WorldCall EVDO: A Wireless Game Changer?

Worldcall has recently started a new Wireless, internet anywhere, service for users that are always on the go. The Worldcall EVDO service supplies the subscriber with a USB device for Rs. 4500 initially, and then they charge slightly more than what you would pay for a wired connection.

Will this new entrant in Pakistan’s worsening economic situation make a difference? It might, or it might not. The much celebrated WiMax has still to find people to help it to deliver it’s good to people who are still in need of high speed wireless internet connections - making it an easier job of Worldcall to find some elbow room. But Worldcall is not run locally, and the foreign investor with Worldcall, OmanTel, might cut their losses and run.

I’ll be following comments on the WCCFTech forum thread and Wired Pakistan thread for some rants and raves about this new service.

As for my suggestion, I have learned a few things from our mobile industry and the quality of service it provides. Frequent call drops, heavy network contention, and a poor quality of service all add up to makes me run from Wireless (shared medium) technologies. While the tariffs are really competitive amongst all providers, the quality of service is still below average.

The EVDO service is more suited for mobile devices, where as WiMax is more suited for computers and laptops. But since we are observing they are fast merging, and the protocols they use, it rarely makes a huge difference to us.

What does matter is the quality of service and the tariffs they impose. WC’s EVDO service is only active in Karachi for the time being, and will hopefully be launched the country over.