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Cingular To Offer Mobile High-Speed Internet

ArbiterOne writes "ZDNet has the story: Cingular is moving ahead with its plans to offer wireless high-speed Internet access to consumers. Lucent Technologies has agreed to provide the technology, and Cingular has agreed to buy out AT&T Wireless, and become the number-one cell carrier in the US."

20 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. small by mp3LM · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...as much as I love the internet, and new technologies...interent on cell phones is too small to do anything with!

    I mean..it's great if you wanna...uhm...uhh...
    oh wait! it's not great, it sucks!

    But people, seriously...if you want to get on the internet so badly...don't leave your house
    There is no need to sqiont at a little tiny screen that wont even display anything right.

    1. Re:small by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I disagree.
      Mobile internet still has its uses.
      GPRS is well suited to rss feeds in paticular. I have a small phone screen, 95*60 px I think and I always read the bbc news while I'm on the bus, or driving or just don't have a net connection handy.

      Though for anything else, it does pretty much suck, agreed.

      However a large number of, PDA type devices with larger screens are appearing, so there is hope for mobile browsing. Now if only web developers would embrace xml,rss and css like they're 'sposed too!! :E

      P.S. Is it possible to get slashdot on a mobile(wap) phone. Maybe an rss reader for phones?

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
  2. Interesting... by Brandon+Glass · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The choice of UMTS sets Cingular apart from Verizon, which is further along in using a system known as EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized). UMTS is based on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology that supports data rates of up to 384 kilobits per second, Cingular said. An enhanced version called High Speed Downlink Packet Access would offer peak data rates of 14.4mbps. GSM is well-established in Europe but less widely used in the United States.

    Hopefully this will mean that it will be easier to travel from a cell phone usability point of view... on the other hand, CDMA is superior to GSM, so is this a case of comprising technical superiority for the sake of compatibility?

    1. Re:Interesting... by dj245 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      UMTS is based on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology that supports data rates of up to 384 kilobits per second


      Unfortunately Real world speeds of GSM approach that of a 56k modem. Hardly something to write home about. Maybe with this UTMS they will reach 384 kilobits/s of real world speed. Still, if this UMTS is 1/10 of the advertised speed, it will be a usable speed for surfing the web. 56k speeds just don't cut it for pulling down image-laden webpages anymore.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    2. Re:Interesting... by themadcaplaughs · · Score: 2, Interesting
      CDMA is superior to GSM ..

      Your bigoted view stinks of "systemism". :-)

      For a reasonable number of users per channel (say 50), GSM provides a BETTER QoS than CDMA. CDMA is supposed to be good because after a certain limit (of number of users/channel), the deteoriation in GSM is faster than that in CDMA. So strictly from the user point of view, GSM is actually better. Also, if I am not wrong, the UMTS will actually provide higher data-rates to the user than CDMA-2000.

  3. Coupld of questions by manavendra · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1. When we say "high speed", what bandwidth are we talking about?

    2. How accessible is this high speed for today devices like say, mobile phones? Can I use my cell phone to browse at high speed?

    --
    http://efil.blogspot.com/
  4. Re:Cell phones with wifi? by hashinclude · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Motorola is already working on it. And people are already bitching about that as well

    Seriously though, I won't want to use my cellphone to browse the internet. However, hooking it up to a PC is a wonderful thing to do, as people alreay are with CDMA phones in India (Reliance, Tata Indicom, etc)

    --
    US is now divided as the "Red" and "blue" states. Red States = communist countries. Coincidence? I think not
  5. AT&T Wireless Self-Destructs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The story of a botched CRM upgrade that cost the telco thousands of new customers and an estimated $100 million in lost revenue. Hard lessons learned.

    http://www.cio.com/archive/041504/wireless.html

  6. Good Chance they Don't Get It by weston · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Cingular, in a statement announcing the 3G testing, described general aspects of some services it might offer consumers with the new network. The offerings could include downloading film trailers and sports highlights, access to e-mails with large attachments, and locating automated bank machines, movie theaters or restaurants.

    If this is what they're thinking of, they don't get it, and if that's what they offer, I certainly won't.

    I realize not everone wants/needs SSH. But the thing with this kind of offering is to offer a *platform* open enough that all kinds of folks can develop interesting services. Do this, and you don't have to do focus groups to discover what people will like -- a market will do it for you.

  7. I hope it's better than their phone service by Quattro+Vezina · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Because if it's anywhere near as bad as their normal phone service, you'll never be able to connect.

    I just moved into a new apartment (about a week and a half ago), and my phone, with Cingular service, isn't much more functional than a paperweight now.

    There are about three spots in my apartment I get any signal at all, and I have to be standing up to do so (one spot is right at my couch, so I can test this).

    I thought it was because GSM sucks, but that was dispelled after I talked to two of my neighbours, both on the same floor as me--one has AT&T (now owned by Cingular, but they still probably use their old equipment), and the other has T-Mobile. Both are getting great signals, and both providers use GSM--it looks like the problem is entirely Cingular's fault.

