Verizon Wireless has extended its third-generation (define) network in New York and New Jersey, giving itself a broader audience to market money-making services to.

The Bedminster, N.J., carrier's network supports BroadbandAccess, a mobile Internet service for laptops, and Vcast, a content package featuring news, sports and entertainment video clips for handsets. The offerings cost $79.99 and $15 per month, respectively.

The nation's second-largest mobile carrier (Cingular is the largest) said its advanced network now reaches further into Brooklyn and Queens. On Long Island, it's available along the southern shore and parts of north shore, including Port Jefferson and Centerport.

North of the city, 3G reaches southern Rockland County, including Nyack and Pearl River, and in southern and central portions of Westchester County, including White Plains.

In New Jersey, the service runs south along the Jersey Shore to the Ocean County border, west into Morris and Somerset counties, and north to Alpine in Bergen County.

During the first three months of the year, Verizon Wireless invested $138 million in network enhancements in the New York Metro area, following $475 million in capital spending last year, Verizon Wireless said.

Verizon Wireless switched on its 3G network in 30 U.S. cities this year and has steadily pushed out from those hubs, using base stations from network equipment maker Lucent Technologies.

Earlier this week, the company, which is owned by regional telecom Verizon Communications and British carrier Vodafone, announced additional coverage in Seattle and 10 communities in Greater Atlanta.

The expansion of the 3G network around New York comes as Verizon Communications is phasing out its free Wi-Fi (define) service, which put hotspot (define) gear at pay phones. The initiative, begun in 2003, no longer made economic or strategic sense.

Verizon 3G = EV-DO
Verizon started rolling out its 3G network last September. The carrier's high-speed service runs alongside the company's traditional CDMA nework. It is based on what's called 1xEV-DO (evolution data only) technology.

As a 3G service, EV-DO data travels at typical speeds of 400 to 700 kilobits per second (Kbps), and can theoretically achieve transmission rates of 2.4 megabits per second. With an EV-D0 compatible handset (such as the Verizon's new Samsung SCH-i730 Pocket PC Phone—see top image) or a network card for a laptop, you can take advantage of EV-DO's fast performance.

That is, if you lay out the $79.99 per month mentioned above.

At the moment, it appears the only other smartphone besides the SCH-i730—due for general release early next month—from Verizon to support EV-DO is the UTStarcom/Audiovox XV6600 Pocket PC Phone (See our review of Sprint's version of the device).

This handset's keyboard is retractable. That's a good thing, because no one will ever confuse the 4.92 x 2.83 x 0.75 inch and 7.4 ounce smartphone with one of its more compact brethren, like the SCH-i730.

It integrates Bluetooth, and features a 400MHz CPU,1 28MB of RAM, an integrated VGA camera, and a SDIO Secure Digital slot. The smartphone's display measures 3.5 inches diagonally and supports the Pocket PC standard 240 x 320 pixel resolution at 65,536 colors.


Keyboard Exposed

Another device from UTStarcom/Audiovox, the CDM8940, supports the Verizon's VCAST service.

This mobile phone has a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder (with built-in flash). It offers memory expansion up to 512 MB through a mini-SD slot. Other features include a 2-inch, 262K-color main screen and an outer 1.2-inch display at the same color depth. The dual-band/EV-DO handset (800/1900 MHz CDMA) is equipped with the MSM6500 chipset with GPSOne capability (E911 Phase2 Supported). It also offers two-way MMS/SMS, a built-in speakerphone, voice-activated dialing and vibrating alert.

The handset's dimensions are 3.4 x 1.8 x 1.0 inches and it weighs 3.9 ounces. Its standard rechargeable lithium ion battery should last for 220 minutes of talk time or up to 190 hours of standby time.

Verizon Expands 3G Network