Compatibility of 3G GSM with HSPA 7.2 and LTE service [Telecom]

The "Tech Blogs" of the San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate web site:

yesterday state:

" [...] " AT&T said it's making strides in building up its 3G coverage and " performance by upgrading more than 800 cell cites and deploying " more 850 MHz spectrum for 3G use. AT&T said it has spent $65 " million locally this year and has doubled network capacity in the " last 45 days. [Note: local = SF Bay Area] " " The upshot is: more coverage, better 3G performance and more " in-building penetration, precisely the stuff AT&T users have been " asking for. " [...] " The company plans to begin rolling out HSPA 7.2 by the end of " next year, (next year for the Bay Area) which will double 3G " speeds. And it's got LTE coming perhaps next year and into 2011. " " "We know there are still challenges and we will continue in invest " in more network upgrades," said AT&T spokesman John Britton.

So, what happens when HSPA 7.2 and LTE are rolled-out? Do those of us with 3G GSM phones end up with non-functioning devices and are forced to buy new phone instruments?

Unless I'm going blind, I don't see new cellular phone instruments with the features and no junk that are equivalent to my 5-year-old Motorola RAZR V3. I don't play games on the phone and I don't text.

Are those of us with similar "basic" but high-quality requirements (no $30 phones in this household) requirements going to be left out in the cold with our SIM cards rolling in the dust along with the tumbleweeds?

And, note, I'm not a Luddite. :-)

Reply to
Thad Floryan
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Dunno: in Poland, with Orange (PL) anyway, HSPA 7.2 falls gracefully back to as slow as GPRS, through some retraining-like mechanism: so everything in the GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA spectrum can be accomodated.

I've no idea what the unlightened US providers will do, though.

That's certainly what happened to T-Mobile customers with CSD WAP service on their handsets (but no GPRS) when T-Mobile pulled the plug on CSD data some years back: those handsets, sold on their WAP browsers' merits, just became dumb voice/SMS phones for all practical purposes. And I'm stuck w/ three of them -- two ancient Moto TimePort P-7389s and a less old P-280.

Now *that*, Floryan, I've know for *decades* :-) .

Cheers, -- tlvp

-- Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP

Reply to
tlvp

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