AT&T to boost 3G speeds to 20Mbps next year

3G: Good. 3G at five or six times the current speed: Better.

In 2009, AT&T says it plans to dramatically boost its 3G speeds by moving its full network to HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), a slower version of which is already up and running in limited areas. At 20Mbps, HSPA could be huge: That's considerably faster than almost any wired broadband technology in use today.

AT&T hasn't announced a roadmap for the release other than to say "sometime in 2009," nor has a city-by-city plan been announced. (It's normal for rollouts like this to proceed in stages from one municipality to another.)

Even better: HSPA isn't even considered a 4G technology. For that, AT&T is looking to LTE (Long Term Evolution) for 2010, which could offer 100Mbps throughput when it's finally rolled out. Now we're talking!

Incidentally, end-user equipment using HSPA technology is already hitting the market. Fujitsu recently sent me its LifeBook T2010 (the U810 also has HSPA available) with integrated HSPA, and I got to see what HSPA can do in the real world today.

So far it's promising but not out of the park. Results varied widely depending on where I did my testing, ranging from 1Mbps to 2Mbps downstream and anywhere from 60kbps to 1.2Mbps upstream. Signal quality varies widely, of course, and you'll get far better results outdoors than inside. Of course, when the network is upgraded these figures should rise dramatically.

So, good news for wireless junkies, and curious timing considering the almost-certain announcement of the 3G iPhone on June 9. Will Steve Jobs announce more than just a 3G iPhone, one that incorporates HSPA technology as well, finally bringing the iPhone into the modern era of wireless? I wouldn't be surprised, but I would be impressed.