By Monica Alleven
Monday, September 14, 2009
Marking a first for North America, Canada's Rogers Wireless announced the commercial availability of its HSPA+ network in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
Rogers says the network clocks in at maximum speeds of 21 Megabits per second. The company began the Canada-wide deployment of the 21 Mbps HSPA+ wireless network earlier this year, tripling the current download speeds. Rogers says the move makes its network up to seven times faster than the Canadian competition.
Along with the launch, it is offering an HSPA+ Rocket Mobile Internet Stick, which customers can pre-order online starting today for $74.99.
Last week, AT&T said it will roll out HSPA 7.2 in six U.S. cities, including Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami, with initial service expected by the end of the year. That upgrade allows for theoretical peak speeds of 7.2 Mbps.