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For iPhone and other mobile phone users who rely on EDGE technology to get connected to the web using their mobile phones, the start of Nokia Siemens EDGE Evolution program comes as a welcomed development. Nokia Siemens has announced that as an initial salvo to the EDGE Evolution program, data speeds for GSM/EDGE capable networks will increase to 524kbps. The current EDGE standard for data speed is set at around 262kbps.

Nokia Siemens is set to implement what it calls the Dual Carrier EDGE solution via software upgrade by the third quarter of 2008. So you, iPhone fanatics will have to wait a couple of months more before you get to enjoy the same data speed that 3G-enabled mobile phone users are enjoying right now.

But the Nokia Siemens goodies don’t stop there. The Nokia Siemens Network also announced that initial plans for the next generation of EDGE technology, the EGPRS2, is on its way to full operation. Nokia Siemens is aiming to bring downlink speeds of its GSM/EDGE network up to 1.2 Mbps via EGPRS2. In case it sounds familiar to you, that’s because 1.2Mbps is the normal download speed that we get through broadband connection.

“By 2015, we expect to live in a broadband-IP world with five billion people ‘always on’ and therefore Nokia Siemens Networks is committed to protecting customer investments and continue to implement leading EDGE technology. Dual Carrier software upgrade is an easy and extremely cost efficient step to bring broadband user experience to GSM/EDGE networks”, says Ari Lehtoranta, Head of Radio Access Business Unit, and Nokia Siemens Networks.

It would be interesting to find out later on, if current users of the iPhone would still consider upgrading to the rumored 3G iPhone, which is being touted for release later this year, should the data speed of EDGE equal or even surpass the 3G data speed.

Via [jkOntherun] Read [Nokia Siemens Network]