    Ach--why the hell did I have to get a new phone in December, thus renewing my two-year contract? I'm this close to hiring a lawyer to bully/harrass Cingular into releasing me from my contract...

    By any chance, does anyone know anything about how to boost power to the internal antenna of a Sony Ericsson T226, or if doing so will matter signal-wise?

    --
    I support the Center for Consumer Freedom
  8. Speed comparison simulator for CDMA2000 EV-DO, CDM by sanspeak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Which Mobile Internet technology is the best ?

    May be you can find it, by playing this simulation game here at Lucent.com. The simulator here shows the differences in bandwidth and roundtrip delays for various mobile technologies. The simulator compares CDMA2000 EV-DO, CDMA2000 1X, GPRS and EDGE. A UMTS, GPRS, GSM-Data and Modem version. There are two version of the simulator one with EV-DO & one with UMTS.

  9. Re:Death to telephone numbers by Segway+Ninja · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I see what you mean...

    Hmm....

    Then, Idea 3.0:

    user@google.cell

    Giving you the ability to store up to 1GB of MMS messages on their server, and delivering Targeted ads while you talk!

  10. What will that fix? by ryzynforce · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It still does not take away from the fact that AT&T Wireless has, by far the worst customer service I have the displeasure to experience. I hope cingular can fix that...

    --
    It's all fun and games until someone takes an eye out!
  11. Re:Death to telephone numbers by pubjames · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And, for the record, I think DNS for VoIP is a cool idea. Only question is whether or not it'll use the same DNS namespace as the rest of the Internet, or if it'll use its own.

    I think it needs a new one. Currently a lot of people don't have email addresses, even in those countries where internet use is widespread. What happens when everyone in the world needs one? I believe the current system couldn't cope with that.

    Fortunately, most people don't move that much, so probably location based is enough. Something like

    bob.thompson@brixton.london.uk

    of course there might be more than two people called bob thompson in brixton, so the system would need to be able to cope with that somehow. Also of course it would be much better to have an identifier you didn't have to change everytime you moved location - that's what I'm really after, but it's a difficult problem.

  12. OMG!!!! by autopr0n · · Score: 2, Interesting

    OMG, that's so novel, so un-thought of ever before.

    That's so outside the box! And just think what if we put wifi cards in laptops! Then you could surf the web, without paying outrageous telco charges!

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  13. Re:Death to telephone numbers by dabadab · · Score: 2, Interesting

    May I point out that - under the hood - company.com is also a number? We have this DNS thingie that turns names into numbers and it seems that we all are fine with this.
    I am also fine with having "Bob" in my phone('s phonebook - that sounds silly, doesn't it?) and it does not bother me at all if it resolves to a number.

    --
    Real life is overrated.
  14. Being on the GSM network already... by ifwm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I would settle for reliable coverage when making normal phone calls. Frequently the network is spotty in my area, and has been "scheduled for expansion" according to customer service. How about you get that right and then try something new? Since I'm using my phone primarily as a um... phone.

  15. Re:Don't expect it to work by iiioxx · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have been told that I had to take my phone to an authorized service center (not my local phone store) to enter the IP address for data services. They would not give me the address to enter myself.

    Then you either didn't ask the right person, or you did ask the right question. I'm a Cingular customer, and I purchased my phone from a third party to get an unlocked phone of the make/model I wanted (because Cingular didn't sell that phone online or in its retail stores).

    When I needed to setup Internet access on my phone, I called the regular Cingular customer service number, and then immediately asked to be transferred to technical support (customer support != technical support). Once I got the technical support person, I immediately asked to be transferred to someone in the "engineering group" (level 3 support). Once I got there, I explained what I wanted to do.

    Not only did they give me the IP address, they emailed me a copy of an internal technical document with all of the Internet access settings with the menu trees for every phone they support. Quite handy, actually, since I used it to setup my wife's new phone a couple of months later, and it took about three minutes using the document as a reference.

    So far, I've found Cingular's support to be quite good! You just have to figure out how their system works, and use it to your advantage.

  16. if they provide it the way like sprintpcs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    then they both suck
    sprintpcs offers high speed wireless internet only with its own "aircard", which is $70/month and only for internet, at a rather low speed comparing to cable/DSL and really expensive. for the 30min commute I have, I can bear life without internet for a while, also for those who drive, they dont care any way.

    what I really want is the ability to use my 3G cellphone from sprintpcs to connect to high speed internet occasionally, which, to my knowledge, they dont offer in USA yet. but you can get it in china and many other places.

  17. Unnoted Point... by bullitB · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Since FCC regulations of public spectrum use was something of a hot topic on /., thought I might bring this up...

    Cingular is now planning to simultaneously run four different cell network, Analog (AMPS), IS-136 ("TDMA"), GSM and now UMTS/WCDMA. This is going to take a whole crapload of spectrum space, considerably more than any other carrier. Since spectrum limited, doesn't this concern anyone? How is planning to get away with this?