EVDO Rev B

EVDO Rev B

At the CTIA Wireless Show last week (Orlando, March 2007), Qualcomm announced EVDO Rev B. EVDO Rev B uses 3 channels of EVDO Rev A (3.1Mbps) to achieve a maximum speed of 9.3Mbps. Or, take the average speed of EVDO Rev A and multiple by 3 and you get the average speeds of EVDO Rev B.

A Few Facts...

• Software only upgrade for EVDO Rev A Towers
• Requires new chipset for PC Cards (EVDO Rev A cannot be upgraded - you need a new card)
• Available to carriers later this year, could be later 2008/2009 before available?
• Current EVDO Rev A has a maximum of 3.1Mbps, Rev B uses 3 channels to achieve the 3X speeds (or 9.3Mbps).
• Verizon or Sprint have not yet announced they are going to Rev B (yet).
• in a demo we saw, streaming of 8.7Mbps - 9.0Mbps was constant.

Neither Verizon or Sprint has announced EVDO Rev B. Qualcomm is only announcing it for the carriers and it may not be ready for delivery until later in 2007. We would expect 2008/2009 as a date to see Rev B (perfect timing when your current 2 year contract expires).

Related Articles:

• EVDO Rev B - EVDOinfo.com
• Discuss EVDO Rev B - EVDOforums.com