And Now, Introducing... 1x EV-DV

For everyone getting excited over the possibility of EV-DO service from Verizon Wireless, Erin Lin has a blurb over at The Feature about the newly approved spec for CDMA 2000 1xEV-DV. The DO, of course, stands for "data only", while "DV" is the next generation up, standing for "data, voice". But, it certainly looks like they're not holding still on the data side and just adding voice. The spec would offer "up to" 3.1 megabit download rates, putting it very much into cable/DSL speeds. Of course, as with all these wireless offerings, the "up to" is misleading, and actual speeds won't be anywhere near that. Also, it won't be available for some time. While he speculates that Sprint may go to EV-DV and leapfrog over Verizon's EV-DO offering, I wouldn't bet good money on a 2005 delivery date. I also wouldn't make the assumption that cable/DSL rates will stand still. Already they've been pushing upwards, and by the time EV-DV is really out there in any noticeable way, you can be sure that cable/DSL offerings will be faster. Still, it looks like one more step towards true wide area wireless broadband.

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