Sprint launches EV-DO mobile service

Sprint will start up high-speed mobile data service for notebook PCs this month and by the end of the year will make it available to about 143 million people and begin selling handsets for the service.

The company on Thursday laid out its plans to become the second major U.S. operator to build a network using EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized), a technology based on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) that Sprint says will typically provide 400Kbps  to 700Kbps downstream with bursts up to 2Mbps. The other major CDMA carrier in the U.S., Verizon Wireless, began its EV-DO rollout with two markets in 2003.

Sprint's service initially will be focused on business use, with rollouts in airports and central business districts, according to a company statement. This month it will become available in major airports and business areas in 34 markets. In the third quarter, the network will be expanded for broad coverage across 14 metropolitan areas, reaching 92 million potential users. Broad rollouts across a total of 36 metropolitan areas will reach 143 million people by the fourth quarter, and by early next year the service will cover at least 200 urban and suburban markets in about 60 metropolitan areas, the company said.

Users at first will only be able to use EV-DO with Sprint PCS Connection Cards, which fit into the PC Card slot of a notebook PC. They are priced at $249.99 before contract credits and discounts. In the fourth quarter, the company plans to begin offering handsets for the service as well as applications for both consumers and business users.

Sprint will offer a flexible pricing plan for business customers with the PC Card clients, the company announced Thursday. Pricing will start at $40 per month for 40MB of data and go up to a cap of $90 in months when the customer accesses more data. Businesses can also buy unlimited data for $80 per month. When outside EV-DO markets but still in range of Sprint's national network, customers will be able to use the cards on Sprint's slower CDMA2000 1x service.

More information on the EV-DO service can be found at http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/wirelessHighSpeedData.jsp.