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Cingular To Offer Mobile High-Speed Internet

Posted by timothy on from the a-held-breath-never-boils dept.

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."

18 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. 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?

    --
    Brandon Glass's personal site.
    1. Re:Interesting... by barcodez · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's not really for use with your mobile phone.

      This is currently available in the UK. Which is a mobile modem for your laptop. Obviously there are other usages, like in car internet (not for the driver!), iPOD could connect to itunes to get tunes you want when out and about. It's not just about phones...

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    2. Re:Interesting... by jodonoghue · · Score: 5, Informative
      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.

      I'm quite surprised to see such an inept statement from ZDNet. UMTS is an umbrella term which covers the set of specifications for GSM, WCDMA and their interworking.

      In this case, Cingular is focussing on WCDMA which, at the air interface layer has more in common with CDMA2000 than with GSM. WCDMA uses a CDMA-based air interface with upper protocol layers based on GSM (you could view this as like moving from copper Ethernet to fibre: the upper protocol is still TCP/IP, but faster...)

      At the risk of starting a flame war, I think it's reasonable to say that today, GSM/WCDMA has a more highly evolved set of upper layers than CDMA2000, but CDMA2000 has a better optimised radio interface (EV-DO is considerably faster than the 384 kbit/s you can get with WCDMA - I know colleagues who consistently get around 800 kbit/s real data rates with EV-DO modems, where around 200 kbit/s is more realistic for WCDMA).

      While, as explained above, I wouldn't like to characterise either CDMA2000 EV-DO or WCDMA as superior to the other, I think it is reasonable to state that EV-DO is the more mature and stable system right now. I use a 3G mobile in the UK, and there are still a few glitches around the edges, although things are improving rapidly (the main issue is handover between WCDMA and GSM, which is technically very challenging, and isn't an issue in CDMA2000 networks). I will say that if you're interested in data on the move, both EV-DO and WCDMA offer a user experience which is subjectively very similar to using a DSL connection, and is light years ahead of using GPRS (or CDMA2000-1X) in the performance offered.

      HSDPA is at least a couple of years away from deployment in commercial networks, and probably won't initially work at 14.4 Mbit/s.

      As for the issue of travelling... Well, WCDMA phones (almost) all have GSM capability, so will work in most parts of the world (the only place my GSM phone failed to work in the last five years was rural Laos!), and dual-mode CDMA2000 phones with GSM capability are extremely close to market, which will enable global roaming for CDMA users on GSM networks. From a practical point of view, users of either type of network will have the option of near global roaming.

      I suppose I would summarise by saying that both systems are 'good enough' for most data users, and both will offer global roaming. Most people will probably be quite happy to choose based on price plan and phone they like best...

  2. 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?

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    http://efil.blogspot.com/
  3. Cost by barcodez · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There is no mention of what the cost is or indeed what the price model is. Do you pay for time, bandwidth, QoS?

    Having a high bandwidth connection is all very well but if it costs $10/Mb then ill just wait until I'm at the office to connect.

    Technologies like this are only useful to the vast majority of people once a certain price point is met. I imagine there is a large cost to recoup be the OpCos so it will be sometime before we can all sling a 3G modem in our laptops and forget about it.

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  4. Don't expect it to work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Cingular is my cell phone company (at least until my contract expires) but their customer service reps are completely clueless about most of those little technical details such as how to get voice mail to work (they only know how to reset it). Forget it when it comes to "data" services. 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. Cluetrain doesn't stop here!

    1. Re:Don't expect it to work by Rebel_Princess · · Score: 5, Funny
      Being a CSR, you get sent to the store because trying to instruct/walk-through customers on how to do anything on their phones is far too time consuming to bother with - the blunt end being, you're gonna fuck it up anyway and get sent to a store, cut your losses and get to the other people waiting.
      If we had the ability to yank the phone out of your hands after you've unsuccessfully tried turning on your phone for the 19th time, we would sir.
      This doesn't apply to 1% of the calls, sorry if I sound a bit cranky, but after the 40th "What rate plan am I on?" and the answer of "See, at the top of your bill? In giant fucking letters that says Rate Plan and Rate Plan Summary? Well if ignore that, it's a trick! You're real rate plan is unlimited daytime with rollover, unlimited mobile to mobile and unlimited nights and weekends... sorry to mislead you there, but we can't just have everyone know they're on that plan, only the ones clever enough to call in!"

