Round 1: Cingular vs. Sprint on the fastest wireless data network

Posted Sep 13th 2006 12:21PM by Brian White
Filed under: Cellular, Features, Business

With some recent hubbub in the area of truthful mobile advertising, I looked at some recent Cingular ads in the New York Times just to see what recent claims from the nation's largest wireless carrier had in store. Taking that information, I looked at another competitor that, um, had a few bones to pick with Cingular's ads. The reason? Cingular was questioning Sprint's wireless data network directly. Hmm. Knowing that Cingular's nationwide -- but slower -- EDGE data network was the impetus behind these ads, I was intrigued.

Sprint's EV-DO network is quite a different beast -- by far faster from my experience (and I've used both very recently). Now, truth be told, I've only used Cingular's HSDPA network in one market, and it performed admirably when I used it. But, Cingular's HSDPA network is nowhere near being available nationwide. Sprint's EV-DO network, which not covering their entire native national network, is built out quite a bit more than Cingular's HSDPA network, however.

So, what's all the fuss about? See this recent full-page ad in the September 5, 2006 edition of The New York Times:

It's that first bullet comparison that kind of piqued my interested. What does "largest high-speed wireless data network" mean? EDGE certainly does not qualify for "high speed" from my experience -- it's barely better than a 56K dialup connection.

I then snooped around Sprint's website to find this rather detailed comparison. Sprint, it looks like, directly responded to Cingular with some pretty good facts about its network. What was the comparison made of? Well, Sprint was comparing apples-to-apples as best it could. It was looking at it's nationwide (to a point) EV-DO network to the best comparable nationwide network Cingular offers -- which is the older and slower EDGE network (as Cingular's HSDPA network is not national, at least at this time).

So, after I researched a little bit more and contacted Sprint to gauge its response on Cingular's advertising (like I said in the title, "Round 1"), this is the picture that started becoming clear:

Cingular's claim of the "Largest high-speed wireless data network in America"

From my information, 80% of Cingular's "high-speed" network is powered by its 2.5G EDGE network.
Sprint Mobile Broadband (400-700kbps) is 5 times faster than Cingular's EDGE (70-135kbps)
In terms of wireless broadband coverage, Sprint covers three times more people (153 million vs. 47 million), four times more cities (5,138 vs. 1.092) and five times more airports (486 vs. 95) than Cingular's broadband network, BroadbandConnect.

Cingular's claim of the "Largest Push to Talk network area coverage in America"

Sprint's Nextel walkie-talkie phones connect instantly coast to coast with over 17 million people on what appears to be the world's largest walkie-talkie network.
Sprint Nextel's arsenal of ruggedized devices and phones kind of gives a hard edge to Sprint here, as it has the only camera phone that meets military specifications for rain, dust and shock.

So, again -- the "fastest wireless data network" claim kind of shook my beliefs for a moment until it was decided to dig further. I didn't delve into Verizon Wireless (national EV-DO network) with this comparison since Cingular's target was Sprint and only Sprint, nor did I tackle T-Mobile USA (which I know only has an EDGE network deployed nationally).

I guess "truth in advertising" depends on the eye of the beholder (and lawyers and interpretive double-speak). What else is new?

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

1. Great assessment. Heck, from the sound of it, it appears even Sprint's 1RTT speed in areas not built out is faster than EDGE. Just came back from a cross country trip and let me tell you, Sprint ROCKS! And from personal experience, Sprint is expanding their EVDO coverage.

If you haven't taken a look at Sprint Nextel recently, may be a good time to do so.

Posted at 5:06PM on Sep 13th 2006 by Dan Farren

2. Great article. Go Sprint, go!!!

Oh, sorry Cingular...let me slow that down five times for you...

Gggggooooo Sssssppppprrrrriiiiinnnnnttttt, gggggooooo!!

