When it comes to discussing 4G there is a LOT of mud slinging back and forth about what is and what isn’t, so after announcing they were going to greatly increase the effective speed of their HSPA+ network, T-Mobile showed us some personal results of testing they’ve done between HSPA+, Verizon-based LTE, and Clearwire:
But they didn’t just want you to take their word for it… so they did a live speed test demo for all to see:
The actual test only achieved levels of about 28, with the 42 being a theoretical number, but still pretty darn good. When asked how you go from 21 to 42, it was explained that most of the work was done on the software and scaling side. They also reiterated that 3G HSPA and 4G HSPA+ were backwards compatible.
The pertinent parts of their press release:
The company vowed to aggressively expand and evolve its 4G smartphone portfolio, launching additional devices capable of delivering peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps in the first half of 2011, and smartphones capable of delivering peak download speeds of up to 42 Mbps in the second half of the year.
The cutting-edge download speed was demonstrated today by company representatives using a T-Mobile laptop stick developed by ZTE, capable of delivering peak download speeds of up to 42 Mbps and slated to launch in the first half of 2011. By doubling the speed of its 4G network, T-Mobile will offer its customers an unprecedented wireless experience, fueled by improved performance in the use of rich media applications, including creating and sharing mobile content, streaming video, and participating in multi-player gaming and videoconferencing.
So what’s your opinion on the 4G Speed War in the USA?