Verizon Bails On EV-DO Network
Verizon announced a potential blow to Qualcomm today when they said they're putting off implementing an EV-DO high speed wireless network for an undetermined amount of time. They say they're going to focus on their recently launched 2.5G network instead, saying that consumers haven't shown a willingness to make use of higher speed wireless data networks. They're missing the point. Users have shown a tremendous willingness to make use of higher speed wireless data networks - just look at WiFi. Dumping 3G plans now because no one buys into your poorly marketed, poorly priced 2.5G plans isn't getting at the real problem. Whereas an EV-DO network had the potential to offer something consumers really want, now they'll be stuck trying to count the bytes on the 1xRTT network that doesn't have very many compelling apps.
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