IPhone users take note: Nokia Siemens speeds up EDGE

Nokia Siemens Networks has announced that it can double the data speeds possible on GSM/EDGE networks with only a software update.

By the third quarter of this year, the company claims it will be able to take existing EDGE-capable GSM networks to speeds up to 592 Kbps with its Downlink Dual-Carrier EDGE software solution.

Good news for iPhone users, 85% of whom, according to M:Metrics, accessed the mobile Web during the month of January.

"Locked" iPhone users are typically accessing the mobile internet via AT&T's EDGE and HSDPA BroadbandConnect networks. AT&T's EDGE network, according to its proprietor, is available in over 13,000 cities and along 40,000 miles of highway, providing between 75-135 Kbps.

HSDPA access is dramatically faster with speeds around 1.5 Mbps, but available in only a fraction of the markets; its rollout was only in 165 major metropolitan areas.

Nokia Siemens' simple software upgrade to GSM/EDGE networks could bring data traffic up to speeds that HSDPA promised several years ago between 400-700 Kbps. The company considers this the first step in EDGE's Evolution, which they predict could reach speeds of 1.2 Mps downlink and 473 Kbps uplink with its still-in-development EGPRS 2.