Rogers Wireless has launched a new HSPA+ Mobile Internet Stick featuring the fastest wireless speed available in North America, 21 Mbps. Currently, its other products offer speeds of 7.2 Mbps.
Toronto – At a relaxed media event at its downtown Toronto headquarters, Rogers Wireless announced a North American first: Internet download speeds of 21 Megabits per second through its upcoming HSPA+ Mobile Internet Stick. DigitalJournal.com was one of several invited media personnel to this event.
To the uninitiated, this mobile speed is incredibly fast. Compare 21 Mbps to the current speed available for its other Internet Stick, at 7.2 Mbps. Also, the iPhone 3G S offers speeds of 7.2 Mbps, so today’s announcement heralds a wireless future of speeds three times the norm.
The next-gen Stick will be available in late September in Canada’s major markets, for now: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Complete national coverage is expected sometime in 2010.
“We envision many people using this technology,” Bob Berner, CTO of Rogers Wireless Communications, told reporters. “From business users to small business owners to early adopters to prosumers.”
The new Stick will be available for $75, for a minimum two-year data plan. It costs $199 as a standalone unit. The Stick can be inserted into any laptop PC or desktop, Berner said.
But with the growing trend of using mobile phones for surfing the Web, any chance 21 Mbps could come to smartphones?
“For now, it’s not happening,” Berner said, “because manufacturers have to create phones that can keep up with these download speeds.” He added that smartphones, as opposed to other units, would be the best candidate to adopt this wireless speed.
In the U.S., T-Mobile’s chief technical officer Cole Brodman recently said the company will introduce 21 Mbps technology in 2010.
When asked about roaming coverage, Berner said the Stick-enabled laptop won’t be able to access 21 Mbps if it’s not in the applicable cities. So a user in New York would only get the speeds available through that mobile network, whether it’s 3.6 Mbps or higher.
At the media event, Rogers staff tested the 21 Mbps stick on various websites, including DigitalJournal.com and YouTube. It performed reasonably well compared to accessing content on a 7.2 Mbps-enabled PC. But the true test would be applicable on downtown streets in order to find out the range and latency of the new Stick.
Rogers Wireless may be the first North American carrier to offer 21 Mbps service, but it’s not the global trailblazer. That honour is given to Australia’s Telstra, the first carrier in the world to launch the next-generation upgrade.
