Sprint Rolls the Dice on EV-DO

Sprint recently announced deployment plans for EV-DO (Evolution-Data Only) Rev A, which offers higher speeds and lower latency times for streaming video, messaging and other mobile apps. The rollout will begin in San Diego, and Sprint plans to have coverage in Boston, New York, San Francisco and 18 other markets by year's end.

With multibillion dollar investments in both EV-DO and WiMAX, Sprint is banking heavily on mobile data to drive company profits and regain market share from Cingular and Verizon Wireless. Sprint should be wary, though. According to market analysis firm TNS, 16 percent of American mobile users have 3G-enabled phones (EV-DO is a 3G standard), but only 10 percent actually use 3G services, mainly because consumers fail to understand their benefits. --Sean Ginevan, [email protected]