US operator AT&T has unveiled two new devices that will run over its future HSPA+ and LTE networks. In May the country’s second-largest carrier said it will migrate from the current planned rollout of HSPA 7.2 (which offers maximum theoretical download speeds of 7.2Mb/s and real-world speeds of about 3.5Mb/s) to a version of HSPA+ that will offer real-world speeds closer to 7Mb/s and a touted 14Mb/s maximum. That move will begin later this year. To support the new network, it has launched the USBConnect Shockwave from Sierra Wireless (pictured left), designed to connect to laptops and netbooks. Shockwave will be available for free on a two-year contract and data plan. Arguably more significant is AT&T’s unveiling of the USBConnect Adrenaline from LG (pictured right), which will retail at US$49.99 on a two-year service agreement and data plan. Adrenaline will run over AT&T’s existing 3G network and will be compatible with LTE via a software upgrade accessible online. To date, there have been many HSPA+ USB devices and modems launched in the market, but only two smartphones have been unveiled (HTC’s G2 and myTouch, both available from T-Mobile USA). The industry’s early commercial LTE rollouts have used USB sticks and a sole Samsung feature phone (the Craft, available via MetroPCS).

Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, Mobility and Consumer Markets, is expected to reveal more details on the operator’s future network rollouts during his keynote session later today at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications Conference in San Francisco. Previous reports suggest its first commercial LTE network will be launched in the summer of 2011, with 70-75 million POPs covered by the end of that year. Right now, AT&T is trialing LTE in Baltimore and Dallas. Rival Verizon Wireless plans to launch LTE in 25-30 markets by the end of this year (covering 100 million POPs), whilst T-Mobile is ramping up its nationwide coverage of HSPA+ at present (and thus could be regarded as being ahead of AT&T in the mobile broadband stakes) but has made no plans public on its launch of LTE. Sprint Nextel uses WiMAX technology for next-generation mobile network deployment.