Baltimore, Maryland has officially become the first city in the United States to have Xohm mobile WiFi service. The Xohm format, also known as 4G wireless service provides download speeds in the range of 2 to 4 MB per second, and will be available throughout the greater Baltimore metro area without needing to sign a long-term contract or deal with pesky bandwidth caps.
The Xohm protocol is being developed by Sprint, and can be purchased in 24 hour blocks for about $10. More conveniently, users can purchase one month of home access for $35, or choose an “on the go” plan to cover the entire greater Baltimore area for $45 per month.
At present though, the greatest limitation of the Sprint 4G network is that it can only use dedicated modems such as the Zyxel desktop model, or the Samsung Expresscard modem for laptops. Sprint expects other hardware options to be available by year’s end, and it should be pointed out that neither of the two models presently available are particularly expensive compared to the competition.
In fact, the 4G network service itself is surprisingly affordable compared to many of the options available for 3G wireless access. Sprint has also cleverly set up their network so that users can try the service without being locked into a subscription contract. This should be a great selling point for Xohm, as it will encourage potential customers to try out the 4G wireless service for themselves before signing on the dotted line.
In some ways, Baltimore is being used as a test market for the Sprint Xohm service. The Metro Baltimore area is certainly a large enough market to determine the viability and demand for Xohm, and assuming all goes well, Sprint plans to extend its 4G network service into more major cities in the months to come.
According to Sprint representatives, the northeast corridor (Washington, DC to Boston) will be the first area of the country to have access to Xohm–followed by the Northwest, the Southeast coast, and major metropolitan areas throughout the Midwest.
Unlike some 3G WiFi networks, Sprint’s Xohm service does not cap users bandwidth, so there is no need to worry about downloading (or uploading) beyond your quota in a given month. This feature, along with the ability to try the network without signing a long-term contract, should help attract customers, especially among business users who need to be online everywhere they go. Assuming Baltimore responds favorably Xohm, look for it to be available in a metro area near you soon.
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