Although some may be unimpressed with AT&T’s newly launched HSUPA data network, AT&T has announced only a few short days before Steve Jobs is scheduled to showcase the second-gen Apple 3G iPhone on the WWDC Keynote stage, that AT&T are to boost their new 3G network data speeds by 20 percent.

AT&T’s new HSUPA network upgrade, HSPA (HSDPA and HSUPA) data network can now handle speeds of 700Kbps to 1.7Mbps on the downlink (HSDPA) which is a good boost from the 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps data speeds. Furthermore, AT&T customers will benefit from uplink speeds (HSUPA) at 500Kbps to 1.2Mbps rather than 500Kbps to 800Kbps.

This move echoes AT&T’s move to upgrade their EDGE network before the Apple 3G iPhone launches in the States. You have got to hand it to AT&T though, not only for getting the first fully HSPA network up and running in the States but also for endeavouring to make it that much faster for the 3G Apple iPhone toting people. Between 2005 and the end 2008, AT&T will have invested more than $20 billion in network improvements and upgrades, an average of $5 billion a year.

AT&T plans to adopt LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology to reach even higher speeds in the longer term. Next step hopefully will be HSPA+ with 20Mbps downlink speeds by next year, right AT&T?

For full Press Release go (here)