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Nationwide wireless broadband network on horizon

Broadband on the go will get a lot closer to reality Thursday when the USA’s No. 1 phone and wireless carrier details plans to build the first national wireless network that’s truly broadband.

By Andrew Backover, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-01-08-verizon_x.htm

While popular "Wi-Fi hot spots" offer public wireless broadband in coffee shops and airports, this service would make a laptop as mobile as a cell phone.

The first phase of the build-out, which will take 18 months to two years, will begin by summer, says Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who will discuss the plan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He did not identify the first cities for the high-speed wireless service but says, "We will hit the major markets as soon as we (can). Whenever we’ve said we would roll something out nationwide, we did it pretty quick."

Verizon has tested the $80-a-month service, not including a required PC card ($150 after rebate), in Washington, D.C., and San Diego. Seidenberg says demand is so strong that it’s time to expand. Mostly for use with laptops and PDAs, the service is data-only and can’t be used for voice. It is geared to business users but is expected eventually to reach consumers.

Verizon’s plan is a big step for the wireless industry, which for years has promised broadband networks but delayed them because of cost and lack of demand.

"This tells me there is demand within the business market," says Legg Mason wireless analyst Craig Mallitz. "It’s creating a true mobile office."

But Blaik Kirby of consultants Adventis still wonders how much work people will do in a cab: "Most places you would want to use a high-speed connection are indoors (and) likely to be covered by Wi-Fi."

Most current wireless services, including Verizon’s primary offering, equal or slightly exceed the speed of a dial-up modem. That’s good enough for e-mail, trading photos and limited Web access but not for big downloads. "Think of the capacity that you now will have instantly at your disposal," Seidenberg says.

Among nationwide services, AT&T Wireless’ Edge network is fastest, at about three times a dial-up modem. AT&T plans broadband trials in four markets in 2005. Sprint PCS’ Vision for phones equals dial-up speeds; its laptop service is twice that. But Sprint broadband might not come until 2006.

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