AT&T this week announced plans to deploy 3G wireless broadband service in more than 80 additional U.S. cities by the end of the year, bringing AT&T 3G services to a total of just under 350 U.S. markets by the end of the 2008. According to the company, the deployment will add 1,500 cell sites to the company's network.

"AT&T also plans to upgrade its 3G network to a technology called HSUPA, or High Speed Uplink Packet Access, to provide Internet upload speeds that range from 500 kilobits per second to 800 Kbps," writes CNET News' Marguerite Reardon.

What's more, Pocket-lint's Katie Scott suggests that AT&T's announcement might be good news for those who are holding out for a 3G iPhone. And Computerworld's Matt Hamblen reports that Gartner analyst Phillip Redman agrees, saying that AT&T wants to support a broader range of wireless devices including a 3G iPhone because "they don't want iPhone users to use Wi-Fi vs. cellular..."

More here from GigaOm ... more here from bMighty ... more here from Network World ... more here from Digital Trends ... more here from MobileBurn ... more here from TECH.BLORGE.com ... more here from TG Daily ... and the press release is here.