AT&T has completed the software upgrade that prepares 3G cell sites across the nation for the 7.2 HSPA upgrade. The 3G speed bump will come as an enhanced cell site backhaul is deployed over the course of 2010 and 2011.
After full testing of HSPA 7.2 software, AT&T decided to expedite deployment of this initial upgrade, which will result in a better overall customer experience by generally improving consistency in accessing data sessions. The software upgrade also prepares the network for faster speeds and increases network efficiency.
The backhaul process has already begun in the initial test markets of Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami, and AT&T expects to have the majority of their 3G data traffic running on the 7.2 network by the end of the year. [PRNewswire]