For the past six weeks or so, I've been testing Vodafone UK 's 7.2-Mbit/s High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) service – the self-proclaimed "Fastest Mobile Broadband in the Galaxy" – around London and other parts of the U.K.

I'll have a full review ready for publication soon. But for now, I'm ready to report that, with the network pushing speeds over 5 Mbit/s on the downlink and 1 Mbit/s on the uplink, there can only be one verdict: phenomenal technology and a great service.

For me, there's a backstory to this review. I remember going to cover a 3G conference as a reporter back in 1999 – the one where it was announced to rapturous applause that the first 3G specifications, known to this day as Release 99, had been completed. Before setting out on the trip, I went to borrow a laptop from the IT department. This was back in the days when we all had beige Compaq desktops with cathode-ray monitors.

The IT guy asked me what I needed a laptop for (like he was doing me huge favor – laptops were only for top execs back then), and he laughed out loud in disbelief when I told him it was for an event about a 3G wireless technology that would deliver 2 Mbit/s to a mobile. At that time, our entire office had just a single E1 (2 Mbit/s) leased line for 60-odd users, and it cost a small fortune.

For a long time, it looked as if that IT guy was right: 3G got nowhere near the promised 2-Mbit/s speeds. Yet now here I am, able to download spurious high-def movie trailers at 5 Mbit/s on a mobile service that costs just £15 ($30) a month! That's phenomenal technical and commercial progress.

So who's laughing now? (Vodafone is – all the way to the bank.)

Will the next 10 years deliver the same kind of advances? Or is the wireless industry chasing diminishing returns? It's hard to say for sure, but looking at the key research themes and events we have planned – on subjects such as all-IP mobile networks, femtocells, HSPA Evolution, LTE, mobile WiMax, Ethernet backhaul, and mobile Internet applications – it's sure going to be interesting finding out.

— Gabriel Brown, Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading

Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to the Broadband Wireless World, a conference focused on the evolution of the broadband wireless market from 3G to 4G. Collocated with NXTcomm, in Las Vegas, June 17-19, admission is free for attendees meeting our prequalification criteria. For more information, or to register, click here.

Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to Backhaul Strategies for Mobile Operators: Europe, which will provide a unique perspective on the progress that Europe's carrier and vendor community is making in relieving the so-called "backhaul bottleneck" in mobile networks. To be staged in London, June 26, admission is free for attendees meeting our prequalification criteria. For more information, or to register, click here.