AT&T announced on Wednesday that they are nearing completion of their 3G HSPA technology that will deliver broadband speeds on its 3G network: 1.4 Mbps down and 800 Kbps up.

In the next month, the company will deploy High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technology in the six remaining markets across AT&T's entire 3G (third-generation) wireless broadband network. When done, AT&T will have completed its deployment of HSUPA technology, which complements existing HSDPA technology (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), making AT&T the only U.S. carrier to have fully deployed HSPA technology in its 3G network, AT&T said.

By the end of June, connecting to AT&T's 3G mobile broadband service will be as speedy as logging onto the high speed Internet service that many consumers enjoy at home, AT&T added.

"The ability to quickly upload large files from a laptop is no longer a luxury — it's a necessity," said Kris Rinne, senior vice president of Architecture and Planning for AT&T's wireless operations. "By fully deploying HSUPA across our 3G footprint, we not only meet the current needs of our customers but also lay the path for our continued evolution to even faster wireless broadband capabilities."

In the last four years, AT&T said that they have invested US$20B in network improvements. The company reiterated that by the end of 2008, their 3G network will be available in nearly 350 [metropolitan] markets.

Whether the rumored Apple iPhone 3G will be able to exploit the HSUPA technology is not known for certain, but observers believe the Infineon chip rumored to be in the next generation iPhone can exploit the faster downloads of HSDPA.