Posted at 4:51PM on Sep 13th 2006 by Michael

3. From my personal experience (and yes, unfortunately i have had service with both carriers) sprint far exceeds anything that cingular has to offer. If you are looking for mobile broadband, sprint has the better network (for both speed and coverage) not to mention the equipment offerings of sprint. Currently you can access mobile broadband from your capable phone, or thru a connection card on your laptop, but sprint is taking it one step further, and from what i understand, will be releasing some new equipment before the end of the year, that will allow it's customers to utilize sprints wireless broadband network even from their home pc's. And speaking of dropped calls, i was with cingular for 1 1/2 yrs, and had more dropped calls during that time than the 3 yrs that i've had sprint. Because of the experience i've had with sprint, who's customer service quality has increased greatly since their merger with nextel, i've switched my entire family over to sprint, most of them leaving cingular to do so, and we couldn't be happier. Keep up the work sprint, and don't let down on cingular!

Posted at 10:45PM on Nov 8th 2006 by Patrick

4. Some regulatory agency should spank Cingular for false advertising.

Posted at 8:59PM on Sep 17th 2006 by Orson Fowler

5. I have the PPC-6700 at the moment and I love it. I'm fortunate enough to spend most of my day in an area that has power vision access and it's pretty speedy for surfing the web. Sprint's about to flip the switch (so they say, anyway) that'll bring the rest of their native network in the state up to EV-DO speeds, and i can't wait.

Even so, not sure sprint is the right choice for everyone. Customer service kinda sucks and their upgrade policy just plain stinks. If you live in an area served well by sprint (like me), the price you pay for the services you receive cannot be beat.

Just pray you never have to walk into a Sprint store for any reason.

Posted at 11:03AM on Sep 14th 2006 by flamer's grill

6. Being a Cingular customer, it really shames me to see all the twisted advertising they keep putting out there. I believe they should just focus on their real advantages and not make stuff up. Help yourself, don't hurt your competitor.

Posted at 12:59PM on Sep 14th 2006 by James Smith

7. I cannot wait till Sprint launches the wireless router for the broadband card. I heard it is suppose to be out this month. I have the broadband card and use it daily. I love it!!! Once I purchase the wireless router then I'm saying Goodbye RoadRunner and Hello Sprint for all data purposes in my house!!! It just keeps getting better...

By the way I love Sprint's new commercials for the braodband network... Especially Sprint taking on Cingular with the two business men on the bench... then vultures sit down with the Cingular guy! Cracks me up!!!

Posted at 2:38PM on Sep 14th 2006 by Chris Bowers

8. Chris -
There are wireless 802.11b/g routers out today that you can plug an EV-DO card into and allow you to share the EV-DO uplink via Wi-Fi. The Linksys is availible directly and exclusively from Sprint. And of course there is the Kyocera KR1 that has been out for a few months. Keep in mind that Sprint is the only provider that allows users true Unlimited usage and does not mind popping your EV-DO card into a wireless Router. Also, Sprint is rolling our Rev. A which will be a LOT faster.

Posted at 5:15PM on Sep 14th 2006 by Dan Wilson

9. Where are the "truth in advertising" police when you need them. It sounds like Cingular's nationwide "high speed" claim is almost as ridiculous as its nationwide "lowest dropped calls" claim. The nice thing with the "high speed" claim is that the facts are right there. EDGE will NEVER be as fast as EVDO. The "dropped calls" claim is harder to prove one way or another cause Cingular won't reveal which company determined that they had the lowest dropped calls in the country. Maybe because it would open that company up to bad press or unwanted attention revealing a flawed process or too small of a data sample. Or, maybe that company doesn't even exist. If a reputable company really determined that Cingular had the lowest dropped calls in the country they should stand proudly with Cingular and shout it from the rooftops. Instead Cingular refers to them as an "independent company." Sounds fishy to me. From what I'm seeing Cingular newest ad campaign is less fact and more fiction. Their direct attack on Sprint with lies shows that they have no integrity and they're playing us all for fools.

