StarHub launches public trial of 21Mbps mobile broadband

Some 100 users will be able to hook up to a public trial of StarHub’s new 21Mbps mobile broadband service, as the telco readies to launch it commercially within the next three months.

This promises, on paper, to be three times faster than the 7.2Mbps services now offered commercially by all three telcos here. While tests have been run on 14.4Mpbs services, it looks like operators here will go straight to 21Mbps this year, since newfangled HSPA+ technology is fast becoming available from network vendors like Huawei and Ericsson.

The public trial is the latest “one-up-manship” that’s been going on between StarHub and SingTel of late, as both ready for a speed race over the air. In January, StarHub said  it was readying its network for a 21Mbps speed boost. Just days later, SingTel announced that it had done a live demo of a 21Mbps link at the Volvo Ocean Race stopover. …