Vodafone Launches 3G For Laptops In Germany, Italy

How does a phone company meet their regulatory requirements to launch a 3G network, address an underserved market, and not run into all the foibles that have plagued Hutchison and FOMA as they launched their 3G voice networks? By launching 3G only for data.Vodafone PLC has Launched a 3G service for laptops equipped with specific PCMCIA cards in Germany and Italy. The service is simpler because the cards are standardized, and they draw battery power from the laptop. However, Vodafone will still have the challenges of limited coverage and tricky handoff to 2.5G networks - it will just be harder for the customer to recognize the service interruption. This seems like a good way of entering the 3G UMTS fray. (sidenote: this is irrelevant for CDMA carriers, who migrate to 3G EV-DO)

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Vodafone Launches 3G For Laptops In Germany, Italy

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