In the US, the nation's largest wireless company Cingular Wireless has launched a high-speed wireless Internet service called BroadbandConnect. The service is available in 16 markets. The move brings the company into line with rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint, who already have similar offerings.
"I think it's quite frankly going to have an impact on the way in which we run our personal lives," said Ralph de la Vega, Cingular's chief operating officer. He added that it will also allow business users to access their work files.
The service will allow customers to wirelessly access their e-mail and to download large files. BroadbandConnect is currently available only on laptop computers, but will later be expanded to include phones that are capable of using the service. The service is about five times faster than Cingular's existing data network, and costs $59.99 a month for unlimited use.