      Thank you for choosing Slashdot and have a nice day.

  5. Your complaint has foundations in laziness. by King_of_Prussia · · Score: 4, Informative
    Viewing the internet on such a small screen is very possible, and is done successfully by hundreds of thousands of people around the world every day. If it is not usable on your particular phone, may I suggest purchasing a replacement?

    Many cellular phones feature browsers that were created on a whim, as a way of beefing up the features list prior to going on sale. Most Ericsson phones for instance have very poor browser functionality. A lot of the new phones coming from Nokia and Sony are light-years ahead of the first primitive attempts. A word of advice though - stay away from imported asian phones, they may look flashy and high-tech, but any are designed to be used for as little as a month before needing replacement.

    Of course, this being slashdot, home of the technically adept, I feel obliged to mention the ultimate way to experience the internet on a cellular phone - via linux. Of course, this way is not for the faint hearted, but those steadfast in their dedication to that plucky Swede's OS will find that the Kyocera 1080 is admirably suited for an ultra-light linux distro, with built in internet functionality. If only I still had mine, I could truthfully claim to be making this post by cellphone!

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    Making the moon less necessary since 1998.

  6. Think OUTSIDE the box.. by Segway+Ninja · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know this is an unfarmiliar concept tosome of you, but hear me out.

    One GSM Modem + One Laptop + One provider offering High Speed wireless internet over its network = a Laptop on the internet.

    We've got such setups going in New Zealand, and it's slowly becoming mainstream.

  7. 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?

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    May the Maths Be with you!
  8. RTFA by Tranzig · · Score: 4, Informative

    1. When we say "high speed", what bandwidth are we talking about?
    The article says: It has already signed up Lucent Technologies to provide equipment that currently supports data speeds of up to 2 megabits per second (mbps). The gear ultimately could support speeds of up to 14.4mbps.

    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?
    No, it will be available for the yet to come 3G mobiles that have been promised for many years already. I have a feeling that we will need to wait more for them and when they become available they will be called 4G, skipping 3G. We have seen such thing a couple of times already.

  9. 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)

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    US is now divided as the "Red" and "blue" states. Red States = communist countries. Coincidence? I think not
  10. Death to telephone numbers by pubjames · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Now we're getting mobile wireless (which of course means we can do mobile VOIP) can we please get rid of telephone numbers? They feel increasingly primitive to me. It's much easier to remember name.surname@company.com than 023633463453.

    Of course the problem is with personal numbers, rather than office-based ones. Of course your work is one thing that defines you (bob.thompson@company.com), as does your physical location bob.thompson@london.uk. But not everyone has a job, and location based identifiers don't make much sense for mobile numbers. Any solutions?

  11. Re:small by PaoloHu · · Score: 5, Informative

    there is an rss feed for slashdot...

    http://slashdot.org/slashdot.rss

    it doesn't show the comments - but it is there

  12. 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.

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    Tweet, tweet.
  13. 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?

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    I support the Center for Consumer Freedom
  14. 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.

  15. Article is SO incomplete. by Magnus+Pym · · Score: 4, Informative

    1) Verizon already offers high-speed mobile data access to customers in San Diego and Washington.
    This is based on CDMA EV-DO. This technology gets 2.4Mbps peak (500Kbps average) on the downlink, and 153Kbps peak (80Kbps average) on the uplink. A nationwide rollout is expected later this year.

    2) Sprint announced that they are going to do the same thing yesterday. They expect to have service later this year/early next year.

    3) CDMA EVDO has been successfully deployed for the last 2 years in Korea (6 million subs) and for about 9 months in Japan (subs not known). Dozens of devices/phones are available.

    4) Cingular's service is NOT based on GSM. This is the next generation of GSM (3G) which is based on CDMA technology. The complexities of this upgrade are much more than that of going from CDMA to EV-DO. W-CDMA will give you about 2Mbps peak (500 Kbps average) on the downlink, and far less on the uplink. This is over 3 times the bandwidth used by CDMA EV-DO.

    Magnus.