Sprint Rolls Out New Wireless Data Ring
Posted on: Friday, 8 July 2005, 15:00 CDT
Jul. 8--Nearly two years after one of its foremost competitors launched a similar network, Sprint Corp. yesterday flicked on its own high-speed wireless data ring.
The network, called Evolution Data-Optimized, or EvDO, puts the nation's third-largest wireless carrier in the footsteps of Verizon Wireless. The Richmond metropolitan area was added last month to Verizon's network, which serves about 50 U.S. markets.
EvDO allows users to have high-speed wireless Internet access on laptop computers and receive different multimedia -- such as TV, or "cellevision" -- on certain mobile phones.
Richmond will be added to Sprint's network in October, and Norfolk will get coverage in September, said company spokesman Tom Matthews. Charges for the service will range from $40 to $90 a month, and wireless cards, inserted into the laptop to receive transmissions, will run about $250.
EvDO gives users speeds six to eight times faster than existing wireless service.
Alltel Corp. also plans to release its EvDO network in Richmond in the fall.
Sprint's download speeds will run from 400 to 700 kilobits per second, equal to Verizon's network. That speed puts the service on par with a digital subscriber line and faster than dial-up service.
Sprint's initial rollout will begin in major airports and business districts, expanding to 14 cities during the current quarter. The company expects an additional 36 markets by the end of the year and a total of 60 areas with EvDO coverage by early 2006.
Kansas-based Sprint is in the process of merging with Reston-based Nextel Communications Inc. The deal should be completed sometime this quarter.
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FON, VZ, VOD, AT, NXTL,
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch
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