What's new with Broadband in the US?

If you are one of the millions of Internet users who go out of their way to find hotels with in-room broadband, or sip their Vente flavor-of-the-day Latte at their nearest coffee shop while filing sales reports form on the road, take heart. There's a new flavor of broadband in town (but maybe not yours yet) and it's streaming from the nearest cellular phone tower.

Major cellular providers including Cingular, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless are rolling out cellular Internet access data networks that are nearly as robust as DSL. And although coverage isn't everywhere you look yet, it may very well be anywhere that you want to be.

Magnifying glasses not required

Now don't go thinking that you'll be hunting and pecking your way over a miniature cell phone keyboard, these coffee shop killer networks use special WiFi cards to connect directly to your portable PC. Think "hotspot" without the walls.

This latest and greatest invention comes at an average cost of around $60 to $80 per month for unlimited access, and there's a one-time cost of about $100 for a special wireless access card that plugs into our portable PC.

Solid performance and true high-speed access

Offers and features vary among providers, and each one is working hard to outdo the others. For example, Cingular has announced their latest High Speed Downlink Packet Access technology that claims to provide download speeds between 400 to 700 Kbps. That's pretty close to what the average DSL users gets now. The cellular provider is also planning to introduce plug-in handsets that will allow their users to talk and connect to the 'net at the same time.

Not to be outdone, Sprint says they will be introducing an upgrade to their Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) service to speeds of between 500 to 800 kbs. They expect to be fully deployed in over 260 markets in the next few years.

Verizon is another key player in this market and already has coverage in 30 metro areas. Their $79.99 all-you-can-eat wireless access boasts download speeds of close to 500Kbps. Someone that I know in Florida enjoys the stereotyped "work at home" lifestyle by using her wireless broadband service to connect to the Internet while she's working at the beach, on the boat, or simply lazing around her pool and patio!

What all of this means is that the days of being hardwired to the Internet are disappearing and productivity from road warriors, freelancers, and off-site employees is getting ready to reach all time highs.

Sure, $60 to $80 per month might be a bit more than the average recreational Internet users wants to pay, but it's a drop in the bucket for the business users who gets to write it all off anyway. Couple the relatively unrestricted access with the ability to use Internet telephony applications from anywhere that you can grab a wireless signal, and you may see a huge dip in small office rental rates as more and more one and two person businesses opt to grab free office space anywhere they can park their car (or boat).

And don't let the spotty coverage scare you off. It was only a few years ago that your cell phone didn't work in more places than it did work. It won't be very long until wireless Internet access is available anywhere that has a Zip Code.

Even though these services are slated to be a big hit in the U.S. and other developed nations, some really big market share may come from under-developed nations that do not have an acceptable wired infrastructure to support traditional broadband access.

There's more than surfing and talking available

Look for high-speed streaming video movie rental services, extended-action peer-to-peer (P2P) gaming networks, and even broadband television stations to jump into this new technology with both feet. Even online gambling sites are drooling over the prospects of Texas Hold 'Em players betting the big bucks from anywhere they happen to be when the poker bug bites.

In an era where it's hard to be wowed by new gadgetry, this newest member of the broadband family just might be the hammer that breaks down the last of the Internet's barrier to access for anyone who has a cellular tower in their line of site and under $100 bucks per month to trade for some true wireless freedom!