Enjoying High-Speed Internet On TheBus

I admit that I haven’t used our wonderful transportation system since I learned how to drive many years ago. But now I actually have a reason to actually ride TheBus with high-speed Internet available onboard.

Sprint Hawaii recently launched its 3G EVDO (Evolution Data Optimized) secure, wireless high-speed data service. The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services allowed Sprint to equip one of its buses to demonstrate how public transportation could be a more attractive option by having high-speed Internet access available while commuting.

“I’m excited about EVDO’s potential, and will be directing my administration to look closely into how this type of service could be made available to public transportation patrons,” said Mayor Hanneman. “While the recent spike in gas prices and costly parking fees make public transportation increasingly appealing, EVDO would enable commuters to jump start their work day before ever stepping foot into the office,” Hanneman added.

The American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle has also been equipped with EVDO service. This donation allows the Hawaii Red Cross to have a fully functioning mobile office at the scene of major disasters, such as last year’s Manoa flood.

You may remember my recent story on the EDGE technology having average download speeds of up 70 to 135 kilobits per second (Kbps), but EVDO definitely beats it with a faster average download speed of 400 to 700 Kbps. That means it would basically take you an average of one minute to download an mp3. Sprint is expanding its Power Vision EVDO high-speed wireless network to about 200 markets and more than 400 airports nationwide. Some of the airports include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas McCarran, Honolulu, Kahului, Kona and Lihue.

The demand for wireless data is growing. Wireless data subscribers in the U.S. are expected to grow from 9.1 million in 2003 to 31 million by 2007. EVDO is secure – it uses CDMA. It’s a technology that encodes, scrambles, encrypts and modulates data in multiple ways to ensure critical information can only be accessed by authorized users.

EVDO phones available are the Sprint PPC-6700 with Windows 5.0, Sanyo MM-9000 and Samsung MM-A940. You can also use EVDO-ready Sprint PCS Connection Cards – the Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 and the Novatel Wireless Merlin S620.

Order your own EVDO service at any Sprint Store, the Sprint sales office (841-4144) or www.sprint.com. There’s a promotional plan going on now for $59.99 per month if you sign a two-year service agreement, contact Sprint directly for more details.