspire 4G, and Motorola Atrix 4G, the term has started to find its way down to devices that max out at HSPA at 14.4 Mbps.

In the case of the Veer, the spec sheet shows the phone using Category 10 HSDPA and Category 6 HSUPA, offering peak throughputs of 14.4 Mbps down and 5.76 Mbps up.  And while these speeds are fast, the 3GPP classifies 21Mbps as the minimum downlink speed for HSPA+ networks.  Though, looking at the Veer’s press release, a disclaimer reads “4G speeds delivered by HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul.”

So this means is that AT&T does have the Veer connecting through the HSPA+ network (where available), though it will not be at the same higher speeds.

On other interesting note, the Verizon iPhone and iPad are already running a Qualcomm Gobi chip that includes the HSPA component at 14.4 Mbps.  Were they to activate this part, these devices would meet the “4G” classification according to AT&T.

Source: This is my next