AT&T announced in May that they would be updating their existing 3G infrastructure to support HSPA 7.2. The rollout of HSPA 7.2 was described by the carrier as an intermediate step prior to rolling out 4G LTE, which the carrier has committed to as their future strategy.

In September the company announced the first six cities to test the update, but the company launched an aggressive plan to update their remaining 3G network with the update to HSPA 7.2 ahead of their planned schedule. As of today, the company has completed the upgrades; and if you have a device that supports the higher HSPA 7.2 standard and you happen to be in an area where AT&T has 3G support, you should be able to connect at the higher HSPA 7.2 speeds.

Of course, the company is still in the process of adding additional backhaul that will be necessary to handle the higher speeds of HSPA. AT&T claims that they are still on track to build out their first test deployments of LTE that will take place later this year. The company provided no additional details or timetable on its plans for the LTE rollout, beyond saying that trials would start in 2010 as they ramp up to full deployment in 2011. Our sources claim that it is likely that the same first six cities will be among the first to get the LTE trial build outs when AT&T starts deployment.