The "Tech Blogs" of the San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate web site:

<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=51761>

yesterday state:

" [...]
" AT&T said it's making strides in building up its 3G coverage and
" performance by upgrading more than 800 cell cites and deploying
" more 850 MHz spectrum for 3G use. AT&T said it has spent $65
" million locally this year and has doubled network capacity in the
" last 45 days.  [Note: local = SF Bay Area]
"
" The upshot is: more coverage, better 3G performance and more
" in-building penetration, precisely the stuff AT&T users have been
" asking for.
" [...]
" The company plans to begin rolling out HSPA 7.2 by the end of
" next year, (next year for the Bay Area) which will double 3G
" speeds. And it's got LTE coming perhaps next year and into 2011.
"
" "We know there are still challenges and we will continue in invest
" in more network upgrades," said AT&T spokesman John Britton.

So, what happens when HSPA 7.2 and LTE are rolled-out? Do those of
us with 3G GSM phones end up with non-functioning devices and are
forced to buy new phone instruments?

Unless I'm going blind, I don't see new cellular phone instruments
with the features and no junk that are equivalent to my 5-year-old
Motorola RAZR V3. I don't play games on the phone and I don't text.

Are those of us with similar "basic" but high-quality requirements
(no $30 phones in this household) requirements going to be left out
in the cold with our SIM cards rolling in the dust along with the
tumbleweeds?

And, note, I'm not a Luddite. :-)

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:10:40 -0500, Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> wrote:

> The "Tech Blogs" of the San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate web site:
>
>
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=5176
1>
>
> yesterday state:
>
> " [...]
> " AT&T said it's making strides in building up its 3G coverage and
> " performance by upgrading more than 800 cell cites and deploying
> " more 850 MHz spectrum for 3G use. AT&T said it has spent $65
> " million locally this year and has doubled network capacity in the
> " last 45 days.  [Note: local = SF Bay Area]
> "
> " The upshot is: more coverage, better 3G performance and more
> " in-building penetration, precisely the stuff AT&T users have been
> " asking for.
> " [...]
> " The company plans to begin rolling out HSPA 7.2 by the end of
> " next year, (next year for the Bay Area) which will double 3G
> " speeds. And it's got LTE coming perhaps next year and into 2011.
> "
> " "We know there are still challenges and we will continue in invest
> " in more network upgrades," said AT&T spokesman John Britton.
>
> So, what happens when HSPA 7.2 and LTE are rolled-out? Do those of
> us with 3G GSM phones end up with non-functioning devices and are
> forced to buy new phone instruments?

Dunno: in Poland, with Orange (PL) anyway, HSPA 7.2 falls gracefully
back to as slow as GPRS, through some retraining-like mechanism: so
everything in the GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA spectrum can be accomodated.

I've no idea what the unlightened US providers will do, though.

> Unless I'm going blind, I don't see new cellular phone instruments
> with the features and no junk that are equivalent to my 5-year-old
> Motorola RAZR V3. I don't play games on the phone and I don't text.
>
> Are those of us with similar "basic" but high-quality requirements
> (no $30 phones in this household) requirements going to be left out
> in the cold with our SIM cards rolling in the dust along with the
> tumbleweeds?

That's certainly what happened to T-Mobile customers with CSD WAP service
on their handsets (but no GPRS) when T-Mobile pulled the plug on CSD data
some years back: those handsets, sold on their WAP browsers' merits, just
became dumb voice/SMS phones for all practical purposes. And I'm stuck w/
three of them -- two ancient Moto TimePort P-7389s and a less old P-280.

> And, note, I'm not a Luddite. :-)

Now *that*, Floryan, I've know for *decades* :-) .

Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP