Sprint PCS Launches Nationwide 3G Network

New York

Sprint PCS Group last week won the 3G technology race by launching the first nationwide high-speed cellular data service.

Sprint PCS now offers 50K to 70K bit/sec. data service on what it calls its PCS Vision network through its 25,000-plus cell sites, said Charles Levine, president of Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint PCS.

Ritch Blasi, a spokesman for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. in Redmond, Wash., acknowledged that Sprint was able to offer nationwide coverage first, “but only by a few months. Our high-speed service will be nationwide by the end of the year.”

Like its competitors, Sprint PCS adopted per-megabyte pricing, which works out to roughly $1 per megabyte for heavy users and $2 per megabyte for less-frequent users.

Unlimited Use for a Limited Time

Phil Bowman, Sprint PCS’s vice president for business marketing, said in an interview that for a limited time, the company will offer unlimited usage for $49.99 per month. That price will later increase to $99.99 per month, matching the unlimited-usage pricing offered by Verizon Wireless in Bedminster, N.J.

Sprint PCS plans to phase out the unlimited usage scheme, Bowman said, because it believes its package plans offer better deals to average users. He said in-house studies show that the plan offering 70MB of data per month for $79.99 will satisfy all but the most voracious mobile workers.

Bowman added that Sprint PCS will provide discounted prices to large organizations, but he declined to provide any specifics.

The company will also roll out a new telemetry service hosted on its new third-generation (3G) network to satisfy users who send and receive short, “bursty” packets of data from multiple mobile units. The telemetry service will also support applications such as remote reading of utility meters.

By deciding to use per-megabyte pricing like the other cellular carriers, Sprint runs the risk of confusing customers, who may have a hard time estimating their mobile data usage, said Tim Scannell, an analyst at Shoreline Research in Quincy, Mass. “The problem with all high-speed wireless plans is cost,” he said.

E-Mail Deals

Bowman said Sprint PCS wants to land as many large enterprise customers as possible for its new 3G network, which was built to allow easy access to enterprise e-mail systems. Sprint is also offering a Handspring Treo personal digital assistant (PDA) priced at $499 that can be easily tied into corporate e-mail systems, he said. Sprint PCS will charge $10 per month for a single user of the e-mail service and $5 per month per user for companies that host their e-mail systems through Sprint PCS.

Gary Robertson, chief technology officer at Delphi Corp. in Troy, Mich., said that while Sprint may boast nationwide coverage, he remains skeptical of such claims, because cellular companies have built their networks to serve major population centers. And since he already experiences dropped voice calls in Detroit on both the AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless networks, Robertson said, he isn’t about to provide users with a laptop or PDA cellular data service that could be equally uncertain.

Robertson also said he believes Sprint PCS “made a mistake” by basing its network on Code Division Multiple Access technology, which is widely used in the U.S., rather than on the next-generation General Packet Radio Service of the Global System for Mobile Communications standard that is used in Europe.

International companies like Delphi want international standards, Robertson said.

Sprint PCS’s 3G Data Service

Available nationwide through 25,000-plus cell sites.

50K to 70K bit/sec. average speed, with bursts to 144K bit/sec.

Per-megabyte pricing for enterprise laptop and PDA users ranges from $39.99 a month for 20MB of data to $79.99 a month for 70MB of data and $119.99 a month for 120MB of data.

Enterprise services will be sold through five major partners: Accenture, Hewlett-Packard, IBM Personal Computing Division, Ingram Micro and PwC Consulting