Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Or better yet, when a leaked roadmap doesn't get delayed in the slightest? After months upon months of waiting, broadband-lovin' citizens in the North Carolina Triangle and Triad will be celebrating alongside DFW residents and Chicago natives as Sprint's 4G WiMAX service rolls into town. As of right now (that's today, junior), consumers in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Charlotte, NC; Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas and Chicago, Illinois can roll into a Sprint store and snag a U300 3G / 4G WWAN modem on a $69.99 monthly data plan. We're told that San Antonio and Austin will get lit up later this month, while Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii; Salem, Oregon and Seattle, Washington will join the fray before 2010. Oh, and did we mention that Palm's favorite carrier finally snagged itself a WWAN-equipped netbook? 'Cause the Dell Mini 10 is available starting today for $199.99 at select Sprint stores in the metropolitan Baltimore area.

Update: Looks like Sprint changed "Baltimore" to "Bay Area." Odd.

Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triangle
Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triad
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Charlotte, NC
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Chicago, IL
Read - Sprint's first netbook is Dell Mini 10

We'll come right out and say it, we like Julius Genachowski. Whether you agree with the dude's policies or not, you can't deny he's pursuing them with gusto. Having already noted the insufficient carrying capacity of current mobile broadband airways to deal with incoming 4G connections, the FCC chairman is now reported to be moving ahead with plans to provide greater spectrum allocation for those purposes. Currently in the draft stage, the latest Commission proposals include a plan to reclaim airwaves from digital broadcasters (and pay them appropriately for it), which are to then be sold off to the highest bidder from among the wireless service providers. Executing the most extreme version of this plan could generate around $62 billion in auction revenues, though it would require transitioning digital TV viewers over to cable or subscription services and is therefore unlikely. Jules and his crew are still "looking at everything" and ruling out nothing, but we can probably expect to see a moderate shift of TV spectrum rights over to wireless carriers in the final plans when they're revealed in February.

[Via Phone Scoop]

If there's one thing AT&T's network could use, it's more network. Particularly in major cities (we're looking at you and your dastardly street parking situation, San Francisco), AT&T's 3G network is perpetually overwhelmed, oftentimes forcing users to switch to EDGE just to tweet about how awful the coverage is. Thankfully, the operator is making good on its earlier promise to roll out HSPA 7.2Mbps to select cities, with Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami now destined to get lit this year. Potentially more interesting, however, is the deployment of "additional backhaul capacity to cell sites," which will also support LTE when the time comes. All told, around 2,000 new cell sites should be added before the year's end, and at least a half dozen 7.2Mbps-capable smartphones should be in AT&T's portfolio by the same deadline. Feel free to express your joy in comments below -- that is, if you can get comments to load on your existing 3G connection.

You know, there's something to be said about making something easy: people usually take advantage. So seems to be the case with AT&T's WiFi connections after the release of iPhone OS 3.0, which finally became useful when users could seamlessly connect to one of the thousands of AT&T hotspots around the nation rather than having to stumble through a painfully long process on iPhone OS 2.x. According to an AT&T spokesperson speaking with AppleInsider, the amount of iPhone users linking up with AT&T's WiFi network tripled in June, and overall, it saw a 41 percent increase in connections compared to the prior quarter. It comes as no surprise to hear that AT&T is working feverishly to expand said network in order to relieve strain from its house of cards-styled 3G network, and while we'd definitely prefer a bit more reliability with the latter, we'll happily accept more WiFi in the meanwhile.

We knew AT&T had an HSPA upgrade in the works, and now the company has announced its plans, with initial rollout beginning later this year and reaching completion in 2011. That will overlap only slightly with LTE, which AT&T plans to put into trials in 2010 and start melting our faces in 2011. The HSPA upgrade takes the network from 3.6Mbps to 7.2Mbps in theoretical speed, and AT&T also plans to nearly double the amount of wireless spectrum it dedicates to 3G in metropolitan areas -- which should come as a relief to city dwellers who haven't managed more than a couple minutes of sustained conversation since mid-2008. To support the increased bandwidth of HSPA, AT&T also plans on adding thousands of new cell site backhaul connections, while also rolling out 3G service to 20 new metro areas and deploying 2,100 new cell sites in total. HSPA-sporting mobile data cards and smartphones will be available "later this year."

Looking for some LTE news that's harder than those wishy-washy vibes you've been getting thus far? Listen up. On a recent conference call, Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam (shown) stated that its LTE network would launch commercially in around 20 to 30 US markets during "the second half of 2010." He continued by noting that a "nationwide buildout would be complete in late 2013 to early 2014," but failed to elaborate on the whens, whos and whys in between. For those locked into the 4G movement, you'll notice that these dates are slightly different than ones tossed out in April by the outfit's CFO, which leads us to believe that we could hear something else in just a few month's time if things don't go perfectly to plan. At any rate, McAdam did confirm that a tiny group of VZW testers would have access to 4G this year, with one "pre-commercial" network per US coast being activated during 2009. Bring on the bytes, baby.

