No more tripping over wires for the Northeast Kingdom

2/21/07

By Catherine Story and Blair Wolston

Wireless internet access is now available in the Northeast Kingdom wherever your Verizon Wireless cellular handset works.

Recent upgrades to the existing towers and a few brand new ones now allow residents of the Northeast Kingdom to connect to the Internet on any computer as long as they are within the coverage area.

This service is a recent addition to the Northeast Kingdom. The first indicator that something was changing came last summer when cell phone customers in the Burke area experienced an interruption in their service lasting nearly a week.

When their phones started working again there was a different symbol on their cell phone screens. What happened was all the towers were upgraded from standard digital, that was represented by a 1X on the screen, to an enhanced digital signal that appears as an EV on the cell phone's screen.

EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals. This is a breakthrough for areas where no other Internet service providers are available.


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What you need to know:
The cost is $59.99 a month for unlimited use, and it does require a 24 month contract with Verizon Wireless which will be included with your regular cellular bill (if you are already subscribing to their cell service already).

The modems are either PCI cards, for laptops only, or they now offer USB modems that will work in any device that has a USB 2.0 port built in. Windows or Macintosh is fine, and you can move the modem from device to device depending on your wireless needs.

Who should be interested:
This service is good for the traveling road warrior who must stay connected to his or her office whereever they go, or for the rural resident who previously had no way of getting high speed Internet at home.

The cost is comparable to Charter's high speed pipeline service but is not limited to one location. Users can take their laptop anywhere in the country and receive the same level of reliability they do from their connection at home.

There are a few different ways to sign up for this service:

Call 1-800-922-0204 and follow the prompts until you find a human operator.
Go to www.verizonwireless.com and click on “plans”
Visit a Verizon Wireless agent in your area to learn more information and get started