Sierra Wireless Aircard 875 Launched at CTIA
Just read this posting from MobileCrunch about Sierra Wireless released a new version of its Aircard line of 3G PCMCIA cards in the US for mobile network operator, Cingular. This particular release now supports HSDPA (also known as 3.5G).
Sierra Wireless and Cingular Wireless have announced that they will be releasing the AirCard 875. The AirCard 875 is a 3G LaptopConnect card and also the first HSDPA 3.6 Mbps network card in America. The new AirCard will allow Cingular customers to have a mobile broadband connection in over 100 countries. The card will be retailing for $99.99 (after rebate) when Cingular customers sign up for a two-year unlimited DataConnect contract ($59.00). Not too bad of a deal if you’re always on the go.
Depending on which flavor of HSDPA is used the bandwidth would vary. HSDPA with QPSK modulation with 5 Code allocation will typically offer up to 1.8 Mbit/s peak data rates. While, 16QAM modulation with 5 Codes will increase this to 3.6 Mbit/s. Now that is quite a bit of bandwidth. I just hope the Node B (3G term for base stations controllers) backhaul bandwidth is sufficient.
Fortunately in the Philippines, both PLDT and Globe are already releasing 3 and 3.5G Wireless PCMCIA cards in the market. PLDT is going with the Sierra Wireless card and Globe is going with a Huawei E620. I did a PC Magazine Philippines feature a few months ago. You guys might want to check that out for more details on the two products.
