Game On for High-Speed Cellular

The most ubiquitous wireless tech is obviously cellular -- most everyone has a cell phone, and cellular carriers offer service over the widest coverage area, compared to Wi-Fi or WiMAX. This will continue to be true for many years, so if you'd like to be able to use the Internet or check email in the most possible places, it's time to take a hard look at the latest high-speed cell options. High-speed cell data is pricey, though, and at least for now, even the fastest cell nets are still slower than your typical hotspot connection.

US cellular operators generally fall into two camps, each with different technologies and time frames for speed upgrades. On one side of the fence are Cingular Wireless (which recently purchased AT&T Wireless) and T-Mobile. Their networks are based on a flavor of wireless technology called GSM. Both companies have already upgraded to the second-generation cell standard GPRS, which allows Internet access as fast as a dial-up connection, and Cingular has moved to EDGE in many locations, a 2.5G technology that runs at 200Kbps, more than three times as fast as GPRS. Cingular also plans to offer very high-speed connections using HSDPA in 100 markets by the end of 2006. At 1Mbps or more, HSDPA is a 3G standard as fast as DSL or cable modem service. T-Mobile plans to move to EDGE in 2006 and HSDPA in 2007.

In the other camp, Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS (which recently bought Nextel) are also racing to deliver the fastest speeds in the most places using 1xEV-DO, a 3G technology based on the CDMA standard. Verizon has built a network in 53 markets that enables very fast connections to the Internet and has plans to trial a technology that can deliver an even faster link early next year.

Sprint PCS, meanwhile, has just started rolling out EV-DO and has plans to begin upgrading to the newest technology at the end of this year.

While each of the operators is on a slightly different path, they are all quickly moving forward toward enabling faster and faster data rates. What will set them apart is coverage, price, and devices. High-cost of service is one thing they all have in common. Most of them charge around $80 per month for unlimited Internet access. (See our Cell Data Guide for more on service plans.)

If you're mainly interested in Internet access for your laptop, you can buy a data card from any of the operators that fits into the PC Card slot in your laptop. After installing some utility software, you'll be able to get online wirelessly, just like you do from your office or home. That means you can use your laptop in cafes, restaurants, public parks, hotels, airports and friends' houses.

The operators also offer a range of popular PDAs, including the popular BlackBerry and Treo. Users can send and receive email on the run and look up Internet pages from these handheld devices.

As the high-speed cellular networks build out, the big advances will come in two key areas: location-based services, and Wi-Fi integration. Already, you can buy cell phones that have Wi-Fi built-in, and trials are underway for phones that automatically switch from cell to Wi-Fi and back, as you move indoors or out. Wi-Fi is typically faster and stronger indoors, and cell better outdoors. Location-based services will multiply as users move to a new generation of handsets that supports them.

Wireless Technology Landscape