Alltel Wireless Rolls out EVDO Rev A

Alltel Wireless announced the launch of EVDO Revision A technology in its network. The company plans an initial rollout of Rev. A to 18 market areas and dozens of cities, including Charlotte, New Orleans, Phoenix and Tampa. Customers using Rev. A will experience average upload speeds of 500-800 Kbps with bursts up to 1.8 Mbps. Upload speeds on the company's existing broadband network average 50-70 Kbps, with bursts up to 144 Kbps. Download speeds also will increase. The new Rev. A download speeds average 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps, with bursts up to 3.1 Mbps. By comparison, downloads on the existing broadband network average 400-700 Kbps with bursts up to 2.4 Mbps.


Alltel's Rev. A-capable Wireless Internet cards for laptops include the Huawei EC228 USB and the UTStarcom UM 150.


In addition to rolling out Rev. A in select markets, Alltel Wireless will continue to expand its existing EVDO network, which now covers 76 percent of its potential customers. By the end of 2008, Alltel expects to cover about 82 percent of its potential customers with EVDO.http://www.alltel.com