BUSINESS/FINANCIAL DESK Verizon Wireless Expands High-Speed Data Network By
MATT RICHTEL (NYT) 506 words Verizon Wireless said on Wednesday that it would expand its wireless high-speed data network into 14 additional cities, including New York and Los Angeles, starting on Monday. The move is part of an acceleration by wireless companies to expand the reach of their broadband Internet services. Verizon Wireless, which currently offers the network in three cities, has said that it expects to spend $1 billion through 2005 to upgrade its cellular network to carry data at faster speeds. Users of broadband cellular networks typically download and send data through a laptop computer or other devices configured to communicate with the network, rather than with a cellphone. The new network will, for now, be far faster than services offered by other mobile carriers, analysts said. The network will download data at 300 to 500 kilobits per second, at least equivalent to the speeds of residential high-speed connections. But the network uploads data at about 50 kilobits per second, industry analysts said, making the sending and receiving capabilities uneven. Residential connections typically send and receive data at equal speeds. Still, Verizon Wireless has surpassed its wireless competitors for the time being, said Jeff Kagan, a telecommunications consultant. ''It puts Verizon in the lead today. But they're all moving in this direction,'' he said, referring to the other mobile providers. On a nationwide basis, Cingular Wireless offers the fastest data network, said Scott Ellison, an analyst with IDC, a market research firm. That network, called Edge, delivers data at between 80 and 120 kilobits per second, Mr. Ellison said. That network is available wherever Cingular Wireless service is offered. Verizon Wireless hopes to expand its high-speed access quickly, the company said. It already offers its service, called BroadbandAccess, in San Diego, Washington and Las Vegas. The company said it would make the service available on Monday in selected airports and in cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Austin, Tex. The company said the service would be available to about 34 million people beginning Monday, and after a planned expansion to additional cities, would be available to about 75 million people by the end of the year. The service would cost $79.95 a month for unlimited access, but laptop computer users must also purchase from Verizon an access card for their computer. That card costs $250, but the company is offering rebates of $150. Analysts said the speeds being offered by Verizon Wireless raised the question of whether its network, and other mobile phone networks, could become rivals to cable and traditional phone companies that offer residential high-speed access. Correction: September 27, 2004, Monday Because of an editing error, an article in Business Day on Thursday about Verizon Wireless's expansion of its high-speed data service misstated the number of cities to be added today. It is 11, not 14. The article also referred incorrectly to the sending and receiving speeds of residential broadband. They are in fact different.
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