Sprint intros new, speedier wireless laptop cards

Sprint Nextel said Tuesday it will be the first mobile operator in the U.S. to offer EV-DO Revision A network cards for laptops.

The new Novatel Wireless S720 Mobile Broadband Cards will increase average download speeds to 450 kilobits per second to 850kbps and upload speeds to between 300kbps and 400kbps. This is a boost over the current version of EV-DO, which provides downloads between 400kbps and 700kbps with upload speeds of about 50kbps to 70kbps.

But as other blogs have pointed out the card is basically worthless today since Sprint hasn't upgraded its network to EV-DO Revision A network. In fact, it's still rolling out the first version of EV-DO.

Sprint promises upgrades are coming soon. The company said it will begin deploying EV-DO Rev. A services during the fourth quarter of 2006 with coverage expected to reach more than 40 million people by the end of the year. The company said it plans to eventually reach more than 200 million people in the U.S.

The new card will be sold through Sprint business sales channels and online for about $249.99. With a two year subscriber contract, users can get it for about $99.99 with a two-year subscriber agreement. Service plans for the card currently range from $39.99 per month for 40 megabytes to $79.99 per month for unlimited data usage. With a two- year service contract, customers can get the unlimited data package for $59.99 per month. Other EV-DO Rev. A products will be available later this year.

Sprint has been working hard over the past couple of years to differentiate itself from the other three main cell phone operators in the United States by aggressively pursuing new, faster wireless networks. Earlier this month it announced it would be using its 2.5GHz spectrum to deliver a 4G network based on WiMax.