Instilling further proof of their strong partnership Verizon Wireless and minority interest parent company Vodafone Group plc reported plans to develop a dual-branded “Verizon Vodafone” laptop data card service designed for business customers who travel between the United States and Europe.
The companies said the card would be based on Vodafone’s Mobile Connect Card, which Verizon Wireless will develop and market under license from Vodafone and which will reportedly allow Verizon Wireless and Vodafone customers to seamlessly access their e-mail, the Internet and corporate applications from their laptop computers from within Vodafone’s GPRS territories and Verizon Wireless’ CDMA2000 1x network.
“By combining our product and marketing knowledge with Verizon Wireless’ excellent-quality CDMA 1xRTT data Express Network and Vodafone’s GPRS network, our partnership will deliver mobile e-mail access, the Web and corporate applications, all key business services,” said Julian Smith, chief operating officer of Vodafone in a statement.
Analysts have raised concerns recently about Vodafone’s interest in maintaining its 44-percent interest in Verizon Wireless, noting Vodafone has options in its agreement with Verizon Communications Inc. to pull out of the deal during the next several years.
Vodafone said it has equity interests in wireless carriers in 28 countries and partner networks in another nine countries and recently reported it had more than 122.7 million proportionate subscribers.
While the companies did not release details of the laptop card, Qualcomm Inc. has been working on a chipset that would support both GSM technology, which is used in more than 70 percent of wireless networks around the world, and CDMA networks in an attempt to garner a larger share of the chip market as well as propagate the expansion of the CDMA technology it developed. Such a device would allow CDMA subscribers to roam onto GSM networks without having to change handsets.
