BendBroadband introduces first commercial use of HSPA+

Today is definitely Wednesday. But in Bend, Oregon, that doesn't have to mean a bad thing. In fact, we'd be willing to wager that it's a pretty good day for customer's of BendBroadband. Why? Because the company has officially launched its next-generation wireless broadband service, touting HSPA+. And while it may not be able to reach the full capacity of the technology as we know it, there is absolutely no reason why BendBroadband customers should not be excited about this launch.

BendBroadband itself is a small, family-owned cable operator based out of Bend, tucked away in the Pacific Northwest. Their launch of the Evolved HSPA makes them the first company in the United States to make the technology available, in a commercial aspect. T-Mobile USA is set to bring the technology to a more wide-spread customer base, but for right now they have only a trial network running in Philadelphia. The excitement for HSPA+ stems from the sheer speed provided by the upgraded 3G tech, with downstream connectivity reaching 56 Mbps, and an upstream connection of 22 Mbps.

BendBroadband is able to reach speeds of 15 Mbps, but says it will be more realistic to reach between 6 and 8 Mbps for its customers. In addition, the company can offer broadband and voice services to several more rural areas that may have been unable to connect to these services previously. The broadband connections proper will come with two variations: mobile and fixed, and they will cost anywhere between $20 and $80 a month. Anyone out there in the Bend area able to try this yet? This just seems like a great indicator of what's to come, especially if small companies like BendBroadband are starting to push out next-generation technologies.

[via GigaOm]