T-Mobile announces HSPA+ expansion

With all the talk lately of Verizon's LTE and Sprint's WiMax, T-Mobile wants to remind everyone that it's aggressively pushing HSPA+ and its up-to-21MBps speeds (theoretical, of course) to compete with Verizon and Sprints's offerings. It now says 85 million people are already blanketed in 50 areas, with 185 million in 100 areas to be covered before 2010 is out. The newest cities include:

Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Waco, Texas; Baltimore, Md.; Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La.; Birmingham, Ala.; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton, Ohio; Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville, Fla.; Greenville, S.C.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; and Wichita, Kan.

The just-released Samsung Vibrant was specifically named as one of "more than a dozen smartphones" to "benefit from enhanced speeds" when in HSPA+ coverage. In addition, TMO promises more information on their first fully HSPA+ capable phone "later this summer". T-Mobile also mentioned the launch of a new "webConnect Rocket 2.0" USB Laptop Stick with HSPA+ and a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook with webConnect.

Check out the full press release (minus the boring legal stuff) after the break.

"BELLEVUE, Wash.—July 21, 2010— Today, T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced the continued expansion of its super-fast mobile broadband network to more than 85 million Americans—the most pervasive network to offer 4G speeds1 in the country. T-Mobile® is on track to deliver HSPA+ speeds in 100 major metropolitan areas with backhaul in place, covering 185 million people in the U.S. by the end of this year. Now HSPA+ network service is available in nearly 50 major metropolitan areas across the country, with the newest additions including Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Waco, Texas; Baltimore, Md.; Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La.; Birmingham, Ala.; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton, Ohio; Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville, Fla.; Greenville, S.C.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; and Wichita, Kan. In addition, T-Mobile has expanded coverage in cities in previously announced metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. 4G speeds are now available for customers in Alexandria, McLean and Reston, Va.; Anaheim, Burbank, Glendale, Irvine, Long Beach, and Ontario, CA; Annapolis, Bethesda and Chevy Chase, Md.; and Asheville and Hickory, N.C.

In addition, 16 of T-Mobile’s current 3G devices, including more than a
dozen smartphones,2 can benefit from enhanced speeds when they’re on the
super-fast HSPA+ network in all of these major metropolitan areas, including the newest smartphone available from T-Mobile—the Samsung Vibrant. And later this summer, T-Mobile will unveil its first HSPA+-capable smartphone. More details will be available in the coming weeks.

“T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network now offers 4G speeds to more people than any other wireless network in the country,” said Neville Ray, chief network officer for T-Mobile USA. “The aggressive pace of our HSPA+ network rollout means our customers can enjoy a better mobile broadband experience on more devices in more places today—but we’re not done yet. Our first HSPA+ smartphone is coming soon and our footprint will double between now and the end of the year.”

Complementing the network expansion is wider availability of the T-Mobile® webConnect® broadband products in T-Mobile retail stores in all HSPA+ areas including the webConnect Rocket™ USB Laptop Stick, the first HSPA+-capable device from a national U.S. wireless carrier and the Dell™ Inspiron™ Mini 10 with T-Mobile webConnect, T-Mobile’s first netbook. Also beginning today, T-Mobile is introducing the webConnect Rocket 2.0 USB Laptop Stick, an updated form factor of its first HSPA+-capable device. Featuring a new rotating swivel USB form factor, the webConnect Rocket 2.0 is designed to deliver the same home broadband experience on the go as its predecessor, so customers can surf the Web, download large files or watch video from a laptop anytime on-the-go with a blazing-fast connection. The webConnect Rocket 2.0 enables customers to take full advantage of T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network in areas where the service is available—delivering 4G speeds.

T-Mobile network service is currently available in the following major
metropolitan areas: Albany, N.Y.; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Baton
Rouge, La.; Birmingham, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Charleston, S.C.; Charlotte,
N.C.; Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus, OH; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Dayton,
Ohio; El Paso, Texas; Fayetteville, N.C.; Ft Lauderdale, Fla.; Greensboro,
N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; Hartford, Conn.; Honolulu; Houston; Indianapolis;
Jacksonville, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Memphis,
Tenn.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; New Orleans, La.; New York; Oklahoma City; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; Providence, R.I.; Rochester, N.Y.; San Antonio; Seattle; St. Louis, Mo; Syracuse, N.Y.; Tampa, Fla.; Tulsa, Okla.; Waco, Texas; Washington, D.C.; and Wichita, Kan. The HSPA+ network expansion is on track to reach 100 metro areas by year end. For more information, please visit http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/coverage"