Monet Mobile Networks, today officially announced the commercial launch of Monet Broadband, “the nation’s first high-speed, mobile Internet service” in Duluth, MN. Monet offers subscribers unlimited Web access, three e-mail addresses and 5MB of data storage for $40 a month. For $60 a month, subscribers get unlimited Web access, five e-mail accounts and up to 25MB of storage.
CDMA2000-based, 1xEV-DO, (1x Evolution – Data Only), is a high-speed cousin of the 2.5G system (CDMA2000 1X), which Sprint and Verizon launched earlier this year. That service provides an always-on connection with data rates comparable to dial-up as well as voice communications.
The data-only 1xEV-DO system provides peak rates of over 2 Mbps, with an average throughput of 300 -700 kbps - comparable to wireline DSL services. Verizon began testing 1xEV-DO in San Diego and Washington DC this June. It uses only 1.25 MHz of spectrum so it fits in current PCS channels. Applications in high-speed mobile and Fixed Wireless Internet are projected. UCSD’s CyberShuttle uses 802.11b inside the bus while 1XEV-DO provides a 2.4 Mbps backbone - even at 65 miles per hour.
IPWireless uses a similar CDMA technogy over the MMDS band. While conventional UMTS systems use frequency-division duplex (FDD) or “paired” spectrum, the IPWireless system operates over time-division duplex (TDD) or “unpaired” spectrum. Data-only TDD systems are more spectrally efficient than FDD systems, because they use one channel for both upstream and downstream traffic rather than two.
Monet offers high-speed, mobile internet access using 1xEV-DO CDMA in the licensed PCS band (at 1.9 GHz) but it doesn’t provide voice services. Voice delivered over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is a service that is probably at least a year away.
“With Monet people can go outdoors, travel across town, move from room to room or anywhere in our network, and still have access to the Internet experience they have come to depend upon from their computers at home, school or at work,” said George Tronsrue III, chairman and CEO, Monet Mobile Networks.
“QUALCOMM congratulates Monet Mobile on the launch of the nation’s first commercial 1xEV-DO network,” said Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, chairman and CEO of QUALCOMM. “This launch exemplifies what 1xEV-DO technology brings to business and residential users – fast, affordable wireless access to the Internet. 1xEV-DO’s flexibility, high-speed, ‘always-on’ features make it ideal for enabling wireless Internet access in fixed, portable or mobile environments.”
LG Electronics is providing the network infrastructure. LG has leveraged its experience in South Korea to support the commercial launch of Monet Broadband in the United States.
Monet will upgrade its existing networks in Sioux Falls, S.D., Fargo, and Grand Forks, N.D., Moorhead, MN and Eau Claire, WI to 1xEV-DO in November. The company offers its high-speed, mobile Internet service to small and mid-sized markets that have a high Internet penetration, but limited access to broadband.
Customers can use Monet Broadband by installing the GTRAN DotSurfer 6200. Wireless PC card modems will be compatible with desktop, laptop and handheld PCs. Both Monet and IPWireless reportedly plan to use PC Cards equipped with SIM cardholders for roaming. The GTRAN modem costs $330; but with one year of service, the modem’s cost drops to $100. Proxim and Ericsson will jointly develop SIM-based authentication for public WLAN access. All Monet needs is a CDMA operator like Sprint or Verizon to cough up some spectrum for mobile, high-speed wireless. Easier said than done.
Using cellular frequencies to deliver high speed data could be risky business. Frequencies are hard to come by in urban areas. Worse, while some 50 voice users may use a single cellular channel (with an average monthly bill over $50), the same frequency could easily get hogged by one data-user at home.
Competition from “4G” systems like Arraycomm, Flarion, NextNet and IO Span use variations on COFDM. Some analyists believe OFDM is favored for the future because it is more spectrally efficient and handles multipath better. Flarion’s flash-OFDM PC Card, for example, claims hand-off to Wi-Fi networks, lower costs and higher speeds.
Picking winners is probably premature but bets are being placed. It’s showtime for mobile wireless.
