There is little question that Cingular is one of the most progressive mobile companies here in the states. Always pushing the envelope, they work to make sure we have the best voice and data connections possible. Well with the creation of EDGE, broadband on your mobile may finally be closer than we think!

The Cingular EDGE network is the closest thing to a truly nationwide cellular high-speed data network available today. While those high speeds may feel more like dial-up than broadband at times, you can’t beat EDGE’s availability—you can access the Internet from almost anywhere you can get a Cingular cell-phone signal.

EDGE currently covers the most populated areas in the U.S. Many rural areas are left out, as are the majority of Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and, oddly, Virginia. But you can still drive from, say, San Diego to Seattle without losing service.

The least expensive of the three 3G networks, EDGE was rolled out nationwide quickly because it overlies Cingular’s existing GSM/GPRS network. Obtaining the increased data speeds merely required a software upgrade for base stations.

EDGE is available on phones and PC Cards. On phones, you can’t really tell the difference between it and GPRS, because pictures and games are still so small. As multimegapixel camera phones and larger games become available, the speediness of EDGE will really start to shine.