Mobile broadband (aka wireless broadband, wireless WAN, cellular WAN,
etc.) provides nearly network speeds through cellular communication
services used by cell phones. The advantages to having mobile broadband
service are considerable:

1.  Access to the Internet is almost universal. Wherever a cell signal
    can be acquired, the Internet can be accessed.

2.  The ability to stay in constant communication with work and home
    provides for increased productivity and peace of mind.

3.  Having established accounts at government rates, the costs are less
    than paying for on-line access in hotels, airports, Internet cafes,
    etc.

Communication speeds are measured in bits per seconds and are further
measured in quantities of kilo (k) or thousands, mega (M) or millions
and giga (G) or billions. To appreciate the benefit of Mobile Broadband
technology, compare the following (all speeds are approximate):

-   Dial-up Modem \~ 25 to 56 kbps

-   GSM Mobile Broadband \~ 400-700 kbps

-   CDMA Mobile Broadband \~ 1-2 Mbps

-   Wireless LAN 802.11ab \~ 1-10 Mbps

-   Wireless LAN 802.11g \~ up to 54Mbps

-   Wired Ethernet \~ 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps

Mobile Broadband (MB) differs from Wireless LAN in that MB communication
is through cellular towers around the city, highways and countryside
like a cell phone connecting to wide areas, hence the identification
with WAN or Wide Area Network.

Wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or WiFi is used in buildings utilizing
Wireless Access Points (WAP) that have been setup throughout the
building that are connected directly to a wired Ethernet line. These are
the types of connections that are available at restaurants, libraries,
airports, hotel lobbies, Internet cafes, etc. Some of the connections
are secured using a Wireless Encryption Key, like NIEHS, while others
are public and can be connected by anyone within range.

The three major cellular telecommunications services primarily used by
the federal government in the area of mobile broadband are Cingular,
Verizon and Sprint/Nextel.

**[Cingular]{.underline}**

Cingular provides Mobile Broadband using Global System for Mobile
Communication or GSM as its standard. This standard has been adopted
around the world for many years for telephone cellular communication and
has begun to be used for mobile broadband services only in the past
couple of years. The GSM standard has a communication rate of
approximately 400-800 kbps (kilobits per second). Compared to dial-up
modem rates of 25-54 kbps, this is a significant improvement. Cingular
has wide network coverage across the United States and presently has the
NIEHS Blackberry accounts.

There have been persistent invoicing and accounting issues that continue
to be a drain on technical and administrative services at NIEHS. Reports
of the quality and availability of service varies by types of service
and location. The Cingular phones and Mobile Broadband cards (sometimes
referred to as Aircard) are Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) dependent,
which has on several occasions have failed in existing units and, in
some cases failed repeatedly on the same unit.

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**[Verizon]{.underline}**

Verizon provides wireless broadband using through Code Division Multiple
Access or CDMA which is a much higher communications rate than GSM. CDMA
present operates at 1-2 Mbps (megabits per second) range compared to the
400-800 kbps of GSM. This provides for faster logons, up and downloads,
access to e-mail and the Web, etc. Members of NIEHS staff have either
witnessed or experienced the significant increase in communication
speeds with Verizon over Cingular GSM. They have also attested to its
continuity of connection while traveling by highway from the RTP area to
DC without communication loss.

Verizon has been documented as having the largest coverage area in the
US and reliability of access has been proven even in emergency
situations like Hurricane Katrina and the multiple hurricanes that
repeatedly struck Florida in 2005.

Verizon phones and other devices like the Blackberry do not depend on
Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM) to activate or terminate services or
move a phone number from one device to another. Those processes are
taken care of through 24/7 available call-in help desks or can be
performed or requested on-line by account holders. Verizon has
established purchasing agreements with other government agencies where
phones and Blackberry devices are acquired at about 1/3 or 1/4 the price
of buying them through a third party vendor.

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="5.90625in" height="4.020833333333333in"}

**[Sprint]{.underline}**

Sprint telecommunication service also uses the CDMA standard of
communication but does not have as broad a network coverage throughout
the US. Also, their CDMA has not achieved the level of speed of the
Verizon devices otherwise the Sprint service is very similar to that of
Verizon

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="5.645833333333333in"
height="4.416666666666667in"}

**[Summary]{.underline}**

Of the three telecommunication providers it appears that Verizon has the
most promising service with higher communication rates than Cingular and
wider coverage area than Sprint. In addition, Verizon government
representatives are able to establish all accounts for the four NIEHS
divisions immediately provided it is determined that NIEHS can purchase
mobile broadband cards and Blackberrys directly from Verizon rather than
a third-party vendor which will save a considerable amount of funds
beginning with the first purchases.

Presently NIH requires all Blackberry devices to be purchased from
third-party vendors CDW-G or GTSI. At this time the communication
service is purchased directly from Cingular. Purchasing through third
party vendors can be 2-4 times the cost of purchasing directly from the
service provider. It would be more expedient, efficient and cost
effective if the NIEHS could purchase both the device and service plan
directly from the service provider, which in this case the
recommendation for NIEHS would be Verizon.