ROCHESTER, Minn.-Rural wireless operator Midwest Wireless launched CDMA2000 EV-DO services in Olmsted County, Minn., providing customers with the only EV-DO service available in the state. The carrier said the service provides network speeds of between 300 kilobits per second and 500 kbps and builds on its initial 1x service launch in mid-2003.
Midwest Wireless, which serves more than 400,000 customers in parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, said users can access the network using the Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 or Audiovox PPC-6600 smart phone. Both devices are backward compatible with the carrier’s 1x network.
The service is available for $25 per month for 25 megabytes of data throughput or $80 per month for unlimited access, which is the same price Midwest Wireless charges for 1x access.
Midwest Wireless also offers a fixed broadband Internet service in select locations, which the carrier said offers network speeds up to 768 kbps for $100 per month.
Monet Mobile Networks Inc. offered the first EV-DO services in parts of Minnesota beginning in 2002. The company saw limited acceptance of the service, which sold for $40 per month, and eventually closed its doors last year.
Midwest Wireless also reported a pair of BREW-hosting agreements with California-based Golden State Cellular and Tennessee-based Eloqui Wireless.
The agreements call for Midwest to share its existing BREW systems and servers with Golden State and Eloqui so the operators can offer similar downloadable content and services to their customers. Midwest Product Manager Tricia Lee noted the arrangement allows rural operators to provide a bigger customer base to both content developers and Qualcomm Inc. as well as helps Midwest recoup its network investments faster.
Terms of the agreements were not released.
