OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Even as Sprint Nextel Corp. continues to build out its CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network, the carrier has announced a plan to make its network even faster using EV-DO Revision A.
According to Sprint Nextel, the company will concurrently put in Rev. A technology upgrades later this year as it expands its EV-DO coverage area. Sprint Nextel said it plans to commercially launch Rev. A services in the first quarter of 2007, with plans to cover about 220 million people with Rev. A capabilities by the fourth quarter of 2007.
“We plan to extend … a complete overlay of our Sprint EV-DO network with Revision A technology by the end of [third quarter] 2007, to provide customers an enriched mobile multimedia experience,” said Kathy Walker, Sprint Nextel’s chief network officer. A recent mobile customer survey by The NPD Group found that Sprint Nextel had the largest percentage of customers with data plans, at about 25 percent.
Sprint Nextel hopes to jump ahead of Verizon Wireless in the race to Rev. A since Verizon beat Sprint Nextel to the punch with its launch of CDMA EV-DO. A Verizon spokesman said the carrier is working with technology and infrastructure vendors for Rev. A, but has not announced any timeline for its Rev. A launch plans.
According to the carrier, Sprint Nextel’s Power Vision EV-DO service is on track to be available to 190 million people across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico by the end of this year. The mobile broadband network currently covers more than 150 million potential customers and 470 airports around the country.
Sprint Nextel claims that the Rev. A upgrade will produce network speeds up to 10 times faster than current EV-DO network speeds, with most of the improvement coming on the uplink. According to the company, average download speeds will improve to 450-800 kilobits per second from the current 400-700 kbps, with peak rates up to 3.1 megabits per second. Average uplink speeds are expected to go from 70-144 kbps to 300-400 kbps, with bursts of up to 1.8 Mbps.
Sprint Nextel said it plans to demonstrate Rev. A connection cards at the CTIA Wireless Show in Las Vegas next week. The company, which has partnered with Nortel Networks Ltd., Novatel Wireless and Sierra Wireless on the technology, said it would start marketing Rev. A compatible cards in the third quarter of this year.
