O2 UK reportedly rolling out DC-HSPA in 'major cities'

British mobile operator O2 has begun rolling out a new, faster mobile network standard across major British cities, according to reports. Crave? is reporting that O2 has started switching on DC-HSPA. The "DC" part stands for dual cell, and this new standard doubles the bandwidth available over traditional HSPA+, enabling maximum theoretical download speeds of up to 42Mbps. For the less technically minded, it just means faster 3G data, assuming your phone's hardware supports it.

And that's the big sticking point at this stage. Right now there are only three leading devices that support DC-HSPA -- the HTC One X, the new iPad and the Nokia Lumia 900. In any case, if you're rocking a One X on O2 in a major British city (no word on which ones), then you'll likely be treated to faster data speeds from now on.

Rival UK networks are looking to roll out DC-HSPA later this year, ahead of the expected UK LTE switch-on in 2013 and beyond. Three says it'll start upgrading its network with the new standard "this summer," while T-Mobile and Orange (under the "Everything Everywhere" banner) are reportedly aiming for the end of the year. Vodafone tells ?Crave it already uses DC-HSPA on its network, albeit at slower speeds of up to 28Mbps.

Source: Crave

T-Mobile Says AT&T Phones Will Be Compatible With 4G Network By Year’s End, 42Mbps HSPA+ Comes To More Cities

Looks like T-Mobile could be using that $4 billion they acquired from AT&T to do more than just roll out a super high-speed LTE network. As it turns out, ‘ol Magenta will also be freeing up a vital part of their spectrum that could finally allow for AT&T customers — no longer on contract — to make the easy transition over to T-Mobile with their current AT&T device.

T-Mobile’s CTO Neville Ray spoke during a dinner event for CTIA saying the company plans to convert a good enough portion of its 1900MHz (2G) spectrum to 4G (although, technically 3G HSPA+), followed by an aggressive campaign to woo AT&T customers who have fulfilled their contract obligations. Normally, because of the way T-Mobile’s network is built, AT&T devices can only take advantage of their 2G “Edge” network. Once we hit the later part of this year, it looks like all of that could change. When asked if the upgraded 2G network had more to do with the absent iPhone on their network, Ray played coy.

This means, if you’ve been eyeballing that AT&T HTC One X — or just about any overseas device — come later this year, they’re all fair game. That is, if you’re willing to pay full retail for the device.

It was also announced that T-Mobile would be going with Ericsson and Nokia Simens Networks’ “Release 10? hardware to help roll out their LTE network later this year and into 2013. When it comes to this year, T-Mobile will continue pushing out their blazing fast HSPA+ 42 network to new markets, which starting today include Little Rock AR, Lake Charles LA and Springfield, MO.

[AllThingsD | Engadget]