Speedy mobile service on the horizon

Wireless carriers are working with the University of Virginia to bring third-generation, or 3G, data transfer technology to Charlottesville and parts of the UVa campus.

University officials said John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium are already online and that UVa is working with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to extend coverage to student residence areas.

Increased demand for faster and more advanced wireless data services is driving the expansion of the 3G network, AT&T spokeswoman Ellen Webner wrote in an e-mail. Verizon is also expanding its 3G equivalent and latest wireless data service, called EVDO Rev A. The two networks offer greater downloading speed, for live video sharing, sending and receiving e-mails and surfing the Web.

Verizon’s EVDO Rev A has a speed of 1.4 megabits per second, about twice as fast as the downloading speed available with EVDO Rev 0, the network it’s replacing.

A speed of 1.4 mbps allows for a small PowerPoint or large PDF file to download in about eight seconds and send in less than 13 seconds, Sherri Cunningham, Verizon Wireless spokeswoman said. AT&T’s 3G network offers “peak theoretical” speeds of nearly 4 megabits per second, according to Webner.

Both companies offer unlimited 3G data plans for about $70 a month.

The $4.5 million project includes upgrades to Alderman and McCormick first-year residence areas that are “very likely” to be completed by the beginning of fall semester. Eight other residence areas are scheduled to join the network by the end of fall term. The three wireless carriers are covering the entire cost of the multi-million dollar project.

“Since the students pay the carriers it made sense for them to fund the project,” said James Jokl, UVa’s director of communications and systems.

Webner said the company plans to introduce 3G capabilities to its overall Charlottesville network by early fall, but couldn’t commit to a specific date or whether or not AT&T would begin the service in the entire area in concert with the UVa services.Rumors about AT&T’s 3G network have circulated among Char-lottesville residents, with some speculating that 3G may only cover UVa Grounds.

Webner said AT&T’s 3G network will cover Charlottesville. The projected coverage area forms an oval around the city, reaching from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport in the north to Interstate 64 in the south.

Verizon reported that it has already updated the former Alltel towers in the area to provide EVDO Rev-A to the Charlottesville area.

“We upgraded more than 100 former Alltel sites to have EVDO Rev A,” Cunningham said.

The UVa project will bring 3G data-transfer capabilities as well as improved cell phone reception to JPJ, Scott Stadium and 10 student residence areas.

Construction in the McCormick Road Student Residence areas, known as the “old dorms,” began last week, Jokl said. Next in line is the Alderman Road Student Residence area. Jokl couldn’t provide a specific date for the project’s completion because UVa is trying to schedule installation work around the daily lives of people living and working in the buildings, so as to minimize inconveniences.

Construction entails putting in new cabling and small cellular radio antennas inside the buildings, Jokl explained. The buildings are linked to a central hub with fiber optic cable. The cellular carriers install their equipment at this hub. There, the equipment interfaces between their wireless networks and UVa’s in-building cellular system, Jokl wrote.

Reception is spotty at best in the dorms, according to Natalie Tatum, a rising fourth-year at UVa who lived in Dabney House in the McCormick Road Student Residence area as a first-year. Tatum uses an LG Dare with Verizon.

“I found one specific spot on my windowsill where I got service,” Tatum said.

Verizon was the first to sign on, in April 2008, then operating as Alltel, Jokl said. AT&T was second to commit to the project, followed by T-Mobile. UVa needed three carriers to keep the price low enough to be attractive to the carriers, Jokl said. He said once the student-focused project is complete the university is open to working with other wireless carriers to extend 3G wireless network technology to the rest of the campus.

“They’re the first wave and anyone who joins after the fact will be the second wave,” Jokl said.