iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| Show me the backbone Let's see...
In order to get HSDPA 3.6 service on a tower (and it actually be any faster than 1.8, or UMTS for that matter if people are gonna use it any) AT&T has to put multiple T1's to the tower.
For HSDPA 7.2 they have to get...hmm...four or five T1's and that's cutting it close.
Sure they could, as stated above, conect their cell sites to the U-Verse backhaul, but guess what? They have wireless networks in Qwest and Verizon territory, where there's no U-Verse to backhaul to. Plus, the minute you get out of DSL range you're back to using T-1's, T-3's, OC-3's, Ethernet or microwave, no matter where you are.
At twenty megabits on the user side (does anyone know what they claim for the current HSDPA 3.6? Just asking because it's slower than EvDO as far as I've seen) they'd need some decent fiber runs or maybe a T3 to the towers. or microwave. They can't just flip a switch to turn on extra backhaul. LTE deployments will require OC3's to whatever towers they're on.
The point is that the higher they jack up speeds, the more pathetic coverage will be. From what I've seen so far their 3G service is limited to large urban areas, while EvDO, since it has a lower speed expectation (and thus, though begrudgingly by consumers, can be run on a single-T1 site) is much closer to "everywehre". Sprint can compare EvDO to AT&T's EDGE because, guess what, they have about the same coverage footprint, when you take roaming into account on the carriers.
I'm not even worried about the fact that their 2009 offerings are significantly bigger than what they're giving you on DSL right now...they'll bond if they have to in order to get those speeds up. But I seriously doubt that their 20 Mbit wireless footprint will reach beyond DSL-covered areas. I even doubt that it'll be 20 Mbits except under near-ideal conditions (five bars of signal). Especially since, at least when looking at Wikipedia, the maximum spec for HSDPA downloads is 14.4 Mbit. Also, what are uploads gonna be? 384k? Geesh...
AT&T should definitely finish rolling out "bleeding EDGE" everywhere first, then overlay with HSDPA 3.6, then start the arms race against higher-speed competition, if there is any at that point. Betcha they'll have LTE out before I see AT&T 3G here (former Dobson CellOne market) though I can get EvDO Rev. A from two carriers. One of them caps usage, so I don't use them. Read: if AT&T caps usage on their 20 Mbit network to 5 GB per month, that's not enough for me, and T1-powered EvDO wherever I am with no cap is enough. |
