Rogers has officially announced its plans to begin a 21Mbps HSPA+ network roll-out across Canada, making it the first wireless carrier to offer these speeds in North America.

Rogers 21Mbps HSPA+ Network

The current 3G network speed for Rogers can achieve up to 7.2Mbps. The full HSPA+ upgrade is set for mid-2010 completion and will deliver speeds of up to 21Mbps, which are speeds similar to what you would expect from higher-tier land-line based internet such as from Shaw, Rogers Cable, etc.

The HSPA+ roll-out begins in Toronto in August 2009 and will move to Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and the remaining major cities in Canada. By completion, the new HSPA+ network will blanket the current 3G HSPA network areas. For those areas in Canada where Rogers HSPA+ may not be available, you will still have access to the 3G HSPA network of speeds up to 7.2Mbps.

Dream and Magic and 21Mbps?

Both the HTC Dream/Magic will not be able to access 21Mbps speeds because their device specifications max out at 7.2Mbps:

• 3.6 HSPA Device = Maximum speed of 3.6Mbps = Blackberry Bold/iPhone 3G
  
• 7.2 HSPA Device = Maximum speed of 7.2Mbps = HTC Dream/Magic
  
• 21.0 HSPA+ Device = Maximum speed of 21.0Mbps = Future HTC and/or Android device

With that being said however, your HTC Dream/Magic will marginally benefit from the increased network capacity. As many are aware, achieving 7.2Mbps is highly unlikely in real world uses, however with the new 21Mbps HSPA+ network, we may be able to see results closer to what the HTC Devices can actually achieve, which is up to 7.2Mbps.

Pricing?

While I really like what Rogers has done here, I am left wondering if we will see a decrease in prices with an increase of data capacities or if we will see the opposite, with an increase in prices and a freeze of data capacities. Or maybe nothing at all. Time, and the new wireless carriers in Fall 2009, will tell.