Bellevue, Wash. — T-Mobile commercially launched third-generation wireless service for the first time in the United States, bringing W-CDMA/HSDPA service to the New York City area today with plans to roll out other major markets throughout the year.
The company already offers W-CDMA phones in the New York area and said it plans in the coming months to offer its first high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) devices, which further accelerate data speeds. Also planned are the carrier’s first “data-centric all-in-one” devices, which it didn’t define.
With the launch, T-Mobile becomes the last of the major U.S. carriers to launch a high-speed data service, joining AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless.
T-Mobile is rolling out its third-generation service in the 1.7/2.1GHz Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum, “effectively doubling [its] spectrum position” compared to its capacity-constrained 1.9GHz network, which offers low-speed GSM/GPRS/EDGE service, T-Mobile said.
T-Mobile provided few additional details. It would not say how it is promoting the service to consumers, the cost of 3G data plans, how many W-CDMA phones are available in its selection, or the speeds available to its W-CDMA phones and later to its HSDPA phones.
