T-Mobile USA 3G, GSM 850 transition

Dec 19 2005 - 12:13 PM ET | 3G, T-Mobile

T-Mobile USA may begin a 3G launch next year, according to an interview posted on BetaNews. The company hasn't officially announced much about 3G, just always noting that it will not be anytime soon. Also an unknown is the type of 3G service that will be launched, though many believe it will be UMTS.

"We are very hopeful that by the end of 2006, and definitely in 2007, we'd be able to bring 3G services to the market. Some of this is auction dependent," Ray said, alluding to a large cellular spectrum auction to take place next summer. "We're hopefully looking at a 3G deployment in late 2006."

Also interesting is that T-Mobile USA has been rolling out GSM 850 coverage. Prior to this the entire network was GSM 1900. With 850 compatible phones users should see much more coverage in many rural areas. The carrier is now working on making its phone lineup GSM 850 compatible so you should start to see more quad band and made for America handsets (just like with Cingular).

[via GigaOm]