T-Mobile UK claims to be the first UK operator to have committed to deploying HSUPA technology on a nationwide basis. From today users are promised peak uplink speeds of 1.4 Mb/s, up to a fivefold improvement on the uplink data rates of W-CDMA networks. The UK’s five mobile operators – 3UK, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone – have all previously launched HSDPA mobile broadband networks. T-Mobile UK also announced today it has increased its HSDPA speed to a theoretical maximum of 7.2 Mb/s within London, and plans to roll out the enhanced network to other major cities in the second half of this year.

According to the GSM Association, there are currently 32 commercial HSUPA networks in operation around the world, 23 of which are European deployments. T-Mobile’s German operation last November announced the rollout of HSUPA in Nuremberg and Hanover, with plans to equip the country’s entire 3G network with HSUPA by mid-2008.