Despite now competing against two other carriers for iPhone subscribers, AT&T seems to have an unlikely ace up its sleeve: speed. Some AT&T users are reporting a boost in 3G speed after upgrading to the iPhone 4S.
Although it’s unknown how widespread is the bump in AT&T speeds, but some users of the carrier are reporting anecdotal evidence that the 4S’ support for the 14.4Mbps HSDPA protocol used during GSM connections appears real. In one case, an AT&T user based in Iowa claims 3G speeds of 5.45Mbps, up from 4 Mbps previously registered on his iPhone 4. In another case, a Texas AT&T subscriber reports 3.17Mbps with his iPhone 4S.
AT&T has been referring to its HSDPA support as “4G.”
