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Which carriers have 3G?
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The big four carriers (now that Cingular has
acquired AT&T Wireless and Sprint has gobbled up Nextel) are
planning to roll out 3G services, but they each have slightly
different timetables to get there. Read on for the details.
A 3G carrier timeline
| |
Carrier |
3G plans |
Available now? |
Rates |
ETA for
nationwide
rollout |
| GSM |
Cingular/
AT&T Wireless |
UMTS, upgrade to HSPDA |
Yes, in Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, San
Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle |
$80 per month
(business plan)
$25 per month (consumer
enhanced mMode plan) |
End of 2006 |
| T-Mobile |
UMTS (may jump directly to HSDPA) |
No |
n/a |
2007 |
| CDMA |
Verizon |
1xEV-DO |
Yes (31 cities) |
$80 per month (business plan)
$15 per month (consumer V Cast plan) |
End of 2006 |
|
Sprint Nextel |
1xEV-DO |
No |
n/a |
Early 2006 |
Cingular/AT&T Wireless
- Current network:
GSM/GPRS/EDGE
- Planned 3G network:
UMTS/HSPDA
- 3G available now?
Yes, in 6 cities
- 3G plans:
Now that it's absorbed the wireless spectrum of fellow GSM
carrier AT&T Wireless (which launched UMTS service in
Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and
Seattle in the second half of 2004), Cingular is poised to
enter the 3G market in a big way. The carrier has signed
agreements with Ericsson and Lucent Technologies to help
roll out an HSDPA-enhanced UMTS service starting in 2005.
- ETA for nationwide service:
End of 2006 for "most major markets."
- Supported handsets include:
Nokia 6651, Motorola A845
Sprint/Nextel
- Current network:
CDMA/1xRT
- Planned 3G network:
1xEV-DO, future upgrade to 1xEV-DV
- 3G available now?
No
- 3G plans:
Sprint just closed a $3 billion deal with Lucent, Motorola,
and Nortel to jump-start its 3G strategy. Sprint is hoping
to roll out the data-only 1xEV-DO service this year in
"major U.S. metro markets." Meanwhile, Nextel's push-to-talk
service is set to migrate to the 1xEV-DO service sometime in
2007.
- ETA for nationwide service:
Early 2006
- Supported handsets include:
None yet but Sprint currently have multimedia phones on a
2.5G network.
T-Mobile
- Current network:
GSM/GPRS
- Planned 3G network:
UMTS/HSPDA
- 3G available now?
No
- 3G plans:
T-Mobile is trailing the competition in the race to 3G.
Representatives for the carrier say that T-Mobile doesn't
have enough wireless spectrum available to roll out UMTS
until at least 2007, a full year after GSM rival Cingular,
which got a leg up by acquiring fellow GSM carrier AT&T
Wireless. However, T-Mobile officials announced in December
2004 that the carrier will probably jump directly to the
HSPDA-enhanced version of UMTS, rather than launch UMTS
first and add HSPDA later. In the meantime, T-Mobile says it
will build out its long-awaited 2.5G EDGE network in 2005.
- ETA for nationwide service:
2007
Verizon
- Current network:
CDMA/1xRTT
- Planned 3G network:
1xEV-DO
- 3G available now?
Yes, in 52 cities: Akron; Athens, Georgia; Atlanta; Austin,
Texas; Baltimore; Beaumont, Texas; Boston; Chicago;
Cincinnati; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas/Ft. Worth;
Dayton; Hartford; Houston, Texas; Indianapolis;
Jacksonville; Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri; Lake Charles,
Louisiana; Las Vegas, Nevada; Long Island, New York; Los
Angeles/Orange County; Madison, Wisconsin; Miami/Fort
Lauderdale, Florida; Milwaukee; New Haven/New London,
Connecticut; New Orleans; New York City; Newark/Jersey City,
New Jersey; Oakland; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia;
Phoenix; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; Providence; Richmond;
Rochester, New York; Sacramento, California; San Antonio;
San Francisco; San Diego; San Jose, California; Tampa/St.
Petersburg; St. Louis; Seattle; Syracuse, New York; Trenton;
Washington, D.C.; West Palm Beach, Florida; Wilmington,
Delaware
- 3G plans:
Verizon jumped on the 3G bandwagon early, launching 1xEV-DO
service in San Diego and Washington, D.C., in October 2003.
While 3G service is available across the country, coverage
is limited outside of major metropolitan areas. Verizon also
made a big splash at the 2005 CES with its announcement of V
Cast, a consumer broadband service offering on-demand video,
3D gaming, and streaming music videos.
- ETA for nationwide service:
End of 2006
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