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`TECHNOLOGY; Verizon Plans Fast
`Internet For Cellphones
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`By MATT RICHTEL JAN. 9, 2004
`Verizon Wireless said yesterday that it would deploy an advanced data
`network that will allow people to use the Internet at high speed on mobile
`phones and other devices, including laptop computers.
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`Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest mobile phone provider, said it
`would spend $1 billion on the network over the next two years. The move
`intensifies a game of oneupmanship among the leading mobile phone
`companies, which are seeking to outdo each other in offering data services
`over airwaves once devoted to phone traffic.
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`The move also underscores how technology is allowing
`telecommunications companies to expand into new markets from their core
`businesses. The data network that Verizon Wireless plans will be fast enough
`to compete with highspeed Internet access offered through traditional
`telephone or cable lines, industry analysts said.
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`The announcement came a day after Verizon Communications, the
`telephone giant that owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, said it would spend
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`$2 billion by the end of 2005 to upgrade its terrestrial network to better carry
`voice, data and video transmissions simultaneously.
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`The chief executive of Verizon, Ivan G. Seidenberg, said in an interview
`that the moves reflected a shift at the company toward focusing on data
`services. ''This pushes us away from being voicecentric,'' Mr. Seidenberg said.
`''We're moving away from the legacy business.''
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`Mr. Seidenberg spoke from Las Vegas, at the Consumer Electronics Show,
`the major annual convention of gadget makers and technology companies. He
`said he attended the show to demonstrate Verizon's commitment to becoming
`a provider of network connections to phones and other electronic devices.
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`The Verizon moves are not unexpected, according to industry analysts,
`who pointed out that other telecommunications companies are making similar
`moves to upgrade their networks.
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`Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst with the Yankee Group, a
`market research firm, said that AT&T Wireless now has the fastest data
`network, which permits users to download data at about 100 kilobits to 130
`kilobits a second.
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`Verizon Wireless expects to offer speeds of 300 kilobits to 500 kilobits a
`second, which is comparable to typical downloading speeds on digital service
`lines or cable modem lines, Mr. Entner said. He said Cingular and Sprint
`typically offer slower wireless data transmission speeds, but he expects them
`to upgrade their networks.
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`''A few months ago, Verizon and Sprint had the lead,'' Mr. Entner said.
`''AT&T has had it for a few months and will have it on a nationwide basis for a
`while.'' He added that it may then be awhile before the competitors catch up
`with Verizon.
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`The pledge by Verizon and Verizon Wireless to spend a total of $3 billion
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`to expand their data networks is still a fraction of the $55 billion that Mr.
`Seidenberg said Verizon has invested in infrastructure since 2000.
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`He went on to say that this week's announcements did not signal new
`spending, but were indications of how Verizon is using resources. And he said
`it was too soon to tell whether Verizon would increase planned infrastructure
`spending this year, and whether the industry was starting to see an upswing in
`equipment investment.
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`© 2016 The New York Times Company
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