As most of you probably know by now, at Three we’re focused on giving our customers the best mobile internet experience we possibly can.
Since we launched the UK’s first solely 3G network back in 2003, we’ve continued to invest and improve the technology that powers our network to bring you the best data experience.
It was for that reason that last year we invested millions in upgrading our network to the next generation of 3G technology: HSPA+. HSPA+ currently runs on the 21Mbps technical standard, meaning people can now experience download speeds in excess of 10Mbps.
Now, once again, we are going to move the game on and bring another first to the UK market.
We’re now in the process of finalising our plans to roll out what’s being described in the USA* as 4G.
But let’s be absolutely clear – this isn’t 4G as in Long Term Evolution, or LTE as it’s also known.
Instead it’s the leading-edge version of HSPA+ 3G technology called DC-HSDPA (which stands for Dual Carrier High Speed Downlink Packet Access ), and it runs on the 42Mbps technical standard. So compared to standard 21Mbps HSPA+, this dual carrier technology offers customers twice the speed potential.
DC-HSDPA will deliver huge benefits for our customers. The obvious one is speed, with massive improvements in both download and upload speed. Because the technology uses dual carrier equipment – meaning it can latch onto two signals at the same time and transmit and receive double the data – it will also improve capacity across the network too.
Again, for our customers, this will mean more consistent speeds especially in busy areas and at peak times of the day. As our customers use more and more data, moving to DC-HSDPA will help us create the capacity to continue to offer a great service.
In fact we already have the technology up and running as a test along a small part of the M3 corridor and south west London.
The nationwide rollout is expected to commence later this summer.
As well as continuing the 42Mbps roll out, we’ll also be running our own Long Term Evolution (LTE) trial in the next few months to get ourselves prepared for this technology, when the spectrum needed to run it is made available.
The likelihood is that this leap is still more than a year away at the earliest. But in the meantime, we’ll continue our ongoing network improvement programme to ensure that whatever it is you want to do via the mobile internet, we are the network to be on.
*The 42Mbps Technical Standard has been described as 4G by T-Mobile in the USA: see here for further details: http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/
15/03/12 – We’ve edited this post since we published it initially to make sure that the terminology we use to describe our network is up to date and consistent across all our marketing.
465 Responses to Three to launch leading edge 3G service.
Ellie 15/04/2013
@Don – The iPhone 5 model that we’re currently selling supports the frequency we’re planning on using for our LTE network. In addition to the 800mhz we recently bought, we will also have some 1800mhz frequency when we roll out our LTE network. The iPhone5 supports this frequency. Whilst the iPhone5 is compatible with the 1800mhz frequency, this is currently disabled within the phone settings. We will work with Apple to get this enabled when we roll out LTE.
Don 14/04/2013
Can someone tell me if the iPhone 5 is DC-HSDPA enabled on the 3 network. Will it have to be “jail break’d” which I presume would affect my guarrantee. According to 3 I am in a hi speed internet area but only achieving 3G speeds. On another network it would be 4G. – 3 don’t appear to have published an answer to the question.
Moderator: Nicki 14/02/2013
@Rich – What’s your full postcode and I’ll check for any issues within the area. Keep in mind that speed is dependant on lots of factors like your device, your distance from a mast and how many other people are also on the network at the same time.
Rich 13/02/2013
Well I Have bought the latest ascend p1 and use it on payg, I was getting hspa+ 14mbps download and 5.76 upload here in the bodmin area but after this weekend there is no hspa+ only standard hsdpa, I thought it was the phone so I tried a giffgaff sim and was getting hspa+ again, so much for being the fastest network lol, giffgaff are beating you ! cannot even upload a video from my phone to youtube any more without it taking hours !
Ros 12/02/2013
@kay – You can check for Ultrafast in your area here. I’m afraid we don’t have dates for when specific areas will get it, it’s best to keep checking and of course if you have a compatible phone, you”ll probably see a difference!
kay 11/02/2013
Hi I wanted to know if DC-HSPA+42 is available in Harrow, Middlesex (London HA1). If not when will it be ready
Lucas 10/01/2013
@Johanna
Thanks for that. When you say more coming soon, do you have any details on that (when)? Also, do you know when the Galaxy S3 LTE version will be available?
Thanks.
Moderator: Johanna 10/01/2013
@Lucas – We can indeed – The iPhone 5, HTC Windows Phone 8X, Nexus 4 and Sony Xperia T. And coming soon the Nokia Lumia 920. With more to come
Lucas 09/01/2013
Can anyone advise what phones available on Three are compatible with DC-HSDPA+?
Thanks.
Moderator: Lauren 04/12/2012
@Imran – sorry about that! Try here. Scroll down to >Check if it’s in your area.
Imran 03/12/2012
@ Nikki
The link you gave for checking Ultrafast Internet (DC-HSDPA and LTE) via your coverage checker is a dead-link:
Page Not Found
We are sorry, the item you requested cannot be found.
Moderator: Nicki 03/12/2012
@Scott – Hi there, you can check for Ultrafast Internet (DC-HSDPA and LTE) via our coverage checker.
Scott 02/12/2012
What uk cities and places currently have dc hspda. I can’t find this info anywhere. Thinking of joing three.
Moderator: Johanna 19/11/2012
@leigh – it does indeed and we have some great SIM deals
leigh 16/11/2012
Hi, I have brought the new Nokia 920 sim free and I am deciding either the Three network or EE. Does the Nokia 920 support 42mb dc-hspda? I know it is not in your product range but I need to to know about dc-hspda to choose.
Thanks