I had been checking into what was available for accessing the Internet by wireless connection throughout the country. Things are not as advanced as I had thought. First, let me summarize what I have found about cell phone services and then talk about data.
I was carrying Nextel iDEN, Sprint PCS, and GTE MobilNet phones in addition to a pager. The Nextel phone was from the company; Sprint was for personal access throughout the country, and the older analog GTE service was for emergencies.
I had found Sprint to be available in only selected, highly urban areas even though they talk about how they are expanding. I rarely had access to my Sprint phone service, which is too bad because their service is very good when it is available. I had 300 free minutes of airtime, no roaming charges and free long distance with the service. However, I get the impression Sprint has plateaued.
The Nextel iDEN service was available in many places we have been so far, though they do not reach into the canyons and remote campgrounds. Quality of service was not so good, and the sound broke up too much. The push-to-talk feature only works around Northen CA. There is a charge for each minute of airtime and long distance.
The GTE MobilNet phone showed that it had signal most everywhere, even in some remote locations. However, we only turned on the phone in emergencies because of the 99cent roaming charges outside the Bay Area. There was no voice mail associated with it, so we generally do not accept any calls coming to it.
After looking around, a new service that looked very good was the AT&T One Rate plan for cellular which offered combined digital and analog services at the same rate throughout the USA: for $90/month (or $120 or $150) they offer 600 (or 1000 or 1400) free minutes of air time, no roaming charges (all local calls), and free long distance. After 600 minutes, it is 25cents per minute air time. They do require the purchase of a specific multi-mode phone (e.g., Ericsson LX77 or the Nokia 6160 which costs $250). With the combination of digital and analog the service is ubiquitous throughout the USA with a few blank areas like the middle of AZ (??). AT&T also offers some special regional plans for their digital services, but they are somewhat limited in area and services.
Now, about data with cell phones. GTE has the most mature service, their Wireless Circuit Data Service, based on circuit switched technology, lets you send and receive data in real time - modem to modem - over regular cellular voice channels. Therefore it is "ubiquitous" to the US. However, GTE does not offer that widespread a service, so you pay roaming charges (usually 99cents/minute outside your home state) and long distance charges when you are not in a GTE service area. I have been told that speeds are commonly closer to 2400 baud.
GTE also has their Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) for its Wireless Packet Data Service. CDPD, an overlay to the existing cellular network, is a wireless packet network service based on the familiar Internet Protocol. Wireless Packet Data Service enables users to transmit data at 19.2 Kbps over the cellular network using a portable computing device and a CDPD modem. But this mode suffers from the same charges as analog connections and has the additional limitations of only operating within CDPD areas, which is even more restricted.
Nextel iDEN does not appear to offer any kind of digital service. Nor does Sprint PCS. It may be in the wings, but there is no indication on their web sites of future services. AT&T One Rate says they will have TDMA digital services "soon". A gal at their 800 number said in July (but do not quote her), and a saleman in San Antonio said September. The Ericsson phone that is compatible with their service has an attachable $400 modem that may work, but there is little information about it or its uses. Nokia is already offering Wireless Data software for their other phones, but Nokia Customer Service said the 6160 was not compatible with the existing software. Their website mentions that version 2.0 will be available in September, which matches with some of the information from AT&T. One thing I have not been able to determine is if the digital services will work over both the digital and analog circuits.
I have also checked into DirectPC from Hughes. This appears to be a great service for someone who has a fixed base (requires a special antenna and land line) and who wants to download big chunks of data from the Internet. I will keep my eye on it, but at this time it does not appear to fit the needs of a road warrior very well.
I also made an interesting contact while in San Antonio. A fellow at the Kinkos I was using said he was in the business of distributing wireless Internet connectivity from Alphacom. He demonstrated a device and gave me a newsletter. The website he mentioned www.networkalpha.com appears to be under construction and is directed to upcoming distributers. I will be doing some followup on this, but I am not sure about it at this point. So, my plans are the following: I am going to discontinue GTE and Sprint and go to AT&T One Rate. I will buy the Nokia 6160 phone and put in an order for the data software as soon as it becomes available. I will return the Nextel phone to my company so someone else can use it. In the meantime, I now have a good list of sources to find to get on the Internet while on the road, including a list of modem friendly RV parks. I will be able to get into email and do some surfing for specific items on the WWW, but I will not be spending hours doing research there. When the Nokia software comes out, we will re-evaluate how the data services work. If that does well, I will switch over to that service whenever I can. Right now, it looks like the best bet.
sjp