From The Wall Street Journal: "For years, cellphone carriers have been promising a revolution: wireless Web surfing from anywhere. The frustrating reality -- pokey speeds and uneven coverage.

"Now, in a potential big step forward for wireless users, Verizon Wireless is upgrading its service in several cities to give its customers high-speed Internet access anywhere the company's cellphone network reaches.

"Initially, Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone company, will roll out the service only in the San Diego and Washington, D.C., areas... The company says that if it decides to go forward with a national rollout, it could have the service ready in about a year. To access the service on a laptop, customers must install a wireless card and subscribe to the Verizon Wireless service for about $80 a month.

"Aside from browsing the Web, subscribers will also be able to read their e-mail and download other documents at faster speeds than current wireless alternatives...

"The carrier... promises speeds averaging between 300 and 500 kilobits per second using the new technology... only a little slower than many people get with their broadband Internet connections, through a DSL or a cable modem...

"While Verizon Wireless is generally regarded as having the most extensive network of the major carriers, its network still covers only about 80% of the nation's population."

The Wall Street Journal has the full story.

My Thoughts:

Beyond AM...Beyond FM...Beyond XM? Yes. How about IM! Internet Modulation.

What am I talking about? How about listening to your favorite Internet radio station in a metropolitian area where Verizon services its true third generation, or 3G, network, the first of its kind launched in the United States by a nationwide cell-phone company? You can in San Diego today as Verizon Wireless launches a mobile Internet service that provides speeds comparable to the speeds of broadband on cable and DSL throughout San Diego County, which is probably the most wired area for broadband. Now with 3G wireless being launched, along with WI-FI, and Ricochet and Verizon Wireless, San Diego is also known as the most "unwired" area for the Internet.

Although the cost is $80 a month, fans of Internet radio who want a more dependable connection for listening to their favorite high-speed near CD-quality Internet broadcasts on their computer will be able to listen to WLUP, DFSX, Real Radio 99.3, and tens of thousands of others of their choice (better reconsider getting your signals on the Internet, Clear Channel) anywhere in San Diego County.

Thanks to Verizon Wireless, DFSX Comedy Radio, and thousands of other Internet radio stations, will be competeting directly (though costly on the consumers' part) with satellite and terrestrial radio.

With Verizon Wireless being launched to provide better Internet radio, it's only a matter of time before some wizard can come up with a contraption that can easily tune in any Internet stream by calling the station up by the numbers and letters instead of going to a website and clicking on the "listen live" link. This has got to happen sooner.

Of course, you can surf the websites and get e-mail faster, but why pay that much for an Internet service if you're NOT going to be using it for better-quality Internet radio? Ricochet, by comparison, costs about $45 a month, but speeds are not as fast, but still 2-3 times faster than a dial-up 56k modem. You can still get Internet radio on Ricochet by the way, but higher-bit Internet streams may sometimes drop in and out depending on where you're at.

According to the Union-Tribune, Verizon is planning an aggressive advertising and sales campaign for the service, initialy targeting businesses and what it calls "mobile professionals." This is the market for the $80 a month service. This comparable with the speeds of broadband costing about $45 for cable by Cox and Time Warner, and $49 (regular price) for DSL by the phone company.

Also on the horizon: AT&T Wireless plans to launch the EDGE technology by the end of the year providing slower speeds than Verizon's. AT&T also plans to offer a super-fast wireless Internet service with speeds similar to Verizon's G3 technology.

The fledgling WI-FI companies also figure into the future with the launch of their own competetive services. For now, WI-FI offers super fast Internet speeds, but only if you're in a select location such as a coffeehouse or other hot spots. As of 2003, there will be about 12,000.

For now, Verizon is testing the G3 wireless Internet service in San Diego and Washington D.C. only. If there is demand for such a service, then there will be a fair number of subscribers for the service during the test run period.

We hope that the service is so good that you can listen to your favorite Internet radio station on your portable laptop computer while you drive (caution: do not change channels while you are driving, pull over to tune in or ask a passenger to change the stations for you while you drive).

If consumers in the test markets embrace Verizon's plans and this rolls out nationally, this could be an earth-shattering development for Internet radio, according to kurthanson.com

Also from Kurt Hanson: We think the headline The Journal uses for this article in the Wall Street Journal misuses the term "Wi-Fi" to describe this technology, which does not appear to be based on 802.11 standards. That is, unless the term is entering the vernacular as a synonym for any wireless Internet access.