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Sprint Nextel Plans to Upgrade EV-DO Mobile Data Network

7:00 am on April 3, 2006 | Category: Mobile Devices, Telecom Services

Americaâ€™s number three wireless carrier, Sprint Nextel, has announced plans to upgrade its Sprint Power Vision cellular broadband network, to enable greater coverage and higher upload speeds by the middle of 2007.

The Sprint Power Vision network uses EV-DO (Evolution Data Only) wireless technology to deliver mobile data service, and is available to over 150 million people in the US and Puerto Rico. The company plans to expand coverage to 190 million people by the end of the year, and will upgrade the network to EV-DO Revision A to allow for faster upload speeds.

This new technology will also help customers make better use of applications like video telephony, video messaging, push-to-talk communication, and file uploads.

At this weekâ€™s CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas, Sprint Nextel will work with partners, Nortel Networks, Novatel Wireless, and Sierra Wireless to demonstrate the benefits of Revision A technology using a PC Card.

Upstream rates are expected to jump from 70 â€“ 144 kbps with the current technology to 300 â€“ 400 kbps with Revision A. Download speeds will also show a slight increase from 400 â€“ 700 kbps to 450 â€“ 800 kbps.

In an effort to remain competitive Verizon Wireless has revealed that it will also be adding Revision A to its EV-DO network in the near future, although it declined to give an exact target date.

Americaâ€™s largest cell phone provider, Cingular Wireless, meanwhile, is ahead of the game in 16 major cities, with its HSDPA network now up and running. The company hopes to expand this to include most major US cities by the end of this year.

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