[Via phoneArena]

Clearwire may not be as ubiquitous as you'd like it to be, but it's taking a huge step forward in hopes of wildly expanding by linking up with Cisco. In essence, the two have joined hands in order to "enhance and expand CLEAR 4G mobile WiMAX services throughout the United States," with Cisco providing the core infrastructure and Clearwire providing the guidance. Potentially more interesting is the notion that Cisco's Linksys brand will soon be delivering "new mobile WiMAX devices," such as routers that will presumably tune to WiFi and WiMAX waves. Specific product details are sorely absent, though Clearwire does reiterate that it's hoping to have WiMAX service to more than 80 markets across the US by the end of next year.

What one CDMA carrier can do, another can do better, right? Eh, not quite, but they can stare each other down holding the exact same weapon, just daring each other to make the next move. Just a week after Verizon Wireless launched the MiFi 2200 portable EV-DO router, Sprint has decided to offer up the exact same product for use on its network. The battery-powered box, engineered by Novatel Wireless, enables users to connect up to five WiFi-enabled devices to Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A network, and it'll be marketed in stores as the Sprint Mobile Hotspot. According to the carrier, its unit will be the first in the US to support MiFi's GPS capabilities, allowing users to take advantage of select location and mapping applications. It should be noted, however, that Sprint's service plans differ quite significantly from those offered up by VZW. The up front cost is the same at $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate (on a two-year agreement), though the only two options for getting it connected are as follows:

• $59.99 per month mobile broadband only plan (excluding taxes and surcharges)
• $149.99 per month Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband (phone plus device connectivity -- excluding taxes and surcharges)
• Both plans include up to 5 GB per month and 5 cents per megabyte overage for the MiFi 2200. [Ugh, disgusting.]
  
• Available in early June.
  

[Via phoneArena]

If you've been toying with the idea of buying a bulletproof shell for your CradlePoint portable hotspot, we're guessing that Proxicast's Cell-PAK is an entirely better option. Said box, which is described as a rugged, self-powered 3G + WiFi wireless hotspot in a box, was designed to provide "mission-critical wireless communications" in the jungle, on the battlefield or in your backyard. Aside from having its very own battery pack for completely untethered access, the device comes encased in an impact and water-resistant MIL-spec rated chassis, and we're told that it can accept "any 3G modem from any cellular carrier worldwide." We're talking over a dozen hours of wireless access from anywhere that you can retrieve signal, and there's even an external high-gain antenna to help with that. Now, if only that $1,295 price weren't so gigantic...

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Opera Mini has definitely seen a good deal of face time here lately, but it's looking to up its presence even more by inking a new partnership with Virgin Mobile USA. Starting April 14th, Opera Mini will be available as a free application download on select devices -- Slash, Arc, Shuttle, Super Slice and four others -- for Virgin Mobile USA prepaid customers via the VirginXL download storefront. Going forward, the browser will come pre-loaded on other "select" Virgin Mobile USA phones. So, one carrier down -- who's next?

Yes friends, your worst nightmare could indeed come true. With companies looking for every last way to nickle and dime their few remaining loyal customers, it's now being suggested that mobile operators could start charging different rates for mobile data depending on the time of day. And, let's face it, it makes total sense in a sick, sadistic way. Reportedly, carriers will soon start having a tough time keeping up with all the data-using cellphone and laptop owners, with the latter crew obviously causing the greatest strain on existing networks. A mocoNews report suggests three main ways of dealing with the uptick in demand: 1) keep building out the network and burning cash, 2) using new technology (read: LTE) with more capacity or 3) create rate plans that discourage usage during peak times. We've always heard that history repeats itself, but we'd be just fine with never hearing the words "peak time" ever again.

As it stands, the best shot you have at a "full" web browsing experiencing is with Apple's iPhone. Granted, Opera Mini ain't half bad, and Fennec (er, Mobile Firefox, holds a lot of promise, but it's hard to argue with the sheer performance numbers associated with Safari. That said, it looks like Cupertino has its work cut out for it upon the release of Palm's Pre. During a recent webcast, viewers were treated to a sneak peek at the Pre loading up Big12Sports.com. Said site is pretty intensive to load, and even on WiFi it takes well over 20 seconds to completely pull up on Apple's darling. The site took around eight seconds to finalize on the Pre, suggesting that it either has a wicked fast browser or caching abilities, both of which we could learn to appreciate. Hit the read link for a peek at the video, because -- you know -- seeing is believing.

[Thanks, Jacob]

Have a voice line with Alltel? Listen up: you're now lined up to get some of the cheapest laptop EV-DO in the business. The Verizon division (still feels weird to say that, doesn't it?) has announced today that wireless data can be yours for a mere $40 a month -- $20 less than usual -- when added as a second line as part of a Smart Choice Pack with a voice line. That gives you EV-DO Rev. A and your choice of three cards; sadly, none of those cards are ExpressCards, but hey, for $40 3.1Mbps internet, we're more than willing to cut some corners and let a USB dongle hang off the sides of our laptops. For the record, Cricket is still a smidge cheaper at $35, but this is the first time a national (well, pseudo-national) carrier has dipped this low. Makes you wonder whether the parent company is going to partake, doesn't it?