Posted at 9:23AM on Sep 16th 2006 by Mark

10. Sprint out does Cingular in every category. Sprints EVDO is available in every major US City. The Cingular equivlant is only available in 14 markets??? Sprints needs to say GOOD BYE TO Cingular!!!

Posted at 2:49PM on Sep 18th 2006 by Anthony DuBois

11. The only competitive advantage that I believe Cingular has over Sprint is its tendency to come out with more "trendy" phones sooner than Sprint. Even that, however, is not that big of an advantage seeing how many problems Cingular had with the RAZR when it first came out. It looks to me like they are trying to get an advantage by putting out phones before they have been adequately tested for defects. And the whole lying in a newspaper article thing is just juvenile. Coming from a Sprint representative, I would hate to be one of their salespeople trying to explain to a customer why their expectations weren't met. I'm glad I work for Sprint, and that my company doesn't have to lie to get/keep its customers.

Posted at 1:46PM on Sep 20th 2006 by Becky

12. Cingular's network is very inconsistent from market to market. Some cities it works great, others, it's like begging to be able to make a call. The coverage is poor to fair and specifically in South Florida, the "calls dropped" is higher than ever. Sprint has "good" coverage nationwide, while typically not being excellent anywhere. Indoor coverage continues to be a problem for Sprint. Sprint's customer service, latest pricing and plocies are just plain terrible. Their service continues to drop. Their pricing continues to clilmb. The numbers prove it - only 210,000 postpaid customer additions in the most recent quarter - and that's for both the PCS network AND the Nextel network combined??!! Sounds like customers are responding to Sprint's customer service and pricing by simply leaving all together. It's a shame, because from a footprint standpoint, they are decent, but not spectacular.

It's interesting how Verizon is being completely quiet about the whole thing. And to that point, Verizon is yet to change their traditional pricing. No roll-over, no early evenings, etc. Just plain old high pricing, and they're leading the pact with customer additions.

Posted at 1:55PM on Sep 21st 2006 by Chad

13. You did not do apples to apples, first you say that the EDGE network is bigger, but slower (both true), and then you say the Sprint network is faster and covers more cities than Cingular's other data HSDPA. One thing that was not noted, is that Sprint's data network does not roam on other networks. If you leave a coverage area, then you simply have no data service. With Cingular, if you leave a HSDPA area, the device will 'gracefully' fall back to a slower speed standard. And roaming on other carriers both domestically and internationally is built into the standard. If you go across the nations, Cingular will have far greater coverage (albeit some at lesser speeds than Sprint) and in some areas much greater speeds.

On the Push to Talk front, Cingular's service is the same as it's voice coverage, the largest in the U.S Sprint is facing many integration issues and the technologies don't play well together. Nextel was famous for huge holes in their service and there is actually some difference in the voice coverage and the ptt coverage. On the devices, yes, there are some good devices, and ruggedized is great. But, all of the phones (except the RIM device) are made by Motorola, tend to be thicker and a generation or two behind even other Motorola devices.

Posted at 7:31PM on Nov 20th 2007 by jack carter

14. As Michael (#1) said, Sprint RULES !

Posted at 3:59PM on Sep 23rd 2006 by mobile phones

15. i am looking for a card or service that supports Mac. does any one know or can recommend a specific card?? I heard that the Merlin s720 works???? is there a card that works with the macbook? the macbook does not have a pcmcia card slot. the mac pro does. i have both.
thanks for ouyr time. BTW, I am looking at the sprint service because everyone consistantly says that psrint has the fastest service.
thank for your time.
John

Posted at 5:38PM on Sep 23rd 2006 by john

16. For mac user's on the sprint network you can use the Sierra Wireless 580. Do a google search and you will find the setup instructions for the PCS connection manager software.

