I’ve found 3G to be quite a let-down while I’m on the move as for some reason my signal is never strong enough. Hopefully, this will be fixed as the 3G networks expand.
By 2006, hopefully things will be even better as Super 3G should have arrived. Apparently the networks will roll out in areas such as London first, creating Super 3G hotspots where data usage is highest.
HSDPA aka Super 3G, has at least a two-year lead on mobile WiMax as 802.16e, the mobile flavour of WiMax, hasn’t even been standardised yet. HSDPA is expected to offer speeds of up to 3Mbps compared to the 384Kbps of Europe’s current UMTS networks today.
O2 is planning on testing HSPDA on the Isle of Man this summer and Vodafone and T-Mobile have both said they are also planning to offer HSDPA in 2006 and Orange is also trialling the technology. Vodafone has predicted that HSDPA could eventually offer download speeds of 12Mbps. Now that would be nice.
