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Verizon Wireless plan BroadbandAccess 3G network expansion
March 22, 2004
Verizon Wireless today made several announcements about the expansion of its BroadbandAccess service. As part of Verizon Wireless' planned $1 billion investment over the next two years to rollout BroadbandAccess nationally, Verizon Wireless announced multi- million dollar agreements with Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks to provide wireless infrastructure technology for BroadbandAccess over the next two years. Verizon Wireless announced additional BroadbandAccess agreements with SK Telecom, Citrix and Zumasys.
"BroadbandAccess builds on our strategy to provide a superior data experience for our business and individual customers," said Denny Strigl, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless. "While today our enterprise customers in San Diego and Washington, D.C. are experiencing increased productivity and realizing bottom-line business benefits, we are on target to expand our BroadbandAccess service to cover one-third of our network -- approximately 75 million Americans -- by the end of 2004. With our phased national rollout of BroadbandAccess over the next two years, our individual consumers will discover enhanced multi-media applications that will rival their experiences on home PCs."
BroadbandAccess will be available to business and individual customers in many major U.S. cities later this year, with additional markets phased in through 2005. Using new BroadbandAccess handsets, PDAs to be introduced later this year, and laptops equipped with PC cards, enterprise customers can use the high-speed service outside the office, from any location within the BroadbandAccess coverage area, as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet. Customers can download files residing behind corporate firewalls (a small PowerPoint presentation or large PDF file in less than 30 seconds), access e-mail, intranets and the Internet. Individual customers can enjoy the many fun and visual capabilities that BroadbandAccess affords, including multi-player gaming, music and video content, video messaging and other multi-media applications.
Powered by an Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) 3G wide-area network, BroadbandAccess offers the fastest, fully mobile wireless data experience in the nation today, with average user speeds of 300-500 kilobits per second (kbps). BroadbandAccess is based on CDMA technology, a digital wireless technology commercially developed by QUALCOMM. Because it is backward compatible, customers who travel outside a BroadbandAccess area with an EV-DO device will seamlessly switch to Verizon Wireless' existing NationalAccess network, based on 1xRTT technology.
Dick Lynch, executive vice president and chief technical officer for Verizon Wireless noted, "Our investment to build the nation's fastest commercially available wide-area wireless data service, through strategic relationships with companies like Lucent, Nortel and SK Telecom, will provide our customers with a richer, incomparable wireless data experience."
BroadbandAccess service is available today in the Washington D.C. and San Diego areas, at a flat rate of $79.99 monthly access with a one-year contract. Verizon Wireless is offering its first BroadbandAccess device, the Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card, which also provides access to the NationalAccess national data network. Through March 31, 2004, Verizon Wireless customers can buy the Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card for $149.99 after $100 rebate with a two-year service agreement. Later this year, Verizon Wireless expects to offer additional BroadbandAccess devices, including a PC card from Novatel Wireless. In the coming months, Verizon Wireless expects to offer additional BroadbandAccess devices, including modem solutions for the office and a range of the latest handheld mobile devices and PDAs customized to present video, music and other content.
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