At the end of July 2024, we reported that Rogers Wireless will be launching a large 21Mbps HSPA+ network upgrade. Beginning September 14 2024, that network upgrade is now live in the following Canadian cities:
- Vancouver
- Calgary
- Toronto
- Ottawa
- Montreal
Throughout the 2024 year, Rogers has plans to expand the new network upgrade to additional Canadian cities.
To put this speed into perspective, AT&T Wireless in the USA just recently announced plans to upgrade its network to 7.2Mbps by 2024. In other words, this HSPA+ network upgrade makes Rogers Wireless the first wireless carrier to offer these speeds in North America.
Rogers 21Mbps HSPA+ Network
The current network speed for Rogers 3G is up to 7.2Mbps. The full HSPA+ upgrade is now live effective September 14, 2024 and is set to deliver speeds of up to 21Mbps. These speeds are also similar to what you would expect from higher-tier land-line based internet such as from Shaw, Rogers Cable, Telus High Speed, etc.
The new HSPA+ network blankets the current 3G HSPA network areas and for those areas in Canada where Rogers HSPA+ may not be available, you will still have access to the 3G HSPA network of speeds up to 7.2Mbps.
Dream and Magic and 21Mbps?
While an upgraded network is fantastic, there is currently no Android device (or any other device except Rogers’ new Internet Stick) that can support 21Mbps. While the current Android devices cannot access 21Mbps, any new devices that come out may be able to get close. However in real world tests, it is highly unlikely that any device will be able to achieve the 21Mbps speed.
- 3.6 HSPA Device = Maximum speed of 3.6Mbps = Blackberry Bold/iPhone 3G
- 7.2 HSPA Device = Maximum speed of 7.2Mbps = HTC Dream/Magic
- 21.0 HSPA+ Device = Maximum speed of 21.0Mbps = Future Android device
With that being said, your current Android device will marginally benefit from the increased network capacity. As you are aware, most of our Rogers Android devices cannot get anywhere near 7.2Mbps, but with the new 21Mbps HSPA+ network, we may be able to see results closer to what our Android devices can actually achieve. That is up to 7.2Mbps on the HTC Dream/Magic.
Is HSPA+ 4G?
HSPA+ is not 4G. HSPA+ falls somewhere in between 3G and 4G. Eventually Rogers will achieve 4G or LTE, but at this time HSPA+ is more like 3.75G.
Pricing?
I am still left wondering if we will see a decrease in prices with an increase of data capacities or if we will see the opposite, with an increase in prices and a freeze of data capacities. Here’s to hoping for the former.
In any case, this is your System Access Fees at work.
Release below:
