AT&T to Offer 20Mbps Wireless Data By 2009

AT&T's Chief of Mobility, Ralph de la Vega, was recently quoted as saying that his company intends to offer data speeds of up to 20Mbps on its network by 2009. AT&T has previously committed to using the yet-to-be-standardized LTE technology for its next-generation 4G network.

AT&T is currently testing an HSPA upgrade that will offer speeds up to 7.2Mbps, and already offers PC Cards that will support it. AT&T is in a unique position because these speed enhancements are merely software upgrades to existing equipment, and would require limited resources to deploy, as opposed to implementing an entirely new network.