Subject: [NEXTEL-1] VZ to roll out EV-DO nationwide

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2004 15:50:58 -0500

Verizon Going
Nationwide With EV-DO 

By Brad Smith
January 8, 2004
news@2 direct

LAS VEGAS

Verizon Wireless today announced that it plans to expand
its CDMA2000 1XEV-DO deployment beyond the current
two markets -- San Diego and Washington, D.C. -- effectively
upping the ante on the U.S. wireless broadband data landscape.

1XEV-DO offers speeds of 300 to 500 kilobits per second, or about 10 times the
average dial-up connection speed. That will be a significant increase over AT&T
Wireless' EDGE network, which currently claims to be the fastest wide-area
network in the United States. AT&T Wireless launched its EDGE service nationwide
late last year and the service offers data rates of about 140 kbps.   

Verizon says it will spend $1 billion over the next two years to launch the
EV-DO network. But unlike its initial commercial deployment last fall, which
focused on enterprises users, Jim Straight, the carrier's president of wireless
data and Internet service, said the company's nationwide deployment will be
marketed to both consumers and enterprises. Verizon plans to have a number of
EV-DO handsets available to consumers this year, Straight says.

Verizon sees a huge opportunity in the consumer market for high-speed services
such as video and high-resolution photos, Straight said. Consumers also will
want a wider selection of devices than the laptop PCMCIA card that is now
available, he said. "This is going mass market," Straight said in an interview.
"There are a lot more devices coming."

The introduction of EV-DO handsets and the focus on the consumer market is
significant, according to analyst Iain Gillott, president of iGillott Research.
"I've seen the other EV-DO stuff such as PDAs and handsets and they are very
cool. They can do music and true multimedia."

In addition, Gillott says, Verizon's deployment likely will increase the gap
between CDMA and GSM networks in the United States. "This announcement just made
the chasm between CDMA and GSM/GPRS a little bit wider."

Straight said the carrier will have a number of EV-DO devices this year,
including a one-megapixel camera phone. He also said Verizon Wireless will
support most operating systems, including Palm and Microsoft, although he
declined to go into specifics.

The carrier didn't provide any timeline for its EV-DO rollout except that it
will occur city by city over the next two years. Straight declined to say how
many cities might be launched by year-end.

An industry source told Wireless Week that Verizon Wireless pushed up the
nationwide  launch because of the success it has had in San Diego and
Washington, D.C. The source said Verizon Wireless had more customers on it EV-DO
network in those cities than on its slower 1X data network, which was launched
nearly two years ago.

Straight confirmed that the EV-DO launch went much better than expected. Its
subscriber numbers outpaced the 1X launch in the first months, he said,
declining to give specific numbers.

Wireless Week Senior Editor Sue Marek contributed to this report.

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