Cingular BroadbandConnect

Cingular also offers MEdia Net, which lets you check email, exchange instant messages, view sports scores from CBS SportsLine and ESPN, download games, check the weather forecast, and read updated headlines from CNN. Some MEdia Net packages also include Cingular Video, which lets you view short video clips. Cingular Video provides access to television, FOX News clips, CNN and NBC broadcasts, weather forecasts, and sports clips. For an additional fee, Cingular Video also offers HBO Mobile and HBO Family Mobile content.

GSM is the cellular standard that many countries around the world use. And because of this widespread availability, Cingular customers can use their HSDPA-compatible phones and PC Cards (additional fees may apply) just about anywhere in the United States or overseas. According to Ritch Blasi, director of media relations for Cingular, customers can place voice calls in nearly 200 countries and access data services in more than 115 countries. Another feature particular to a GSM network is its ability to place calls and use data services simultaneously; CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) networks don’t allow simultaneous data and voice connections.

Cost. If you have an eligible voice plan with Cingular (plans costing $39.99 or higher), you can get unlimited BroadbandConnect service for $59.99 per month after signing a two-year agreement. If you don’t have a voice plan, unlimited BroadbandConnect costs $79.99 per month. The Wi-Fi Laptop Connect add-on costs $19.99 per month.

Users with BroadbandConnect service on a compatible phone can access MEdia Net services for no additional fees. You can purchase a MEdia Net package separately at a cost starting at $9.99 per month. MEdia Max Bundles that include Cingular Video service start at $19.99 per month.

Looking ahead. As mobile broadband connectivity becomes faster and more available, customers will start to see even greater functionality and mobility. As Blasi points out, “Look at what people are doing online in the house or the office; you’re going to see that being mimicked as you go out.”

In the future, Blasi says that people are going to gravitate to the fact that they will be able to do more with their mobile phones, even to the point where people may be able to use their phone as a credit card. And Blasi may be right. In April, Visa International announced a collaboration with Maybank, Maxis Communications Berhad (Maxis), and Nokia to launch the world’s first Mobile Visa Wave Payment Pilot in Malaysia. Under this pilot program, users with a Maybankard Visa Wave-enabled phone can wave their phone and pay for products wherever they see a Visa Wave sign.

Another service we may see in years to come is a method of sharing video through our mobile broadband-equipped phones. Because Cingular’s network allows simultaneous voice and data connections, Blasi says that a person could use his phone as a video camera or voice recorder and share everything he sees and hears with someone on the other end while also carrying on a conversation.

Coverage. Cingular’s HSDPA network covered 162 major markets, including 70 of the country’s top 100 markets at press time. By the middle of 2007, Cingular expects to be in all of the top 100 cities, which will greatly increase the number of covered markets. Beyond that, Blasi says that expansion will continue, but it’s unlikely that all of Cingular’s 45,000 cell sites will ever have 3G coverage.

Sprint Mobile Broadband

Sprint’s CDMA-based Mobile Broadband service operates on the Sprint Power Vision EVDO (Evolution Data Optimized) network. There are two versions of the EVDO network currently available: EVDO Release 0 and EVDO Revision A. EVDO Release 0 supports download speeds of between 400 and 700Kbps, and Revision A increases those speeds to between 450 and 800Kbps. The biggest increase in speeds with Revision A comes with faster average upload speeds of 300 to 400Kbps, compared with 50 to 70Kbps for Release 0 networks. Sprint has EVDO Release 0 access throughout much of the country and is now rolling out Revision A in many areas.

On the multimedia side, Sprint’s Power Vision services let you watch live television, listen to SIRIUS music, play games, exchange picture mail, chat with friends using instant messaging, or check your email using a compatible phone.

Cost. Sprint offers a 40MB Flexible Data plan with a Sprint Mobile Broadband Card for $39.99 per month. With a two-year subscriber agreement, you can get unlimited data using a Sprint Mobile Broadband Card for $59.99 per month. A one-year subscriber agreement raises the unlimited data price to $79.99 per month.

Instead of using a PC Card, you can use a compatible phone as a modem for your laptop. Sprint’s Phone As Modem plans start at $39.99 per month for 40MB. An unlimited Phone As Modem plan costs $49.99 per month.

If you want to access the Internet from a compatible phone instead of using the Mobile Broadband network on a laptop, you can purchase a Sprint Power Vision plan for $15 to $25 per month. Depending on which Power Vision plan you choose, you can send and receive text messages, access SIRIUS Hits, view Sprint TV Plus, and more.

