Verizon launches EV-DO Rev A network

It wasn't much of a secret, we saw last week that Verizon's USB720 EV-DO Rev A dongle was slated for a February 1st release, and it makes sense that Verizon would be launching a network to feed the fat wireless pipes to it on the same day, but all the same we're quite relieved to hear Verizon Wireless is finally doing the Rev A thing all official-like -- after being all sneaksy about it up until now. The locations look to be the same ones we were rumoring earlier, at least for the most part: Massachusetts, including Boston and its suburbs; Richmond and Hampton Roads, Virginia; Chicago and its suburbs; Gary Indiana; Salt Lake City along with other cities in Utah; and Florida throughout Verizon's existing broadband network. There are already websites that have been tracking Verizon's subtle spread of Rev A across the country, and it seems like Verizon, while maybe not in a position to challenge the 66 million people currently covered by Sprint's Rev A network, wanted to wait until it got dang close to launch. Verizon expects your connection speeds -- for those of you lucky enough to live in Florida or one of the other metro areas -- to be about six times faster, with average download speeds of 450-800kbs, and upload speeds of 300-400kbps. The word on the street is that that download speed estimate is a tad conservative, while the upload speed mark is fairly optimistic, but we're sure you get the idea.

[Via Mobiledia]

[mike @ Feb 1st 2007 11:10AM]

as someone who lives in the Verizon Boston EVDO network. YAHOO! However, please lets see an updated Rev. A treo to go along with this update when you get the 700WX on your network.

[EVDO INFO @ Feb 1st 2007 11:36AM]

Though Verizon has launched their Rev-A network, the cities they've officially listed aren't the only places they have Rev-A turned on at. There are quite a few major markets they aren't announcing yet, for whatever reason. See for yourself by checking out a cool new google mashup at http://www.EVDOmaps.com

[Mr. Doy @ Feb 1st 2007 11:36AM]

Gary, Indiana? WTF?

[VedicHymn @ Feb 1st 2007 12:00PM]

It's just mooching off it's proximity to Chicago. :(

[ShortFuse @ Feb 1st 2007 12:15PM]

Reposting what I wrote on EngadgetMobile since Engadget is more popular:

I'm personally not impressed about the 450kbps-800kbps. The upload is the selling point.

I got my V3xx from Cingular yesterday and tried it out. I did a speed test and it was 740kbps/90kbps on Cingular's HSDPA connection. For sitting in my kitchen, 740kbps is great. HSDPA's (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) problem is upload but this should be resolved with HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access).

Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A
Max Download: 3.1Mb/s
Max Upload: 1.8Mb/s

EV-DO Rev. B has a max downlink of 4.9Mb/s

Cingular's HSDPA has a max downlink: 3.6Mb/s but it can be upgraded all the way to 14.4Mb/s. The problem is the upload which is 0.375Mb/s. There's no upgrade to it. You'd need HSUPA. Other carriers worldwide are using it for 1.8Mb/s (though it can be upgraded all the up to 5.76Mb/s).

Here's where Verizon has to be careful. What do they do after Rev B. The Most they can achieve now (without major hardware upgrades) is 4.9Mb/s downlink and 1.8Mb/s uplink. While Cingular can go up to 14.4Mb/s downlink with 5.76Mb/s.

Telsra in Australia discontinued EV-DO and moved to HSDPA. Maybe Verizon will do the same. But then again, Verizon has always been on the same path as LG and Samsung which are major 3GPP2 supports.

[Lucas @ Feb 1st 2007 12:25PM]

So now you can max out your "unlimited" access even quicker! :rolleyes:

[LongshotX @ Feb 1st 2007 1:08PM]

How do you test your mobiles' download speed?

[blayn @ Feb 1st 2007 1:56PM]

"There are already websites that have been tracking Verizon's subtle spread of Rev A across the country"
what are they?

[alex @ Feb 1st 2007 2:45PM]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our site has been tracking Verizon EVDO Rev-A for a couple weeks now. Check out http://EVDomaps.com

you'll also learn on that site, the speeds are far better than 400-800k - i've seen speeds in excess of 2000kbps!

[Scotty @ Feb 1st 2007 2:43PM]

I have been using Rev A for the past 3 weeks here in Utah. The local Verizon stores didn't even know it had been rolled out until I told them that if users have the Sierra AC595 card they will be prompted for an update to Rev A.

It seems much better than Rev 0.

[applesucksLeo @ Feb 1st 2007 2:49PM]

And the ApplePhone won`t be a part of it. Imagine that...Jobs wanted a CDMA network to put his phone on. How are the GSM fanboys gonna spin THAT one?