Three UK looking to roll out DC-HSPA ahead of 4G LTE

Three UK has announced plans to implement "4G" on their network, but instead of putting LTE on trial, for now the carrier is favouring DC-HSPA (the DC means dual-channel). In theory customers should be able to witness speeds up to 42Mbps, and with Three's "unlimited" data plans this will certainly excite smartphone owners.

Three currently operates a HSPA+ network that offers speeds of up to 21Mbps and is set to roll out DC-HSPA this coming summer. What's interesting to note is the timing of this announcement with the international Lumia 900 (supporting the "almost 4G" standard) being announced at MWC this week - coincidence?

Three still plans to introduce LTE through testing in the future so we'll happily take DC-HSPA for now.

Via: Slashgear; 4G image (opens in new tab) via Shutterstock

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

14 Comments
  • Three here I come, just in time for my upgrade too. Bye bye o2!
  • i knwo they say 4G , but HSPA is 3G!... :S... ah well glad for the UK :)
  • Whatever you want to call it, faster is faster and this should please their customers.
  • Call it what you want, in my area HSPA+ is a lot better than LTE (faster, better connections -- no matter what the philosophers say).
  • that’s not possible , unless you don’t have reception. lol
    beside unless your on a new Wp from 2012 you dont have LTE access any ways. PS:  sorry for using the correct term and frustrating you guys. Never said it wasn’t good! trying to make readers more informed with proper information.  
  • Will 3 rename themselves to 4?
  • lol!
  • Heh! Made me chuckle :)
  • Three is the best....
  • WTH? AT&T's speeds don't reach this far in the U.S., do they? The U.S. has one of the worst internet infrastructures ever. More money should go into it.
  • T-mobile's speeds are lightning fast.
  • @xboxomac: so what kind of speed do you really get on at&t. I havbe a max of 3.2mbs with hdspa on vodafone in the Netherlands on my hd2.
  • Nokia + 3= happy daze...
  • Pity its Three. As a Three customer for nearly 2 years I can confirm while you can near always browse the web its near impossible to make a phone call. My wife on Vodafone, my daughter on T-Mobile, the latter is near perfect with a connection anywhere , anytime. So far, since January more so than VF ... So stating DC-HSPA when you have such poor coverage is about marketing, not utility. The reason, I think 3 are at such a high frequency that the signal cannot get through walls. Sat in a pub on Thursday for 3 hours, near a window in the town 3 have their HQ with a x on my signal strength, ... no signal at all. its been a very frustrating two years.