According to this Washington Post article (free easy registration necessary), Verizon Wireless Inc. plans to announce today a new high-speed data service in the Washington area.
It will be based on the Evolution Data Only (EvDO) technology. For more information about this wireless technology, please read "EvDO, a new Wireless High-Speed Technology."
The Evolution Data Only (EvDO) network will allow users of compatible wireless devices to connect to the Internet at speeds as fast as or faster than those provided by cable or telephone wires.
Verizon Wireless plans to launch the service in the late summer, with coverage initially limited to an area inside the Capital Beltway. The service will also be launched in San Diego around the same time.
Scott A. Ellison, director for mobile wireless at IDC, a Massachusetts-based technology research firm, noted that EvDO technology is already popular in South Korea, where consumers use it for tasks from video conference-calling to watching television on their cell phones. "It is blazingly fast," he said.
How fast, are you asking?
During preliminary tests that Verizon Wireless conducted in an area from Falls Church to Rockville, people could download files while on the go at speeds from 300 to 600 kilobits per second, or about five to 10 times as fast as a dial-up modem. While stationary, users could access the Internet at speeds up to 2.4 megabits per second, about 60 percent faster than a cable modem.
And what about pricing?
The company will begin selling EvDO-capable cell phones and special cards for laptop computers and handheld organizers that will enable them to work with the EvDO network. It declined to comment on prices.
Source: Christopher Stern, The Washington Post, March 17, 2003
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