The Register reported yesterday that Cingular will be running a small 3G technology trial in Atlanta this summer using 3G gear from Lucent. The article says that the testers will all be Cingular staff members and that the test will focus on high speed data and multimedia application use.
This is a confusing development, since it appears that Cingular will be using the 1900 mHz band for 3G testing when we know that they are focusing most of its resources on building a GSM 850 infrastructure. This implies that any results they achieve in this test will not be quickly translated into solutions that are available to Cingular customers. Some articles indicate that Cingular 3G deployment will not be widespread until 2006 due to limited availability of appropriate equipment.