Cingular poised to launch HSDPA

Cingular Wireless LLC is poised to expand its 3G (third-generation) services in the U.S. as early as Nov. 1.

A Web site that appears to display an internal Cingular page reveals plans for the company to launch 3G services in Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas, Boston and Atlanta on Nov. 1.

Mark Siegel, executive director of media relations for Cingular Wireless, would not comment on the Web site but said the operator is on track to deploy UMTS/HSDPA in 15 markets to 20 markets this year.

Cingular has already launched UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) in six markets and has publicly said it will have UMTS and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) markets deployed this year. HSDPA is the latest high-speed data upgrade to GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)-based cellular networks.

An internal company Web page Friday included coverage maps of many of the cities as well as a PowerPoint presentation with details of Cingular's position compared to competitors. It's not immediately clear, however, which markets will get HSDPA service and which may get the slower speed UMTS.

However, the internal site links to several versions of letters for customers in existing UMTS markets asking for their patience while Cingular upgrades its network. The Web site was posted on the HowardForums.com discussion board and later linked to by Engadget, the popular gadget blog.

Cingular advertises its UMTS network as offering 220K bps (bits per second) to 320K bps and publicly says that HSDPA will boost that speed to 400K bps to 700K bps. In comparison, Verizon Wireless Inc. markets its EV-DO (Evolution-Data Only) network, available in 60 markets, as offering 400K bps to 700K bps.