Verizon Wireless Keeps Up The EVDO Expansion
Over the past few weeks, the rumor levels have been increasing on both an expanded EV-DO offering from Verizon Wireless and the initial launch of Sprint’s EV-DO offering. There are plenty of reports “out in the field” where people have spotted both in action — and announcements have been rumored “any day now” for about a month. While it’s likely Sprint will get the big splash when it debuts it’s network, it seems like Verizon Wireless is trying to steal some of the thunder by dribbling out news of EV-DO expansion every other day or so. A couple days ago, it was Richmond, Virginia. A few days before that it was San Antonio, Texas. Now it’s the Northwest, with both Seattle and Portland launching. You get the feeling they’re just waiting for Sprint to make a move, and the whole list of newly expanded cities will come pouring out even faster. Of course, what would be a lot more interesting is something like a price reduction on the service to lower it from the mythical $80 level that the operators are so in love with (yes, understandably, to avoid overloading capacity on the new networks too quickly — but at some point it needs to start dropping). Getting Seattle up and running is a big step, because it was a major high tech hub where Verizon Wireless didn’t have the necessary spectrum. However, they snapped it up in one of their many spectrum buying sprees earlier this year — and they clearly put it to work fairly quickly.
Filed Under: 3g