Looking ahead. Sprint already offers a number of multimedia services through its EVDO network. Patrick McGaliard, director of Consumer Partner Development for Sprint, says, “Over time you’ll see Sprint and other carriers trying a lot of different things, from longer form content, which is more synonymous with what you see in your living room, all the way to VOD [Video-On-Demand], the short form clips.”

Sprint’s music service is already a popular offering, and McGaliard expects this trend to continue: “Think about just one device, or the advantages that you have in one device, to be able to both make a phone call and listen to and store your music collection. I think that we see an inherent opportunity to be the provider of choice for folks.” McGaliard also talks about the possibility of streaming audio. “From us, you’ll continue to see a focus on music.”

Sprint also offers GPS services from TeleNav and Garmin that provide real-time, turn-by-turn directions. With regards to GPS services, McGaliard says he thinks all those services are here to stay, and there is certainly a lot of utility in GPS navigation on a mobile phone.

Last August, Sprint announced plans to develop and deploy a 4G (fourth-generation) nationwide broadband network based on the WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) IEEE 802.16e-2005 technology standard. Sprint plans to launch these advanced wireless broadband services in trial markets by the end of 2007 and intends to expand that network to reach as many as 100 million people in 2008.

When asked about potential services that WiMAX can offer, McGaliard says, “A lot of it [the 4G service] is limitless, it’s just a matter of pinning down where its demand is going to be and how best to leverage it.” He adds, “From a speculation side, in addition to all of those brand-new services, 4G is probably going to make a lot of those services that we offer today that much better.”

Coverage. At the time of this writing, Sprint’s Power Vision EVDO network covers more than 200 million people and provides service in 220 major metropolitan markets and 725 airports coast-to-coast. And EVDO Revision A coverage currently reaches more than 70 million people. According to Sprint’s Web site, “EVDO Revision A coverage in most markets will initially be concentrated in airports and business districts where wireless data demand is highest and will expand to include Sprint’s entire market footprint.”

Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess

At press time, Verizon Wireless’ CDMA-based EVDO network supported Release 0 with speeds of 400 to 700Kbps. Verizon Wireless’ BroadbandAccess service is designed for people using a PC Card, PDA, or BlackBerry that is EVDO-compatible. The BroadbandAccess Connect service lets you use a mobile phone as a modem for your laptop. Some of the compatible phones include the Treo 700p, Motorola Q, BlackBerry 8703 and 7130e, and LG VX8100 and VX8300.

Verizon Wireless’ V CAST services also run on the EVDO network. With V CAST, customers can download video clips; access streaming mobile video covering breaking news, weather, and sports highlights; and download full-length songs or 3D games.

Although EVDO does not support simultaneous data and voice connections, V CAST lets you accept a call or send it to voicemail if you are in the middle of listening to music, playing a game, or watching a video clip.

Cost. BroadbandAccess service with a PC Card, two-year agreement, and qualifying voice plan is $59.99 per month for unlimited access. Without a voice contract, BroadbandAccess is $79.99 per month.

BroadbandAccess Connect for PDA and BlackBerry devices starts at $15 per month and requires a qualifying voice plan and unlimited BlackBerry data feature. For $30 per month, PDA and BlackBerry device users with an unlimited BlackBerry Data Plan can get BroadbandAccess Connect service without a voice plan.

To use a phone such as the Motorola RAZR as a modem for your laptop, you need BroadbandAccess Connect for Phones. This service costs $59.99 per month with a two-year agreement on a voice plan.

Verizon Wireless offers the V CAST VPak, which gives you unlimited airtime for V CAST Music, V CAST Video, Mobile Web 2.0, and Get It Now services for $15 a month. Alternatively, you can choose to download songs with V CAST Music for as little as $1.99 per song, plus airtime.

For laptops with embedded Verizon Wireless EVDO BroadbandAccess functionality, Verizon Wireless also offers a $15 plan that gives you access for a 24-hour period.

Looking ahead. Although Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney could not comment on any of the company’s future plans, she did confirm that Verizon Wireless plans to upgrade its network to the EVDO Revision A standard. The standard may be available in some Verizon Wireless markets by the time you read this.

Coverage. The Verizon Wireless EVDO network, at this writing, covers more than 200 million people in 223 major metropolitan areas and 141 primary airports in the United States. Raney points out that Verizon Wireless is now going back and expanding EVDO coverage around the metropolitan areas.

Surf’s Up

It’s pretty safe to say that mobile broadband will continue to change the way we think about what we can do with our mobile devices in years to come. With the ability to check email, download movies, and more from mobile phones and PC Cards, we can stay more connected than ever before.

by Jennifer Johnson