Cingular expects 90 percent GSM/GPRS coverage by end ’03
Dec. 17, 2002 1:52 PM EST
ATLANTA—Updating plans to overlay its entire network with GSM-based technology, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. said it has deployed GSM/GPRS services over more than 50 percent of its potential customer base by the end of this year, plans to have 90 percent coverage by the end of next year and full coverage by mid-2004. The carrier also noted the planned overlay was on time and on budget.
By the end of this year, Cingular said it will be providing GSM/ GPRS service in New York, California, Connecticut, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Rhode Island, central Florida, coastal Georgia as well as in Detroit, Indianapolis and Philadelphia.
Cingular also said it has been installing adaptive multi-rate speech channels in its GSM/GPRS network designed to double spectral efficiency of its network when used with AMR-enabled handsets. In addition, Cingular said it was using 850 MHz GSM infrastructure and expects to offer more than 20 different GSM handsets, six of which operating on both 850 MHz and 1.9 GHz spectrum bands, as well as some handsets with AMR technology.
Cingular added that it had begun testing EDGE software on its network and expects all of its major markets will be both hardware and software enabled for the enhanced GPRS technology by the end of next year.
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