Posted at 4:57AM on Sep 25th 2006 by Colin

17. Just don't use your "broadband" too much(Cingular, Verizon, or Sprint). They'll cancel your contract and send you a bill for the early termination(if applicable) Bascially treating you like a "criminal" for "abusing" their network, even though you have an "unlimited" contract. They have unspoken limits as to how much bandwidth you can use per day and per month.

Posted at 4:42PM on Oct 2nd 2006 by Tom

18. Jack Carter...Nextel's data and PTT coverage are the same as the footprint. There is no difference. I've actually made PTT calls when the voice would not work. I've made PTT calls when the cellular networks were all clogged up (ie state of emergency) Nextel does have some coverage issues, but when they get the combined phone it will rock the US cellular world.

Posted at 11:50AM on Oct 5th 2006 by MICHAEL BROWN

19. Cingular vs Sprint!...Ok I see alot of bashing with these two companies but lets be real...I have not seen any postings with true trial runs and I have the luxury of both: I live in miami beach and use my lap top mainly from my room indoors. (There are no cable/phone lines in military barracks so this was my only option)the walls are concreate and I always have my door closed...I purchased a cingular sierra wireless air card 860 on wed 19 Oct 2006 and it cost me 50 bucks..2 year contract, 30 days free trial and the service is 59.00 for unlimited data, I connected at 4-5 bars on the 3G network and get download speeds of 150 to 230 kbs on average. you can also take the sim card out of the card and install it to your cingular phone and get unlimited internet on your cell phone (cingular dosent tell you this)...but since it has a number assigned to it...it can send recieve calls but you will pay for per minute charges...so really its only good if you need a quick fix for a internet connection on the go if you cannot take your lap top just take the sim card and switch them as you need different service..I was very happy to get internet at all but them I wanted more!!!...I saw a comercial from sprint and got enthusiastic and wanted to try their service they have a 30 day return/refund policy so I had nothing too loose...so here are the facts:
I went out and bought a pantech px-500 and they boast connection speeds of 400-700 and peak bursts of 2 MB. they even have commercials 3 commercials bashing cingular. they charge you 50 bucks out the door with a 50 dollar mail in rebate.. so free card they will waive the activation fee and even give you a credit after 1 month for 25 dollars so now you are 25 dollars ahead....I got back to the base and was excited only to be very very dissapointed...the install was painless all was good intil i tried to connect....in my room I only got 2 of the 5 bars and out side the room I got 5 full bars but in actual test the cingular kicks but!!!! the sprint card gave me indoor/outdoor the same 35-50 kbs but the cingular indoor/outdoor gave me a constant 150-230 with bursts of 400kbs.
So with out any technical garbage that you read here...actual trial results tell me that cinguars speed is much better than sprint...at least in this market...could be peak times and slower connections or just a bad day for sprint...who knows I will play with the cards for another week or so until I see witch one works better for me...for now I LIKE CINGULAR BETTER AND ANY QUESTIONS...DROP ME A EMAIL...(dionisio18@earthlink.net) thanks,
Peace
Dee

Posted at 2:26PM on Oct 8th 2006 by Dionisio18

20. To me, It really doesn't matter who has a faster broadband network because I fall into the category of people who just want to be able to make a call. Cingular, like Verizon is doing now as well, has made the decision to shut down their AMPS network, as well as no longer producing phones that offer it. In my opinion, what good is a fancy toy if it fails to perform the main function for which it was created-making and receiving phone calls? Even if Cingular's claim to have "the fewest dropped calls" is true (though Consumer Reports and J.D. Powers & Associates would disagree), what good is it not to drop a call you can't make in the first place because there are no digital towers in an area you may be in? When my father first got a car phone back in the early 90's, that sucker would work almost anywhere! Now,we have a new generation of thinkers who say, "I wan't a phone that does everything but make my dinner for me." Granted, analog isn't as good or clear as digital- but it's everywhere! My 2 cents worth is let's spend more time building out the newer digital networks for COVERAGE purposes, and the heck with all this other crapola.

Posted at 7:00PM on Oct 15th 2006 by Jeff Frazier

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