AT&T customers in the Bay Area are finally being treated to a 3G network upgrade.
AT&T says it has invested nearly $65 million from 2008 through the third quarter of 2009 to complete a “substantial upgrade of its local 3G wireless network in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.” The upgrade includes additional spectrum in the 850 MHz band, which generally delivers better in-building coverage.
Perhaps key to the announcement is the improvements should also increase network capacity, which should support the ever-growing demand for 3G mobile broadband service. San Francisco is known for its high number of iPhone users.
AT&T said this is just the beginning of its plans to further upgrade its 3G network nationwide with HSPA 7.2 technology. Additional upgrades are planned to begin in the fourth quarter, with completion expected in 2011. In the San Francisco Bay Area, AT&T plans to roll out HSPA 7.2 in 2010.
The 850 MHz spectrum supplements by AT&T in Atlanta and the Denver/Boulder area also have been well received. In August, TechCrunch reported what might have been best described as “test upgrades” by AT&T in San Francisco’s SOMA district, which the blog reported resulted in dramatic improvements for iPhone users in that area.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
