Sprint rolls out faster EV-DO to more markets

Sprint Nextel is moving along with its EV-DO Revision A upgrades, adding six more markets this week.

The carrier announced that it has upgraded its Sprint Mobile Broadband Network with the faster technology in Chicago, Chattanooga and Knoxville in Tennessee, Richmond, Va., Orlando, Cleveland, and areas surrounding these cities.

Sprint started calling its high-speed wireless data network and service Sprint Mobile Broadband Network earlier this year, according to a company spokesman. Its previous name was the Power Vision network and service. The name change was made to reduce customer confusion, the spokesman says.

Sprint’s EV-DO Revision A upgrade offers significant increases in upstream wireless transmission speeds. The carrier says customers can expect upload speeds of 350K to 500Kbps. Sprint’s standard EV-DO service supports upload speeds of 50K to 70Kbps.

Customers can also expect faster downloads, with speeds of 600K to 1.4Mbps. Standard EV-DO downstream throughput is 400K to 700Kbps, Sprint says.

The wireless carrier says its Revision A wireless network is available to more than 140 million people in 35 U.S. markets just five months after Sprint started deploying it.

The carrier says it expects to launch Revision A services in about 24 additional markets by the end of April. With those deployments, Sprint’s upgraded network will be available to 50 million more people in the United States

Sprint Mobile Broadband Network service costs $39.99 a month for 40MB of data to $79.99 per month for unlimited data usage.

Verizon Wireless is the only other U.S. mobile carrier deploying EV-DO Revision A. Despite the fact that both service providers are upgrading to the same technology, Verizon Wireless says its throughput ranges are a little lower than Sprint’s. Verizon says customers can expect upstream speeds of 300K to 400Kbps and downstream speeds of 450K to 800Kbps.

Although Verizon Wireless started its Revision A rollout months after Sprint’s, the service provider isn’t too far behind in terms of markets. Verizon has the technology deployed in about 27 markets. Verizon’s BroadbandAccess EV-DO service costs $60 to $80 per month.

Network World is an InfoWorld.com affiliate.