Sprint Targets First-to-Market EVDO Rev A for 2007

Sprint outlined its plans for the expansion and evolution of its "Power Vision" network, which now covers over half of the U.S. population with mobile broadband data services. By year end 2006, the high-speed network is expected to reach an estimated 190 million people nationwide.



Sprint will concurrently implement EV-DO Revision A this year, with the goal of launching this enhanced service in Q1 2007. Sprint plans to reach about 220 million people in the U.S. with the advanced network by the end of Q3 2007.



Sprint's current EVDO service delivers average download speeds equivalent to DSL (400-700 kbps and peak speeds up to 2 Mbps). With Revision A, peak download data rates increase to 3.1 Mbps and peak upload data rates increase to 1.8 Mbps (from 144 kbps). Average download speeds improve to 450-800 kbps (from 400 -700) and average uplink speeds become 300 - 400 kpbs (versus 70 - 144 kpbs).



At next week's CTIA Wireless Show in Las Vegas, Sprint will demonstrate EV-DO Revision A connection card technology with Nortel, Novatel Wireless and Sierra Wireless.



Sprint will market EV-DO Revision A compatible connection cards in the third quarter of 2006, which work on the current Revision O network until next-generation service is broadly available in the first quarter 2007 to about 214 million people.

http://www.sprint.com/wirelesshighspeeddata