Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) will upgrade their wireless network to 3G using Alcatel-Lucent gear. “The network upgrade includes the deployment of third-generation (3G) CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) technology." Shentel's wireless network, Shenandoah Personal Communications Company, is a Sprint PCS Affiliate of Sprint Nextel. Shentel serves markets in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. “With this upgrade to our network, we will be able to give our customers access to some of the most advanced wireless technology available today, technology that will provide unequalled quality and reliability for both their voice and data communications,” said Chris French, President of Shentel.

Several blogs, including Boy Genius Report (BGR) and Engadget are reporting that Sprint intends to launch their version of femtocell service nationwide sometime this month. Sprint has been trialing femtocell technology in Denver and Indianapolis. Sprint’s femtocell product, Airave, sets up a mini cell tower in a subscriber’s home and utilizes the subscriber’s home broadband service as the transport medium into the core network. Femtocells are seen as a potentially disruptive force on the competitive landscape because in theory, they’ll provide better in home coverage for wireless calls. That better in-home coverage may provide enough ammunition for customers who saw poor in-home coverage as a reason not to cut their home wireline service, to go ahead and cut it now.

Sprint will sell the Airave for $99 and tack on an additional $15/month or $30/month depending on the existing wireless plan (individual vs. family, etc.), providing unlimited calls through the Airave. BGR reports that Sprint femtocell service may only be available to customers who subscribe to an unlimited wireless plan. Unlike similar products from T-Mobile, Sprint’s Airave does not utilize Wi-Fi. Rather it uses the CDMA technology present in all of its handsets, meaning any existing Sprint customer will be able to use an Airave, not just the ones with a Wi-Fi enabled handset.

Sprint unveiled a consumer-targeted femtocell base station for use with all of their CDMA handsets today. Femtocell strategies aim to improve indoor wireless coverage, and may help to accelerate wireless substitution for traditional landlines. The Sprint femtocell product, Airave, is manufactured by Samsung, and routes mobile handset calls through the customer's home broadband connection. Sprint will sell the Airave for $50 with a monthly price tag of $15/individual or $30/family plan, and has launched the platform in Denver and Indianapolis initially. The monthly fees cover unlimited calling through the femtocell platform.

One hurdle for many consumers aiming to ditch their landline completely in favor of wireless "only" service has been poor wireless coverage within their home. If femtocells prove to be effective, that hurdle is now removed. Ajit Bhatia, director of product management for Sprint commented, “…with unlimited in-home wireless calling, the AIRAVE makes it even more convenient for customers to rely on their Sprint phones at home." Maybe convenient enough to no longer need a landline.

Verizon Wireless (VZW) announced that they have completed upgrading their entire broadband wireless network to EVDO Rev. A. The service is marketed through their BroadbandAccess brand and provides broadband download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (Kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second (Mbps) and average upload speeds of 500-800 Kbps.

VZW can lay claim to the largest mobile broadband wireless network in the U.S., with Sprint running a close second. While AT&T can argue their mobile wireless broadband network is larger, they simply cannot offer the same network performance with their EDGE based network. Expect VZW to pounce on their rivals, especially AT&T with this news. I would expect some direct or indirect reference to the AT&T’s EDGE network not being able to support all of the wonderful multimedia applications being offered for the iPhone.