Bolstered by the launch of higher-speed wireless data networks, wireless operators are beginning to push into the wireline data replacement space with offerings designed to provide primary or backup data solutions to wireline data transmission links.
Sprint Corp. is the latest to launch such an offering with the expansion of its PCS Data Link business offering to include wireless wide area network support. The carrier said the expansion provides enterprise customers with a wireless WAN solution using the carrier’s CDMA-based data network as a primary or backup connectivity for fixed or mobile locations.
“We have applied wired processes to our CDMA network to provide a local access alternative,” explained Gavin Throckmorton, group manager of product marketing for Sprint’s business solution division.
The service uses a small wireless modem that ties into an enterprise’s current network infrastructure to provide either direct backhaul data transmission services or act as a backup should the primary wireline backhaul be interrupted. Initial devices will be available for between $250 and $400 and support the carrier’s nationwide CDMA2000 1x network, which Sprint said provides average throughput speeds of between 50 kilobits and 70 kilobits per second.
Throckmorton added that Sprint plans to launch an EV-DO device later this year compatible with the carrier’s higher-speed network that provides average throughput speeds of between 400 kbps and 700 kbps. Sprint announced earlier this month that its EV-DO network would be available in portions of 34 markets by the end of the month with plans to cover 60 markets by early next year.
“The rollout of EV-DO was a happy coincidence and will only reinforce the value proposition of the service,” Throckmorton added.
Service pricing will be split between backup and primary access and will cover both 1x and EV-DO networks.
There are two backup plans beginning at $19 per month for 5 megabytes of data transmission and a $1 per megabyte overage charge, or $40 for 40 megabytes, which is similar to what Sprint charges for access to its 1x and EV-DO network. Customers also can pool plans among devices.
Primary plans will begin at $65 per month for 40 megabytes of transmission, 50 cents per-megabyte overage fees, and static IP and managed services. The primary plans tier up to 1 gigabyte of data transmission for $240 per month.
Both primary and backup plans include 90-day trials that customers can use to monitor service needs as well as allow them to opt out of the service without paying any fees.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. launched a similar wireless WAN initiative earlier this year using the carrier’s nationwide EDGE network. The carrier offers pooled monthly plans beginning at $12 for 1 megabyte of data transmission, up to $55 per month for 50 megabytes of transmission.
Cingular said it has seen strong uptake of its service with customers using the offering for both backup and primary data transmission and that it plans to add UMTS/HSDPA support as the network technology rolls out. The carrier noted that Florida Power & Light Co. was in the process of deploying the service at more than 1,000 company facilities as a backup solution and that American Medical Response was using it as a primary link with its ambulances.
“We have been pleasantly surprised by the uptake of the service and have a number of enterprise customers contacting us about both primary and backup solutions,” said Cingular spokesman John Kampfe.
