Alltel announced the launch of EVDO Rev. A service across multiple markets. Alltel plans an initial rollout of Rev. A to 18 market areas. Rev. A download speeds average 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps, with bursts up to 3.1 Mbps and upload speeds average 500-800 Kbps with bursts up to 1.8 Mbps. Alltel also announced it will continue to expand its existing EVDO network, which now covers 76 percent of its potential customers. By the end of 2008, Alltel expects to cover about 82 percent of its potential customers with EVDO. The service will be priced at $59.99/month.

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.