EDGE Evolution will speed up existing networks
With everyone all "EV-DO" this and "HSUPA" that these days, there doesn't seem to be a lot of love for our old friend EDGE anymore (the wireless data protocol, not the U2 guitarist). Well Ericsson has just announced plans to upgrade the long-in-the-tooth spec to a zippy 1Mbps by 2009, citing EDGE Evolution as a feasible stopgap solution that will squeeze a few more years (and a few more dollars) out of those legacy networks. Basically a software upgrade to existing hardware, Evolution allows the network to operate more efficiently and consequently deliver two to three times the bandwidth of plain jane EDGE. It's not clear, however, if current handsets can be modified to take advantage of the higher speeds, so while it would be great to wake up one day with a supercharged phone, we're not holding our breath.
Filed under: EDGE
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Creon @ Mar 15th 2007 10:47AM
What in the world is the point of this if existing handsets can't be upgraded? It's like AOL offering "high-speed dial-up" ... that doesn't work with current dial-up modems. Who in their right mind is going to upgrade to EDGE Evolution if, by the time it rolls out, every major carrier has 3G networks?
mroach @ Mar 15th 2007 11:31AM
Haha, EDGE already stands for Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution, so this new upgrade would be Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution Evolution. Might want to re-think that, SE.
Robert @ Mar 15th 2007 5:52PM
rofl! thats exactly what i was thinking! lol! Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution Evolution... Which would basically be evolution squared, which is just EDGE2. So why not just call it EDGE2? lol
alanwestenbroek @ Mar 15th 2007 6:57PM
There are lots of networks that won't be UMTS/HSDPA by 2009 - see all of Latin America, for example - and a simple software upgrade like this is an excellent stopgap for them. It's brilliant on the part of Ericsson, who will have plenty of EDGE-EVO handsets to sell to those networks' customers.