Family-owned cable operator in Oregon first to launch HSPA+ in US

BendBroadband, a family-owned cable operator in Central Oregon, lit up the country's first HSPA+ network, beating the likes of AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile to the punch.

The cable provider is using AWS spectrum for the network with plans to deploy an LTE network in 700 MHz spectrum it won at auction.

Ericsson supplied the network infrastructure while a Taiwanese company called Bandrich is supplying the subscriber equipment, said Frank Miller, CTO of BendBroadband.

Miller declared the Digital Divide closed in central Oregon as the operator effectively increased its wireless footprint past its cable holdings footprint by some 20,000 homes. The company can also cost effectively offer residents high-speed Internet access in its cable footprint  where previously high costs kept it from doing so fiber-coax cable.

 The company plans to introduce a feature-rich home telephone service to these areas in early 2010.

The offering consists of three different products for both home and business users: high-speed Internet, mobile broadband and telephone service. Home and business high-speed Internet customers will use a BendBroadband-supplied fixed  location modem. The modem includes a wireless router which also provides WiFi throughout the customer's location. For mobile Internet, a USB device is used to access BendBroadband's wireless broadband network virtually anywhere in Central Oregon.

Bundled prices for the fixed modem wireless Internet service range from $39.99 to $74.99 per month. BendBroadband said users can expect data speeds between 6 and 8 Mbps.

For more:
- check out this release [1]
- read this RCR Wireless article [2]

Related articles:
AT&T & LTE vs. T-Mobile & HSPA+ = Fight! [3]
T-Mobile's Ray promises national HSPA+ deployment by mid-2010 [4]
T-Mobile USA to boost 3G network speeds to 21 Mbps [5]
AT&T: 3G network plan no longer includes HSPA+ [6]